Can Low Coolant Level Cause Loss of Performance....?

[Darth Maul]

I'm most certain I have a leak in my cooling system, because I get the low coolant message every couple of hours and I'm low on coolant. I tried searching but nothing came up on loss of performance. My car still pulls but I'm just wondering if it causes loss of power. I felt a loss of power yesterday.

[///M LIFE©]

Probably not loss in power.

But loss in cooling = higher running temperature = loss in power

[M52 POWER!]

If its a bad head gasket and coolant is leaking into the cylinders it could definitely cause a loss of performance. Does your coolant have oil in it or your oil have white stuff?

[Darth Maul]

how can you tell if coolant has oil in it, to me it looks somewhat like oil. I know oil looks like oil but the coolant is bluish. Should I stick a paper towel in there? I need to get this fixed ASAP!!!! I have the fan delete kit and aluminum thing from understeer.com

[Andres]

As long as it doesn't look like this, your okay.

[WytLytnyn]

When my radiator neck cracked and I started loosing coolant, I immediately saw a loss in power in the midrange. I shut the motor down immediately and there was no damage to the engine.

Where are you losing coolant from? One of the hoses? pump?

[beatniks325]

yeah you can stick a rag down into the expansion tank and dip it around to see if you pull up any little oil blobs.

[Daved]

If the coolant is leaking into the cylinders, you will feel some loss of performance.

Have you smelt the exhaust? Do you notice any white stream coming out of it?

[///M LIFE©]

As long as it doesn't look like this, your okay.