coolant leak

jlgail4309 · **Posted:** Sat Feb 02, 2013 9:43 pm

Had a puddle of coolant under the Jeep this morning. I think the water pump is leaking. It was cold and before started the Jeep. I checked the coolant looked a little low. The oil looks good. When it was cold the coolant cap has pressure more than I remember. It started and runs fine. Can we get water pumps now or they still on back order? Any thoughts thanks.

ChooChooman74 · **Posted:** Sat Feb 02, 2013 10:02 pm

No problem getting oem from IDparts. How many miles and TB done?

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

jlgail4309 · **Posted:** Sat Feb 02, 2013 10:23 pm

I have about 20000 miles on the timing belt. I'm pretty sure u can only use the belt one time. When I did the timing belt last year. The water pump was on back order but i needed a belt. Everything else is new. Thanks for the tip.

jlgail4309 · **Posted:** Sat Feb 02, 2013 10:39 pm

id parts still selling the crown pump. have they fixed the bearing problems.

racertracer · **Posted:** Sun Feb 03, 2013 3:53 am

jlgail4309 wrote:

When it was cold the coolant cap has pressure more than I remember

Oh oh... There should be no pressure under the cap when cold.

naturist · **Posted:** Sun Feb 03, 2013 9:33 am

Could indeed be the water pump. But I too am a bit concerned about the pressure under the cap when cold. Have you ever had an overheating problem?

woodtick · **Posted:** Sun Feb 03, 2013 9:52 am

jlgail4309 wrote:

id parts still selling the crown pump. have they fixed the bearing problems.

I just double checked the idparts site. The kit includes the OE VM water pump. In talking with them last week, I believe they discontinued the crown water pumps altogether.

jlgail4309 · **Posted:** Sun Feb 03, 2013 9:55 am

When I pulled a trailer last year it got 3/4 . I turned the heater on to pull of the heat. I thought the pressure was weird. Never ran low on water the heater has always been hot. I wondering if the cap could be bad as well.

racertracer · **Posted:** Sun Feb 03, 2013 10:40 am

jlgail4309 wrote:

When I pulled a trailer last year it got 3/4 . I turned the heater on to pull of the heat. I thought the pressure was weird. Never ran low on water the heater has always been hot. I wondering if the cap could be bad as well.

If the cap wasn't working, the coolant would easily flow into the reservoir. The coolant would be easily pushed through the weak cap and into the reservoir.

Do you have coolant in the reservoir?

How many miles on your rig?

Have you checked the cooling system for electrolysis? Have you replaced the OEM coolant yet?

Prevent corrosion and electrolysis, it is known to clog cooling systems. You can read about it all over this forum, with ugly photos as proof. If the radiator is clogged, it will reduce coolant flow, making it difficult to cool the system when towing.

What modifications have you done to it so far, what modifications have you been running with?

One more question: Is the puddle of coolant, pooling just under the front passenger door?

jlgail4309 · **Posted:** Sun Feb 03, 2013 1:49 pm

The first time it has happened was yesterday. We are not driving the Jeep till be get it towed in and looked at. It is a puddle on the right side of the Jeep by the front tires. We haven't done anything else. Besides parking It. Coolant is in the reservoir looks like it lost a little bit not much. 168000 miles the coolant has been replaced when we did the timing belt. I will replace again when we get new water pump and timing belt . Hoat . I planning on new Hayden 2905 Thermal Fan Clutch and Mopar Part 5142601AA THERMOSTAT. If gets into the head I'm not sure what to do. A new motor is only 8500.00 will have to weigh the cost of a head to how many miles. I think if gets above 50% of a cost of a new motor. GDE tune only mod I have done. I know it a thermostat an fan clutch

jlgail4309 · **Posted:** Sun Feb 03, 2013 2:17 pm

When I went to double check on the coolant in the reservoir. It hasn't been started and pressure is still on that cap. Not a lot but still has pressure !!

racertracer · **Posted:** Sun Feb 03, 2013 2:57 pm

Well.... I am sorry to say, but you have a head gasket failure.

I suggest that you do not proceed with the TB / WP thermostat work yet, until you repair the HG leak problem first. Otherwise you will be throwing money to the wind.

jlgail4309 · **Posted:** Sun Feb 03, 2013 3:56 pm

because of the pressure on the cap. How much was your head replacement. I have a good tech that did my timing change.

racertracer · **Posted:** Sun Feb 03, 2013 4:47 pm

jlgail4309 wrote:

because of the pressure on the cap. How much was your head replacement. I have a good tech that did my timing change.

Have the mechanic confirm that exhaust gases are in fact leaking in the coolant.

You will need a reconditioned head from VM.
The dealer did mine when I had the TB WP work done and the labor was $1200 plus parts.

jlgail4309 · **Posted:** Sun Feb 03, 2013 4:59 pm

Do have any part # for the head and head gasket. It not just a gasket because of the pressure on the cap. Hoping for less than 5000.00 over that and will have to take a hard look at throwing back together and trading it off. What was the price for parts !!

woodtick · **Posted:** Sun Feb 03, 2013 5:12 pm

Does anyone know if in Europe there is there a required (or recommended) interval for re-torquing the head to prevent warping in the maintenance schedule? Or as a course of action after overheating? Would this even help?

Assuming the head is warped, could it be milled flat again? Or no?

I remember Toyota used to recommend retorque on some of their gas engines, maybe they still do. Don't know the reason for it.

racertracer · **Posted:** Sun Feb 03, 2013 6:10 pm

jlgail4309 wrote:

Do have any part # for the head and head gasket. It not just a gasket because of the pressure on the cap. Hoping for less than 5000.00 over that and will have to take a hard look at throwing back together and trading it off. What was the price for parts !!

Jlgail,

I feel your pain.

I don't have the part numbers handy, but I am sure someone else may be able to help you with that, or you can do a search for them.

I believe that there are 3 vendors that you can source for parts besides the dealer.

IDPARTS.
http://www.rockauto.com
And a Company in England that I do not know the name.

racertracer · **Posted:** Sun Feb 03, 2013 6:21 pm

woodtick wrote:

Does anyone know if in Europe there is there a required (or recommended) interval for re-torquing the head to prevent warping in the maintenance schedule? Or as a course of action after overheating? Would this even help?

Assuming the head is warped, could it be milled flat again? Or no?

I remember Toyota used to recommend retorque on some of their gas engines, maybe they still do. Don't know the reason for it.

Woodtick,

I know of a member that did just that, he re-torqued the OEM Torq To Yield studs and had no problems after that but he was ready to do the job again because there is no guarantee.

Some say that the head can be milled down to the next thicker gasket size and others say that if the head is warped it has reached a point of no return. I wouldn't take the chance.

woodtick · **Posted:** Sun Feb 03, 2013 6:49 pm

[quote= Some say that the head can be milled down to the next thicker gasket size and others say that if the head is warped it has reached a point of no return. I wouldn't take the chance.[/quote]

I will assume my thought process is incorrect, but here it goes.

The head likely would warp during overheating due to inconsistencies in the aluminum and/ or slight variations in torque values on the head studs due to "bolt stretch" inconsistent torquing at point of assembly, poor head gasket quality control, or possibly vibration.

Does this sound correct? If so then milling flat and torque to exact values with new head gasket is a logical course of action for success.

I would say re-torque alone is a band aid at best.

racertracer · **Posted:** Sun Feb 03, 2013 7:09 pm

woodtick wrote:

[quote= Some say that the head can be milled down to the next thicker gasket size and others say that if the head is warped it has reached a point of no return. I wouldn't take the chance.

I will assume my thought process is incorrect, but here it goes.

The head likely would warp during overheating due to inconsistencies in the aluminum and/ or slight variations in torque values on the head studs due to "bolt stretch" inconsistent torquing at point of assembly, poor head gasket quality control, or possibly vibration.

Does this sound correct? If so then milling flat and torque to exact values with new head gasket is a logical course of action for success.

I would say re-torque alone is a band aid at best.[/quote]

Sounds logical but I can't answer that question.

coolant leak

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