Coolant loss 2003 Honda civic Ex

Adonblue

Hi,
Can anyone give me an idea of what is the possible problem.
I have a 2003 Honda Civic Ex and it seems to lose coolant. Coolant does not seem to go to oil pan, transmission oil( through cracked ATF cooler in radiator if aplicable), nor it is coming through tail pipe (white smoke). It seems that after 30 miles drive the radiator coolant level would go down and reservoir will go up. The coolant from reservoir does not seem to go back into the radiator after car cools down.
I put a dye in the radiator and 24hr later discovered that coolant is coming out of the reservoir after getting full during the drive. I am concern that it is a blown head gasket, or even worse a cracked head.
Any thoughts anyone?

Thank you,
Adon Blue

Mr_Shiftright

I would suggest two things. One, to pressure test the cooling system with a pump to see if you get an external leak; Two--keep the system under pressure if you don't see external leaks, and then remove the spark plugs one by one and look for coolant on them--that would indicate a bad head gasket.

You can also buy a chemical test kit to see if there are combustion gases in the coolant itself--Autozone would have this kit.

The coolant is either leaking out or burning--no other possibility to explain loss--certainly coolant being blown out of the reservoir indicates either head gasket issues or overheating for some reason.