HI everyone I have a 2005 scion xb that never gave me any problems until recently. Three months ago the car started to squeal on start ups and i thought it was because it was cold so just let it warm p and it went away but later that day my engine overheat light came on and it started smoking. I filled it up with water and cooled it down. went it was finally cooled down i saw that the water pump belt was shredded so i replaced that on the spot. It ran fine and didnt even squeal anymore. yet a month later i was checking my fluids and noticed that the coolant level had dropped. I replaced the coolant and have been checking it every now and then and the squealing came back. then today when i got to work my engine light came on again and i saw that the radiator was really low. Ive been looking around and have been wondering if this has happened to anyone else.

 

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Thanks I'll do that. I was thinking it was the water pump after Ive been reading about the newer models but i didn't think that the older ones had that problem.
I'll check it out tomorrow when i get the chance since its my day off.

 

Maybe you car is burning antifreeze. Your car shouldn't "burn" antifreeze. If it actually is "burning" antifreeze then chances are you have a blown/leaking head gasket or possibly a cracked engine block which allows antifreeze to enter the combustion chambers. If your antifreeze is just disappearing then it is probably leaking out from somewhere. Possible leak areas to check out would be the radiator hoses, heater hoses, radiator, water pump, and the heater core. Most of the time if the heater core is leaking you'll be able to smell the antifreeze inside the car while the engine is running and the heater is on.

 

Most of the time it's the water pump.

 

Well i finally finished inspecting what i could when i got home the sun was going down so i quit for tonight and found that it was in fact leaking from the water pump yet I'm not sure if that's it so when i wake up tomorrow ill check the hoses and everything else. Thanks everyone for your help. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.

 

Well i just finished replacing the water pump and took it for a test drive and it seems to be running fine. but ill keep watching it to be safe. Thanks everyone for your help.