Coolant leak

MrBClark

MrBClark

TJ Enthusiast
Original poster
Joined
Mar 30, 2019
Messages
300
Location
Montoursville Pennsylvania
Need some help. My 01 Wrangler is losing coolant. Need to refill once every 1-1.5 weeks. The PO replaced the head and the radiator. The temp is fine, doesnt overheat. I do not have any symptoms of oil mixing with coolant. No white smoke out of exhaust or cloudy oil on dipstick. Also no sign of coolant when I take off the oil cap. Not sure if the PO replaced the rad cap tho. Saw this when I looked at it. For some reason the cap wasnt twisted fully tho. I did tighten it fully then drive it a bit and noticed a little in the same area. Only like a 10 min drive tho. Def gonna be replacing this cap but need opinions. The only thing I desperately dont want it to be is the head or head gasket, but like I said, it doesnt seem to be.

20190901_110803.webp
 
MrBClark said:
There actually was coolant on the passenger side one night but not since. Also not sure if it was my jeep or one of my other vehicles, or someone spilt some.
Click to expand...

I ask because the heater core is on that side and if it leaks it will gather on that side. If you want to do a easy check pull the carpet back and see what’s under it.
 
MrBClark said:
Not that I can see. I read where they can go bad over time and I am suspecting that's what it is. At least I hope it's as simple as that.
Click to expand...
Be sure to buy a start radiator cap 18lb.
 
Clean and dry it up around the cap and neck. Let it run a while in your driveway or yard and look for where the leak is coming from.

Likely the cap but could be a small crack around the neck somewhere.
 
If you saw liquid on the passengers side, it’s possible that it’s leaking out the HVAC vent port in the engine bay when the system comes up to pressure. I’d go for a drive to let everything come to temp, park it, and with it running check around for some active leaks. It has to be going somewhere.
 
MountaineerTom said:
Clean and dry it up around the cap and neck. Let it run a while in your driveway or yard and look for where the leak is coming from.

Likely the cap but could be a small crack around the neck somewhere.
Click to expand...
Took it on a 25 min drive this morning and went out to look at it with it running. This is what I found. If you follow the trail of it you can see it goes all the way around the top of the radiator.

20190902_115823.webp
 
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We’re you able to see where the leak started from or was it already kind of spread out everywhere?

It might be kind of boring, but if you can sit and watch it running after you’ve cleaned it up, you might be able to pinpoint it.
 
MountaineerTom said:
We’re you able to see where the leak started from or was it already kind of spread out everywhere?

It might be kind of boring, but if you can sit and watch it running after you’ve cleaned it up, you might be able to pinpoint it.
Click to expand...
It's the cap. When the cap tried to relieve pressure a ton of coolant gushed out. Really hoping this is the problem. Seems to be
 
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Hopefully it is. That would be the cheapest and easiest solution. : )
 

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