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Burning Coolant?

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Jeepin01

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Does your TJ burn coolant more quickly than expected?

I need to add at every oil change...the overfill is almost empty each time.

I am new with Wranglers so just wondering if this is typical? Does anyone else have to do this?
 
#3 ·
If you are not seeing any coolant on the ground and no visible leaks are evident. Check your oil. If it's overfull or appears milky looking, as UnlimitedLJ04 said, head gasket or cracked head. White smoke out of the exhaust when the jeep is at operating temp may also be an indication. You can also get a pressure tester from the local auto zone or similar and pressurize the system. might help find a leak. Good luck! Is your jeep running normal temps, around 210?
 
#4 ·
Before condemning the head gasket make sure there are no slow external leaks. Get a pressure tester and pressure test the system as mentioned above. Look under the thermostat housing and water pump for stains of coolant leaking. Look along the bottom of the radiator for any stains as well as at all of the hose connections. Check the floor under the dash and make sure heater core is not leaking.

If you don't find anything after thorough inspection and pressure testing then start looking into a head gasket. Pull the plugs and see if any of them look like they have been burning coolant.
 
Discussion starter · #5 ·
Roy626 said:
If you are not seeing any coolant on the ground and no visible leaks are evident. Check your oil. If it's overfull or appears milky looking, as UnlimitedLJ04 said, head gasket or cracked head. White smoke out of the exhaust when the jeep is at operating temp may also be an indication. You can also get a pressure tester from the local auto zone or similar and pressurize the system. might help find a leak. Good luck! Is your jeep running normal temps, around 210?
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Yes it runs near 210 and I have never seen anything on the ground, so if it is leaking, I am assuming it is a small crack and it burns up as soon as it leaks. I will look into getting a pressure tester.
 
#6 ·
If a 2000 or 2001 4.0 suspect head crack it was common enough that jeep did a head design and used same casting number but cast the word TUPY into improved(less crack prone)head

If yours is a 4.0 check oil immediately as a cracked head is a much easier repair than a total rebuild from running on water/coolant contaminated oil

Do a search on tupy head for more info as crack is usually visible without any disassembly and a leak down test won't be abnormal
 
#10 · (Edited)
You or a mechanic can use a test kit available in many auto parts stores to test for the presence of exhaust gases under the radiator cap which would indicate a blown head gasket or cracked head. http://www.ehow.com/how_7885485_test-exhaust-gases-coolant.html.

But also, just make sure it's not simply a slow non-obvious leak... do a very careful inspection and look under the water pump, radiator, hoses, and thermostat housing for leaks. Heck the coolant can even slosh around inside the overflow reservoir enough to splash out and make it appear to be leaking elsewhere. Make sure that cap is on securely. Make sure too that your radiator cap is screwed on all the way and not leaking. Old radiator caps can leak coolant when the coolant gets hot enough.
 
#12 ·
I had this problem as well. I looked all over for leaks, did the pressure test and came up with nothing. I then bought a new radiator cap and have not had an issue since. There was no sign of it at the cap, but it seems that is where it was leaking.
 
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#13 ·
Well there are two of us then that use coolant, Maybe 2 quarts every 5000 miles, done it for 7 or 8 years, for at least the last 200,000 miles...it use to bother me, water is cheep!

I have changed everything except the long block, oil is perfect, no steam out the exhaust pipe, no bubbles in the radiator, clean oil per 5000 mile change great mileage.
 
#15 ·
I would like to find where my water is going, the overflow tank just mysteriously needs filling about every oil change.

* I have changed the water pump twice,
* Replaced the radiator twice,
* Replaced the thermostat cover,
* Replaced all the hoses,
* Replaced radiator cap twice
* Replaced radiator overflow tank hose

It's not in the oil, or radiator water, no puddles on the ground.

My Jeeps floor is dry, no antifreeze on windshield, so the heater is ok

It just disappears, it's a very slow leak to somewhere,
My dealer is stumped well. At least it's cheap to replace.
 
#16 ·
I have had small leaks where it evaporates without seeing anything on the ground (you can usually smell something) To best locate an external leak, UV dye can be put into the system. Any shop can do it or you can buy a kit. After a couple of days you hit everything with a black light and any resudue from coolant glows bright as day you will see where it came from (works great for locating sources of oil leaks also)
 
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#17 ·
Check your oil pan gasket, if it looks wet then there is a good chance that you're leaking through the freeze plugs on the side of the block. I just had this issue. Once the coolant is going through the engine and gets hot, if it is leaking through a small path around the freeze plugs it will run down the side of the block and then down towards the oil pan and then drip onto the exhaust and burn there, sometimes you will see it run off of the exhaust (if it is cool enough not to burn the coolant) and there might be a small brown drip.

I had this issue and was dealing with it for quite a while (see my thread http://www.wranglerforum.com/f210/c...lant-leak-then-running-without-coolant-damage-done-new-problems-too-521385.html).

No level change in oil, yet coolant missing, no leaks around water pump or hoses, pressure test loss pressure VERY slowly, like only 1 psi over 5 minutes. I couldn't for the life of me find out where it was going until my clutch went out and I had the mechanic look for the leak.

But I also know that I have the "0331" head not the "0331 TUPY" so every so often I have been taking small oil samples in small glass jars and letting them sit to see if there is any oil/water separation. So far there has been very little, which I think might just be condensation in the block over the winter when it gets cold. No chocolate milk coming from the oil pan.

But keeping an eye on it.

Good luck!
 
#18 ·
Can I visually see if I have a cracked head or head gasket needs replacing?

I've purchased this 01 Sport 4.0. I've had the oil pan gasket, valve cover gasket, and rear main seal done (no leaks). I had to get a new top, but later found out, there's no replacement top available for the hardware it came with. I later found rust underneath the carpet, pulled it out, removed all the rust, and rhino lined.
I also had the coolant flushed and replaced with Mopar suggested coolant.

I am now realizing that it's burning coolant, but I don't see any noticeable leaks. I find this thread and find out I have a "bad year" Jeep and if a cracked head or blown head gasket, culprit for coolant burn. This thing is turning into a money pit.
 
#19 ·
How do you know it is burning just because it disappears?

The 2000 and 2001 head is crack prone and typically leaks coolant into crankcase.

Beware if your oil lever creams up as coolant is slowly lost you may have coolant in oil which will kill the engine if you run on contaminated oil.

Look up TUPY heads as you will see wher to look for hairline crack and no disassembly required to see crack.

Check oil
Carefully
 
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Digger84
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