New member, and first post. Could not find the answer to the following question in this forum or anywhere on the internet.

In short, there is warning light that comes on and off and I can not confirm what it is (see picture). I believe it is the coolant light, but it is not exactly the same as the one in the manual (although it is in the coolant light position on the dash). Two part question....is this the coolant light, and why does it keep coming on and off (see details below).

First morning driving it to work I started it up and left it to warm up while I went in and poured myself some coffee. When I got back in the rig I noticed the light was on. I checked my coolant levels and they looked to be within range (note I also checked it later when the engine was cool). I drove it anyway, and after a few minutes I got on the hwy and the light turned off. It stayed off until I got into downtown and pulled into the parking lot when it came back on. It has been doing this the last few days. Any thoughts.

Details on the rig: 2005 KJ CRD, Limited, Off-Road Package, GDE Flash, K&N filter.

that's the low coolant sensor.

It could always be a bad sensor but...

I had the same symptoms as you. The light would come on and off, but my coolant was usually okay, though it always seemed to lose a little bit. Bottom line is is WAS losing some coolant...but I thought maybe it was just a small leak I will have fixed "in a few days".

Mine was a failing water pump that ended up take out my timing belt and rockers with it. I regret ignoring it every day, but it's too late now.

That's from my personal experience. Wait for some answers from the guys here that actually know a lot about vehicles and you might find out other things it could be.

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Low mileage 2005 Jeep Liberty CRD for sale.

Thanks for the reply, and that may be my case. The engine is at about 110K miles and has not had the t-belt/water pump replaced. I am in the process of getting quotes for that work to be done already and just need to scrape together the money to do it. So far $1300 is the best I have been told....as expected from what i have researched online.

Any body else out there with some knowledge on my issue?

Friend, you are crazy to keep driving that. Park it now and having the timing belt job done immediately. You can buy the parts yourself to save from the mechanic just ordering the first thing he finds from the dealer. $1300 is laughable compared to what I paid for the TB job and rockers. I'm not saying this is your issue at all, but the fact that you are over the 100mile mark with the original TB is a big risk. When it breaks, things will get really expensive.

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Low mileage 2005 Jeep Liberty CRD for sale.

Friend, you are crazy to keep driving that. Park it now and having the timing belt job done immediately. You can buy the parts yourself to save from the mechanic just ordering the first thing he finds from the dealer. $1300 is laughable compared to what I paid for the TB job and rockers. I'm not saying this is your issue at all, but the fact that you are over the 100mile mark with the original TB is a big risk. When it breaks, things will get really expensive.[/quote]

Ugh...that would be just my luck too...knocking on wood as I type.

It is entirely possible to keep it going for a while with no problems, but the bottom line is you are going to have to pay that money for a TB change eventually anyway. Do it now so you hopefully don't end up paying breaking your rockers too.

I'm not saying this is even related to the coolant light or not, but it needs to be changed anyway.

Also, check out the NOOB guide for things you might not know about the CRD. A lot of the people that don't post here aren't aware of the [almost mandatory] EGR delete/disable, GDE, 5w40, etc.

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Low mileage 2005 Jeep Liberty CRD for sale.

I appreciate it, and I'm following your logic behind the now or later TB change. Going to call the guy in the morning and get him ordering the parts so I can get the TB done next week. Also, I already stumbled across the NOOB guide (awesome by the way), and think the previous owner has all but the TB squared away, and the mechanic I spoke with about the TB knew about things like the heavier oil etc (he has worked on CRD's before).

Research the timing belt kit for yourself. I should have done this myself for my TB and rocker repair but the parts were all ordered from the dealer and I paid more because of it.

http://www.idparts.com/catalog/product_ ... ts_id=2721
Here's one kit. Not sure how the graf water pump compared to OEM, but I think there was a thread about that on here somewhere.

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Low mileage 2005 Jeep Liberty CRD for sale.

The GRAF water pump is fine, it's made in Germany, not China.

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Silver 2006 KJ 2.8L CRD Limited:
GDE ECO Tune / Fumoto Valve / E-Tecno GX3123 7v Glow Plugs / 2nd Gen Fuel Head / Mishimoto RED Hoses / Rockers/Lifters @ 114k / Hayden FC + 11 Blade Nylon / Sears P1 Battery / Transgo 45RFE-HD2 Reprogramming Kit / Timken Front Bearings

There are a host of places where coolant can be lost and I cannot tell from the OPs comments how much if any is being lost. Best I can say on my 05 and stoutdog's 06 the coolant level (cold) sits essentially at the "casting" mid line in the tank (see NOOB guide 1s picture). External leaks can occur at any of the hose clamps, radiator core, heater core, EGR cooler, or engine oil cooler and UV dye combined with a UV light can be helpful in diagnosis (except for the heater core - for that look for drips from the HVAC drain to "taste" sweet like antifreeze or heated air to smell like antifreeze).

The one hugely problematic coolant leak point is the head gasket and, while there are ways to test for coolant in the oil and the reverse, one easy way is to start with a cold engine; run it at idle for a few seconds (I'll defer to others but like 10 seconds); shut off and remove coolant/radiator cap on the coolant tank on the firewall. What you are looking for is an immediate buildup of pressure in that tank from a leaky head gasket. Don't run the engine long or that tank will build pressure normally as the coolant warms up.

X infinity on not delaying on the TB job. There may be some reasonably local forum members that can help in which case get the IDparts pkg, the tools or reasonable substitutes (see for example http://www.beesvillebeefarm.com/jeep.html) and do the job with that member (NOTE just replace the front 1/2 of the water pump to make the job much simpler). An experience CRD mechanic should be able to do the job in 5 hrs to give you an idea of the labor charge if you pay to have the work done. While in there do a fan shroud mod to make future access easier (viewtopic.php?f=98&t=64278&p=709322#p709322)

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Sold to LOST member my 05 Ltd, GDE Stg II turbo + TCM tune, SunCoast TC w. Transgo kit, Steiger window regulators, Samcos, Fumoto valve, 2nd gen filter head with Lub. Spec. bleeder, Hayden clutch & 11 blade fan, inverted spare, P-1 battery, BF Goodrich Long Trail TAs, Etecno1 glow plugs, timing belt at 50K miles/8 yrs

Wow...that's allot of info...thank you. I went ahead and schedule the TB change for this Monday, and am trying not to drive the rig until then. Wife was a little pissed after I told her how much it was going to cost. Could save some money ordering my own parts, but right now, time is money and need this rig ready to go. I plan on having this rig for many, many years so I do not want to skimp on any parts. Thanks again, and if the coolant issue shows up after the TB job I will be sure to update this thread.

You MUST diagnose even small coolant loss before TB job because you will incur MUCH additional cost if you have to do it all over again. Hopefully, it IS the WP which you will be replacing anyway, but you need to be sure.

DOC

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2005 KJ CRD Ltd Detroit TrueTrac Bilsteins G2 GDE "HOT" ECU GDE TCM "Tow Tune" "euro" TC SEGR Weeks Elbow New HG at 130K ARPs Clean CAT aFe Filter Magnaflow Exhaust EHM Cumminos In-Tank Lift Pump Hayden Fan Clutch Nylon Fan VH Enabled with GDE lower shutoff point Recalibrated Temp Gauge Tekonsha Prodigy Sears P-1 ZDDP

I will have the mechanic do that..thanks!

Have your mechanic add some UV dye to the coolant and check for leaks before he starts the water pump.

If you have a blown/leaking head gasket you're going to want to get it while you're in there for the timing belt, serious. You have to take it all back out and more to get there later if that's what it is.

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Silver 2006 KJ 2.8L CRD Limited:
GDE ECO Tune / Fumoto Valve / E-Tecno GX3123 7v Glow Plugs / 2nd Gen Fuel Head / Mishimoto RED Hoses / Rockers/Lifters @ 114k / Hayden FC + 11 Blade Nylon / Sears P1 Battery / Transgo 45RFE-HD2 Reprogramming Kit / Timken Front Bearings

Well I figured I would add an update to my original post. Mechanic checked the coolant issue and found no leaks...he did not do a UV test, but figured I just had low coolant, as he saw no signs of coolant leaking anywhere and said all my seals looked in great shape (even though allot of were replaced anyway during the TB job). Got the timing belt all done, but the TC locked up on him when he first pulled it into the bay. Was worried I was going to have to do the TC replace. After a few hours of diagnostic and checking by the mechanic, he could not find any issues with the TC and could not get it to lock up again, so I am going to postpone the TC work until it really causes an issue....knock on wood. Mechanic also found that my rear brakes were "smoked" as he put it, so i ended up paying for new rear rotors, pads and calipers....ugh. But I finally have my CRD after about three weeks of when I bought it...time to put this baby to the test. I wonder how long it will be until I feel the need to lift it...I give it a month....glad to be a part of the CRD owners group!

Start working on it yourself. The mechanic is full of it on a lot of what he told you, and you just made him a bunch of free money.

The rear brakes can easily last 50k miles or more, so it is possible that the original owner never changed them, but I doubt that - they might have been just fine however. I had a mechanic tell me (when he was supposed to be working on the FRONT end) that my rear brakes were also 'very badly worn' and should be replaced immediately.

I told him first to concentrate on what I asked (and was paying him) to be working on. Oh, and by the way: I had replaced the rear brakes myself about 10k miles prior, so take your extra profit lines and shove them, thanks.

The pads I took off? Ok, they were into the rivets on one side, which was too low. But they had 80k miles on them!

As far as the timing job - There are exactly 2 "seals" that are part of the kit, and don't need to be replaced: The inner and outer timing belt cover seals. They seal out dust only, and don't usually fall apart. The water pump seals with an o-ring, if the mechanic replaced the entire pump rather than just the front half, then he never saw that o-ring, and he should have replaced a paper flat gasket.

Thats it. Nothing else has a seal.

Some water evaporation is possible, but refill the coolant and monitor the level. If it drops, you might have a head gasket problem, which won't be much fun to deal with, now that the timing has been done. All that stuff would need to come out again.

Since you are in Oregon, you are a bit far from the Western guru, but you might want to contact Sir Sam who is in Colorado for more 'local' assistance should you have any other problems. I hope it lasts for you!

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Over 225 CRDs currently driving with my valves, timing belt, rockers, or ARP Studs.
Bad noises = REALLY bad things.

Much appreciated!

Gotta love some mechanics. Looking for coolant leaks by eyeball can work if you have a large leak or one that's gone on long enough to leave a whitish powder trail. But I can tell you from personal experience doing it by eyeball is a total waste of time especially for small leaks not to mention I'll bet the mechanic doesn't know about the EGR cooler (driver side of block low toward the back) or the oil cooler (passenger side of the block forward of turbo).

Keep an eye on coolant level for the next few weeks. If it stays rock solid you are ok. If not invest in UV dye and a UV light source and look for an external leak including from your heater core (would show as UV dye at the place where AC condensation drips)

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Sold to LOST member my 05 Ltd, GDE Stg II turbo + TCM tune, SunCoast TC w. Transgo kit, Steiger window regulators, Samcos, Fumoto valve, 2nd gen filter head with Lub. Spec. bleeder, Hayden clutch & 11 blade fan, inverted spare, P-1 battery, BF Goodrich Long Trail TAs, Etecno1 glow plugs, timing belt at 50K miles/8 yrs

darn, this was a thorough fleecing!

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2005 KJ CRD - EURO TC, GDE ECO-FT, GDE TRANS, Lift Pump(<- hard to install, worth it) = 32+ MPG highway and a great ride
Product & Catalog Director @ IDParts.com (888) 444-7951 sales@idparts.com http://www.idparts.com

Although my original comments may have come across in a way that makes me sound like a sheep to the mechanics slaughter, give me some credit. The breaks were in fact "toasted", and I had noticed something was wrong when I bought it, I was just hoping the calipers could have been saved. After looking at the calipers, they were not worth saving, and it was just an excuse for me to get the break lines flushed, and get a baseline being that this a new vehicle for me (now I know it has been done, instead of some guy telling me when he thought it was done last).

Now the coolant leak...you all have made great points which had not fallen on deaf ears, however I am going to play the ignorance is bliss card here, and keep a keen eye on the coolant level for the next few weeks (I commute 70 miles a day, so I should know pretty fast). I do appreciate all the detailed knowledge regarding potential places it may be leaking if this does turn out to be an issue. My biggest objective was to get this rig up and running so I could replace a POS loaner rig I was using as my DD. Time was money to me, and I do not have the space or tools to do allot of this myself. As for the mechanic spending time on things other then what they were supposed to do, I did tell the mechanic to inspect the vehicle for other potential issues, as this was a new rig for me, and only knew as much as I gleamed from the previous owner, and from my limited inspection/test-drive. The mechanic made a few other observations that said should not be issues but to keep an eye on (example, small leak in the rear diff, etc). I am sure I could have found someone/somewhere cheaper (especially the break job), but again time was money. Also, this mechanic was familiar with the CRD's, as he has three others he services on a regular basis, and was experienced with the TB job....so I was not dropping my new CRD off to be a ginnie pig.

Again, all the comments and tech tips are greatly appreciated, and is what I expected from this awesome forum. And if I blow a head gasket in the next few months I will be sure to let all of you know so that you may throw out countless "I told you so's"...haha.