Disappearing coolant

[Jim Hardesty]

John,
One thing that I don't think has been mentioned is the engine coolant pump.  They are long lived and rarely do go bad but ## happens.  Look for a spray or evidence of coolant on the back of the pully.  Sometimes a smell of coolant while running.  Because the leak may be small and becomes a very fine spray from the rotating pully it may not be very obvious.
I've never used it.  There's UV dye that can be added to coolant to track leaks.  Possibly light can be rented from auto supply.   May be worth investigating.  IMHO much better than changing parts that may or may not be bad.
Happy hunting,
Jim

[Oldlaxer1]

Thanks everyone. I'll be working on the suggestions this weekend and will report back (or ask more questions...). 

[KWKloeber]

Check ALL coolant hose connections and hose condition if the Hx test is negative!!  Especially hard-to-get-to hose clamps. There's a 50-50 chance that it will be 100% of the time that an impossible hose barb as on the stbd side of the exhaust manifold will be the culprit.

The exhaust flange gasket could leak which will send coolant out the exhaust.

[Ron Hill]

John : If you remove the HX it might well be the time to replace all of the old hoses too!!

A few thoughts

[Oldlaxer1]

Didn't get much of a chance to work on the leak over the weekend due to other commitments but I was able to get some UV dye and a UV Light.  Put the dye in the system and ran the motor up to temperature and once the T-stat opened ran for about 5 more minutes.  Checked with the UV light and lo-and behold there was a leak at the reducing fitting for the hot water heater.  Naturally it was running down the back side of the hose so it wasn't easily seen without the UV light.  Recovery tank also had a bit of a drippy leak.  Got things all tightened on Sunday.  Last night I pressurized the system up to 14 psi and it held.  Whew!  What a relief so I took her out for a spin.  Thanks for all the help and insight guys.  The autozone dye and UV light cost me a little over 22 bucks I think. Well worth it!

[Ron Hill]

John : What A great "leak" chasing method!!!   

A thought

[waughoo]

You have been hunting that for a while now.  Congrats on finding it!

[Jim Hardesty]

The proverbial eureka moment.  Was great that after all that work the fix was so easy.  If I understand it correctly, the UV stays in the system and the next leak can be found with out adding more. 
Jim

[Oldlaxer1]

Jim, it was your suggestion that helped solve the riddle.  I hope others see this thread when similar issues crop up.  Thanks for the help!