Hi All,
I have a 2006 HHR. The coolant, when engine is cold, is at the upper, horizontal protrusion on the rear of the tank. There are two protrusions: A shorter one down low and a wider one up about 2" higher as is seen in this very helpful sticky by RJ_RS_SS_350 https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/main...ank-pic-55772/. This is where my coolant level is.
The owner's manual doesn't have a drawing of the tank, so I am guessing which bump to fill coolant at. I apologize, but none of the photos on line look like the tank in my car. Those all have one protrusion.

My question is that if I take the pressure cap off of the upper hose and the engine is off, there is no coolant in that hose. I can see that the hose has had coolant because the bottom is damp. Is it normal for there to be no coolant in that hose with engine cold and off?

A second question if I may: I had to add 8 ounces of coolant because the level was all the way to the horizontal, round nipple on the bottom of the tank. Where does coolant go? (I've not added coolant for 2-1/4 years & 4,600 miles ago when it got flushed & filled.)

Thanks For Helping!
Paul

 

The upper radiator hose should be full to top of the pipe at all times. One place that coolant leaks out, is the pressure cap tee. It is some kind of plastic, and with age, it can crack and crumble.

 

If it is not on the ground it is escaping as steam; The rubber cap on the t-stat housing cover, the pressure cap tee, any hose or hose connection are suspects.
Could be going out the tail pipe from a blown head gasket.

 

Try burping the coolant! After you inspect all coolant hoses for leaks. And the overflow bottle hose and tank for cracks



https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/how-...-system-60614/

 

 

Wow Guys! Thank You Each for helpful explanations & thank you Old Blue for the link for your air purging method. That is something I'll keep in the HHR file. Thanks, tooDon Brew for the photo of the coolant tank. Mine is somewhat different. (2006 with 2.4 non-SS)

After the car was parked for 5 hours, I removed the pressure cap with engine off. There was a little, narrow stream of coolant on the bottom of the hose.

I parked the right tire on a 3-1/2" high block. Now the hose had about 1/2 full coolant. I ran the engine with the heater on and added coolant/water to fill the hose. Surprisingly it took only 2 ounces. I watched for a long time for bubbles. Two little ones came up while I was watching. I tried squeezing the lower hose slowly. No bubbles came but the level overflowed due to my squeezes. (2 more ounces added to make up for my spill)

I let the engine run with heat on until the DIC said 199-F coolant temperature & the redundant analog gauge on the dashboard was one line below half way from cold line to red line. Neither ever rose above that. (1 hour idling) The hose under the pressure cap stayed full. What I will do next is Part Two of the post Don Brew made: Let it cool over the night and check again, first before starting the engine.

The radiator fan never came on until I turned on air conditioner or defrost, invoking the air conditioner compressor. It stayed on after turning off the air conditioner or defrost until I turned off the engine. I think that fan not coming on at 199-F is normal from what I have read here. Does that sound correct?



Oddity About My 2006 Coolant Recovery Tank-
My tank is different from the one Don Brew posted. There is a protrusion like in the photo above, but it is about 1-2" lower. About the height of the one in the photo is another protrusion. It's wider and then tank gets thicker above it. I don't know which to choose. For the last days, it has been at the upper one with engine off & cold. Yesterday I noticed the level was up to about 1/2 tank when engine was hot and off.

Below are a couple of photos trying to explain better than my words.

I'll post an update what I find in the tomorrow.
Thanks Again All!
Paul
PS: I don't get e-mail notifications for replies, although Instant E Mail Notification is checked. Is there a way to engage that feature? Thanks Again!

 

The radiator fan won't come on until 219F without the AC compressor.
Same part different side. In fact, I can see the graphic in your pic, almost hidden.
When you add coolant do it at the pressure cap, not the bottle.


2006 is not supposed to have a recovery bottle, it should have a surge tank.

I don't know why you are not getting notified, Have you looked in your Spam folder? Make sure the correct address is in your profile.

 

The purge tank coolant system is supposed to burp itself.