Coolant suddenly poured out of lower radiator petcock

I didn’t update this thread-when all was said and done I replaced the thermostat, then the radiator with a Mopar radiator I purchased from oemdodgeparts.us along with Mopar radiator cap and I replaced the upper and lower hoses. Jeep has been running great the past few months, no leaks. Thanks for all the help and recommendations!
 
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blacksun43 said:
I didn’t update this thread-when all was said and done I replaced the thermostat, then the radiator with a Mopar radiator I purchased from oemdodgeparts.us along with Mopar radiator cap and I replaced the upper and lower hoses. Jeep has been running great the past few months, no leaks. Thanks for all the help and recommendations!
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Thanks for the update, we all appreciate it!

Glad to hear it's running okay now as well.
 
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Hey, Jake here. Happy Thanksgiving everybody... newbie on this site with a 2001 Sahara that has a radiator that was replaced about 2.5 years ago according to the CarFax. I have a petcock issue too. It leaks. I took it out, put some plumbers tape on it and put on another O-ring and tightened it back up. I'm now trying to trace the leak and hoping that it stops or at least to a tiny trickle. My petcock is not the Doorman 61121 that seems to be the quoted correct part. Mine I think is actually Dorman® 61123 - Radiator Drain Petcock . Wondering what radiator I have? The petcock It looks like this. The shroud with the nipple stays on the radiator when you unscrew the petcock:

Capture.PNG
 
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zebra12 said:
Drain petcock looks nice and less messy.
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I hear ya.... It's supposed to be. But unfortunately, my 2 year old radiator is leaking at the petcock. It's plastic. A plastic wing bolt with a groove to release coolant. Ready to match it to a brass bolt, plug it and be done with it and just use the lower hose for flushing needs. Just would like to figure out what size it is. I guess I could take the petcock to Lowe's and stick it into one of those sizing holes in the fastener section... I'd like to figure out what radiator I have because the petcock replacement Dorman 61121 that is supposed to fit is not the right one.
 
@TJ_Jake first, welcome! Ive found this forum to be the most useful TJ forum out there, a centralized TJ database.

If it were me and going for a temp fix until plugging, i would see if your local auto parts guy can help you ID the radiator and go from there. The Taiwanese rad the P.O. had on my TJ had a label on the top.

Can you post a picture of your radiator, someone here might be able to ID it?
 
Thanks Blacksun. It appears to be a Car Quest 431512. I had a parts guy pull it. It matched up perfectly to the rad in my TJ, except the petcock was different. Wondering if they updated the design. I did try an NPT 1/
4 in brass petcock. It would go in thanks to the tapered design a little ways. I decided against it because I feared when the brass plug rethreaded the radiator, I would get little bits of plastic flashing running through the system. So I got some JB Minute Weld and permanently plugged the original petcock. It appears to be holding strong. I'll keep you guys updated. Thanks, Jake
 
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So... JB min weld seems to be holding. In other TJ news I have a brake leak and a stubborn ox sensor issue which I will post in their requisite threads. Thanks again for the help and encouragment.
 
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Just wanted to follow up. I think I may have solves the coolant leak for now. I sourced it to the lower radiator hose. The clamps I ordered from Amazon had “42” on them for you Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy fans you might find that comforting as that number winds up being the answer to the meaning of life in the book. But to my chagrin, they did not fit my radiator hose. Maybe I was looking for “47”? Anyway I did come up with a solution. The hose was still warm so it was malleable and I was able to just slide it over and get it past the hose just enough so when I put it on the radiator fitting, I could snug it up to the edge of the housing but it being 42 was too tight and would not fit around the hose that was on the radiator fitting. But I thought since it looked like it was applying pressure just aft of the fitting it might be helpful (I also imagined that since I had handled the clamp to death, it was now past the point of Amazon “return”. I then put the worm clamp back on as it would fit around part of the hose that was on the fitting. After driving for about 3 hours, I can say so far it seems to be working. But I would like to track down this 47 hose clamp or maybe it’s 45? Any help would be appreciated. I did look at the postings in this thread but I never felt like I saw a definitive answer. And maybe that’s because our TJs have aftermarket radiators that may be slight different? Anyway the spring clamp was a big step in the right direction and I appreciate all the help Ive gotten from this forum.
 
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A word to the wise on coolant hose clamps. Never use the aftermarket worm gear style clamps. There's a reason the factory uses the spring style clamps they do, and it isn't to save money. It's because those factory clamps apply an even amount of pressure, whereas the aftermarket worm gear clamps often times do not.

Anyways, I'm glad that this issue appears to have been solved, and thank you for the update!
 
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Chris said:
A word to the wise on coolant hose clamps. Never use the aftermarket worm gear style clamps. There's a reason the factory uses the spring style clamps they do, and it isn't to save money. It's because those factory clamps apply an even amount of pressure, whereas the aftermarket worm gear clamps often times do not.
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x2 to this. I wish the PO of my TJ would've realized that before swapping the majority of them out. :rolleyes:
 
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ElectricWizard said:
x2 to this. I wish the PO of my TJ would've realized that before swapping the majority of them out. :rolleyes:
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For some reason, most people assume they are an "upgrade". I've talked to some people from my former BMW days, who would say, "Oh, those factory style spring clamps are just their way of being cheap and saving money.". That always made me roll my eyes.
 
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Chris said:
A word to the wise on coolant hose clamps. Never use the aftermarket worm gear style clamps. There's a reason the factory uses the spring style clamps they do, and it isn't to save money. It's because those factory clamps apply an even amount of pressure, whereas the aftermarket worm gear clamps often times do not.

Anyways, I'm glad that this issue appears to have been solved, and thank you for the update!
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Yep. Would like to fine the clamp that fits. I think I need a 47 mm. Any ideas where I can get one?
 
Thanks Chris. Really a shame the dealer cant stock them for TJs. I found them I believe by Fastenal 10 to a pack but I guess they would be worth getting.
 
TJ_Jake said:
Can you confirm that a 45 would work? Or 47? The Fastenals appear to be listed in inches.
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I can't confirm as I actually haven't measured the size of the hose or clamp myself. I would like to know myself, as it wouldn't hurt to have a few extras laying around.

It is a shame the dealer doesn't carry these things.
 
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TJ_Jake said:
Thank you this is great but it says Upper Radiator Hose. Do you think it’s what I need for the Lower hose? I think it is because it’s 47 and 42 would not fit around the hose and radiator port
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If I removed an upper constant clamp that stated 47, then I would use the one I posted.
 
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