Coolant reservoir constantly draining unusually fast

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ajmigs

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Hey all,

I just bought my first TJ (4.0) last year at about 114k. Its been an up and down road needing a lot of work here and there but forums have usually been able to help me diagnose issues.

The issue I am having right now is involving my coolant levels. My reservoir tank drains ridiculously fast and I dont understand why. When I say fast I mean, I filled it to the fill line, drove 10 minutes home and when I got home it was basically empty.

I gathered from the forums that it may be a heater core issue, but i have great heat, no visible leaks, passenger side floor is dry, no noticeable smell of coolant or other substance and the car runs at a great temp roughly around 210.

If anyone has any suggestions or advice for something to look out for or to monitor id really appreciate it as right now im considering flushing the system but am not exactly sure of the next step to make.
 
That much that fast should not be too hard to find.

If the oil is not cloudy looking, and you don't see any visible leaks, that pretty much means it has to be going out the exhaust.
Do you notice a white cloud when you start off coming out of your exhaust?
 
GaTechTJ said:
That much that fast should not be too hard to find.

If the oil is not cloudy looking, and you don't see any visible leaks, that pretty much means it has to be going out the exhaust.
Do you notice a white cloud when you start off coming out of your exhaust?
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I havent but I was going to pay more attention to that after reading another forum. As of now I havent had that issue to my knowledge. However, about 2 weeks ago my CEL came on with a p0432 code and oxygen sensors and cat are all good and the light turned off. Could that be a sign of a leak involving the exhuast?
 
You don't state how often this happened, but You either have a leak or a big air bubble in the system. I would park it on an incline, remove the radiator cap and let it run for 15 minutes or so to bleed all the air out while continuing to top it off. I would also buy a new 18 PSI radiator cap and install that after you bleed the air out and top everything off then see what it does.
 
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Was this a one-time thing or does the overflow bottle lose that much coolant regularly?
 
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CodaMan said:
You don't state how often this happened, but You either have a leak or a big air bubble in the system. I would park it on an incline, remove the radiator cap and let it run for 15 minutes or so to bleed all the air out while continuing to top it off. I would also buy a new 18 PSI radiator cap and install that after you bleed the air out and top everything off then see what it does.
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It happens fairly often
qslim said:
Was this a one-time thing or does the overflow bottle lose that much coolant regularly?
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it has happened multiple times, but i have not noticed until recently. I would fill the reservoir and the temp would be fine and it would run fine but I did not notice this was an issue until recently when I went to fill up my wiper fluid and realized it was significantly empty after I had just recently filled it that week. I continued to test it out to make sure it wasnt a one time thing
 
The coolant loss you're describing is pretty significant, if that were happening on a regular basis (like the 10 minutes to empty it) you'd have a very obvious leak or driveability issues / white exhaust smoke. I'd start with a new cap, then while you're at the parts store see if they have a pressure tester you can use. Pump up the system & see if its holding pressure.
 
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qslim said:
The coolant loss you're describing is pretty significant, if that were happening on a regular basis (like the 10 minutes to empty it) you'd have a very obvious leak or driveability issues / white exhaust smoke. I'd start with a new cap, then while you're at the parts store see if they have a pressure tester you can use. Pump up the system & see if its holding pressure.
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That’s why I’m so confused, it’s such a significant amount and it can’t just disappear. I appreciate the advice and will update
 
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You have a 2001, so your 0331 cylinder head has a propensity to crack between cylinders 3 and 4. Do you see any milky goo under the oil filler cap? Shut the engine off when it's hot, open the cap, and peer inside the head. Do you see coolant bubbling up? If your head is cracked and you're losing that much coolant, it will be easy to spot.

Hopefully that's not the problem.
 
Update:
After driving I am starting to smell a bit of a coolant smell, but not from inside the Jeep. When I turned it off and got out I could smell what I believe to be kind of a coolant smell. This would suggest the heater core correct?
 
If you smell coolant, you have a leak. Now you just need to find it and a heater core would smell inside the vehicle. As far as the wiper fluid, that's totally unrelated.
 
bromel said:
You have a 2001, so your 0331 cylinder head has a propensity to crack between cylinders 3 and 4. Do you see any milky goo under the oil filler cap? Shut the engine off when it's hot, open the cap, and peer inside the head. Do you see coolant bubbling up? If your head is cracked and you're losing that much coolant, it will be easy to spot.

Hopefully that's not the problem.
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I opened up the cap and saw the goo u were talking about
 
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