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coolant leak

6K views 20 replies 9 participants last post by  bubbabud 
#1 ·
I have a coolant leak. I can only see that is wet where the fans of the radiator meet the bottom part of the radiator. In the morning the shroud collects a tiny pool of coolant. There is no coolant on the engine itself. There is no coolant spray under the hood. I think it's a bad radiator but I haven't ruled out the water pump yet but it's probably time to change it to. What do you guys think
 
#2 ·
Sounds like maybe you have a crack somewhere in the plastic of the radiator. If you have a plastic radiator that is. I had this happen to mine about 5 months ago, but I had droplets of coolant all over the fan and the top of the radiator. then it was wet down on the steering linkage. Do a pressure test and see what you get.
 
#4 ·
Stick with an OEM radiator. These aluminum units fail a lot, and multi rows do not help at all. Jeep switched from a two bank to a single for a reason. If your OEM radiator lasted this long, another will give you similar service.

I only buy OEM for critical parts. Jeep provided us with an excellent system. IACs have been repeatedly shown to do nothing, even with a high output exhaust. Likewise, the OEM cooling system does as good or better than anything you can get aftermarket. The parts may indeed offer better performance, but the system has been engineered at its max, so the engine will not be able to capitalize on any improvements.

And I keep reading horror stories about radiator barn stuff, anyway.

Good luck! :)
 
#5 ·
So did a pressure test when the coolant was still warm. I didn't isolate the radiator as I didn't have my tools and such with me. I couldn't find the leak just yet, but when I pumped the pressure up (15psi) the pressure would slowly decrease maybe 1 psi every 2mins or so. If its the water pump weep hole wouldn't I see coolant leaking out on to the engine with this pressure test?
 
#8 ·
I had the same problem and chased it for months. Coolant would collect on the bottom of the rad. All 3 of them! Pressure test showed no leaks on any of them. In the end I returned my Griffin rad one last time for a replacement. The guys at Summit noted that my old rad had more than just antifreeze inside the ports. The brown ended up being sludge in the engine because I had never properly flushed the entire cooling system. I had only replaced the rad. I don't know that a dirty engine can cause a rad to leak but after doing a full system flush my problem is finally resolved - 6 months! I suspect there was excessive pressure building up because my top hose had to be double clamped or it would slide off when it got hot.

Don't overlook your cap and top hose either. The coolant follows gravity so be sure to start looking from the top. Get her up to temp and carefully move your top hose around and look for green. Same with your cap. When it's hot on top of the rad the evidence evaporates so it can be tough to spot. Good luck.
 
#14 ·
I see you have a 2004, What is your mileage? My water pump just went bad at 90,000 after reading thread after thread I decided to replace my water pump,radiator,coolant hoses.heater hoses,T-stat,fan clutch& serpentine belt. All parts ordered from MOPAR I'm the 3rd owner off this TJ and will be the last.
 
#15 ·
I'm the 1st and last. Got a napa radiator and an autozone water pump. Looked quality made no bs and is working well. I replaced my belt with a goodyear gator when it looked worn. Replaced that one when I did the pump never had a belt fail. I highly maintain my baby. Do lots if research before most parts. The all aluminum radiators were a fing joke. If your the one that thinks hey I have broke crap no one can do better you are wrong. Sometimes buying the same stuff that broke to begin with is stupid. Jeeps from 2000 the radiator is an overpriced pos. :) it fails. That's why your shopping. Better stuff is out there like napa.
 
#16 ·
Here is what the bottom of the radiator looks like after sitting for a 9 hours. I am probably going to replace the radiator, water pump and thermostat tmrw with napa parts. I am at 100k. I probably should do the belt but it looks good to me, no cracking. I've replaced all the pulleys and tensioner pulley. I'll get a better look at the hose tmrw but they look fine as well.

 
#20 ·
The radiator, water pump, serp belt, thermostat install went well. took about 40mins to just clean off all the gasket material. No leaks now. Also installed the Currie Antirock. One question about filling the cooling system back up. I filled up the radiator with my coolant, started it, warmed up and the thermostat opened and it lowered the coolant level, then I filled it back up and ran the jeep for another 10 mins and level did not change. So I put the cap on and called it good. I had to fill the radiator this morning as well when it was cold. I've noticed the the temp does not stay as steady as it did before. it goes to 210 then drops a few degrees, then it holds right below 210. Is normal or do I have to burp my cooling system. I don't hear any swihing noises, my heater works, etc. It might be normal and I just never noticed it before.
 
#21 ·
Does your jeep have a coolant recovery bottle? if not you should seriously consider installing one. all systems will displace coolant as they warm up. With a recovery bottle the coolant will be captured and drawn back into the radiator as it cools down and as long as there is coolant in the bottle you can be sure the system is full.:)
 
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