missing coolant

this pertains to a 1998 Honda Civic LX, a/t, a/c, 230,000 miles

Over the last 6 or 7 months i find that every 3 or 4 weeks i have to
add 1 or 2 cups of coolant to the overflow container in order to bring
it up the MAX level. Several thorough visual inspections of the
engine and of the engine compartment have failed to locate any leaks,
and there are never any puddles or even drips of the stuff on my
garage floor. Where can the coolant be disappearing to? Could it be
leaking head gasket? and if so, are there any specific tests i can
perform to confirm that diagnosis, rather than just replace the gasket
and hope that that will fix the problem? What else might account for
the missing coolant? (The engine on this car never runs hot.)
Thanks in advance

rollingthunder6 wrote:
> this pertains to a 1998 Honda Civic LX, a/t, a/c, 230,000 miles
>
> Over the last 6 or 7 months i find that every 3 or 4 weeks i have to
> add 1 or 2 cups of coolant to the overflow container in order to bring
> it up the MAX level. Several thorough visual inspections of the
> engine and of the engine compartment have failed to locate any leaks,
> and there are never any puddles or even drips of the stuff on my
> garage floor. Where can the coolant be disappearing to? Could it be
> leaking head gasket? and if so, are there any specific tests i can
> perform to confirm that diagnosis, rather than just replace the gasket
> and hope that that will fix the problem? What else might account for
> the missing coolant? (The engine on this car never runs hot.)
> Thanks in advance

if no visible leaks, you have a blown gasket. look in the coolant
expansion bottle when the engine is running and at working temp.
bubbles mean it's shot.

when considering repair, look into replacing the engine with jdm import
- frequently cheaper and longer lasting than fixing the old one.