Radiator Leak

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Sun Mar 23, 2008 11:43 am

I ended up going to a radiator shop. They did a block test to make sure there wasn't a minor head gasket leak causing too much pressure in the system. The test showed no gasket leak.

They said everything looked good except there was a little fluid dribbling out of the radiator hose just below the pressure cap. They put a metal band on it to keep it tight, and also topped off my radiator fluid.

So everything is good now. Just had to pay $20 which is worth the piece of mind for me.

(much better service than dealership. dealership didn't top off my fluid, didn't take care of the hose that was leaking, left my airbox unclipped on one side, left my front grill unattached on one side, and gave me no explantion of what broke or what caused it to break. The radiator shop on the other hand was only supposed to do a block test, but they checked for other leaks, added the metal clamp, and topped off my fluid for no extra charge. I'll definitely go there and not the dealership next time I have a problem and the warranty is over)

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Sun Mar 23, 2008 12:59 pm

If I were you, (I was in your shoes a few months ago) I would change dealerships. :wink:

I changed to another dealership ( I have to drive 1 hour and 10 min, but it’s worth it) and I'm so much happier, get better service, better parts department, better prices, better customer service, better mechanics, and better attitude.

Plus, they keep their mechanics informed, educated, and trained, as they are a TRUE ***** 5 STAR dealership!

Grape · **Posted:** Tue Apr 29, 2008 6:03 am

The second cap they put on mine leaked as well as the third. They are going to be replacing the radiator this week...i hope. They had to order a radiator and they are on a 7-10 day back order.

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Wed Apr 30, 2008 1:09 am

Did they say exactly what is causing it to leak from the cap?

I believe that's where my leak was coming from also, but they never did find a crack anywhere, and the cap was not at fault.

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Tue Jun 10, 2008 1:16 pm

My brand new radiator is once again leaking from the cap area. It's exactly the same leak as the previous radiator. A little fluid sitting on the top of the cap, and a little fluid under the cap, and then spots of it running down the radiator and whereever else it spits to.

Has anyone heard of faulty radiators on the '07 models, or does anyone have any clue what could be going on?

Pressure test was always good and techs could never find out why or where exactly the leak was coming from.

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Tue Jun 10, 2008 1:57 pm

JohnnyCash wrote:

My brand new radiator is once again leaking from the cap area. It's exactly the same leak as the previous radiator. A little fluid sitting on the top of the cap, and a little fluid under the cap, and then spots of it running down the radiator and whereever else it spits to.

Has anyone heard of faulty radiators on the '07 models, or does anyone have any clue what could be going on?

Pressure test was always good and techs could never find out why or where exactly the leak was coming from.

I have a 2007 and do not have any problems. As a matter of fact, you are the first person with a 2007 that I've heard of having problems with their radiator. I hope you get it resolved soon!

SpankyKJ · **Joined:** Fri Mar 28, 2008 4:20 am **Posts:** 83

Yea, I had the same problem 3 weeks ago but didn't notice this thread. Dribbling out from under the cap right above the overflow hose. I went to autozone and bought a new cap $4.99. P/N 7718

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Wed Jun 11, 2008 12:43 am

SpankyKJ wrote:

Yea, I had the same problem 3 weeks ago but didn't notice this thread. Dribbling out from under the cap right above the overflow hose. I went to autozone and bought a new cap $4.99. P/N 7718

That was the first fix the dealership tried. A new cap.
But it still leaked. Maybe I need to go to AutoZone and buy a different brand of cap. Thanks for the tip.

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Thu Jun 19, 2008 10:41 pm

Well I am now on radiator cap #3 and radiator #2 at only 21,000 miles.

The dealership found nothing wrong again, so they stuck another cap on. I told them when I went in to just give me a cap and I would stick it on that night, but they said they better check it out. So once again nothing was found to be wrong. I will not be surprised if it starts leaking again soon.

The good thing is I like my Liberty more than ever now. My rental was a Nissan Murano and when I got back in my Liberty I was surprised how good it felt to be driving it compared to the Murano.

Xodius · **Posted:** Thu Jun 19, 2008 11:16 pm

myjeepwalks wrote:

Was a sumanabitch to replace too.

LOL indeed, I cracked mine while in Colorado, didn't realize till about 5 days later and I was back in vegas. Then I preceeded to pick up a new tank from a retard stealership here in town and replaced it myself...with my Father-in-laws help. We had a blast doing it. Amazing that you have to nearly take off the whole front to do it.

As for the '07....darn good question. Not sure what to tell ya. First thought is too much fluid? Then I think the cap or it might be the reservoir maybe. There might be a fine crack in it that only shows up when the fluid is hot. Just an idea.

Keep us posted.

Grape · **Posted:** Fri Jun 20, 2008 12:17 am

My radiator just came in a week ago, but i have to remove my ARB for them to install it. There was a huge backorder on the replacements. I hope to remove the ARb next week when i can get back into my driveway...street replacement. I guess we will see if it fixes it. If i does not I will make sure they have to remove and reinstall the ARb next time.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 20, 2008 12:02 pm

Grape wrote:

My radiator just came in a week ago, but i have to remove my ARB for them to install it. There was a huge backorder on the replacements. I hope to remove the ARb next week when i can get back into my driveway...street replacement. I guess we will see if it fixes it. If i does not I will make sure they have to remove and reinstall the ARb next time.

You do not need to remove the ARB bumber to replace the radiator.I know I replaced my radiator and left my ARB on.I got my replacement radiator from DPG Offroad(it's a CSF radiator) for a good price and fast delievery.Little hint remove the battery tray,I broke mine when I replaced my radiator.

Xodius · **Posted:** Fri Jun 20, 2008 3:36 pm

tjkj2002 wrote:

I broke mine when I replaced my radiator.

...do I really wanna know how you managed that?

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Sat Jun 21, 2008 12:26 pm

My radiator is once again starting to leak from the new cap. It's only a spot right now, but this is how it always starts.

Is there anything I can do legally to get this problem resolved?
I don't know much about the law in a case like this.
I just want it fixed.
The next visit will be my 5th time for the same thing. I'm past the mileage for lemon law, so that won't work.
I like my jeep. I just want a f-ing radiator that doesn't leak.
Is that too much to ask?

(And now my window is screwed up again. Comes off track when going up and down)

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Tue Jul 08, 2008 3:25 pm

Jeep is back in the shop for the 5th time with fluid leaking out the pressure cap. They finally had to make some phone calls, and they were given a different machine to do a pressure test with. It turns out there is a combustion leak.

I'm not sure what all that entails, but it sounds complicated. There are only 3 techs there that can do the job of tearing down the engine and figuring out where the leak is coming from.

Now I'm worried my jeep will never run right again. It seems like any time something that complicated is done it just leads to more problems. Ugh !!!!

(one other thing that bugs me is that I took this jeep to a radiator shop a while ago and had them do a block test to check for this very problem, and they found nothing).

tommudd · **Posted:** Tue Jul 08, 2008 3:41 pm

so who do you trust more, me I would trust the independent shop, dealer is now trying to find anything they can!

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Tue Jul 08, 2008 3:46 pm

tommudd wrote:

so who do you trust more, me I would trust the independent shop, dealer is now trying to find anything they can!

I trust the independent shop more, but it's under warranty.

Guest · **Posted:** Tue Jul 08, 2008 4:32 pm

Xodius wrote:

tjkj2002 wrote:

I broke mine when I replaced my radiator.

...do I really wanna know how you managed that?

I'm kinda curious about it myself...I replaced my radiator not too long ago with the exact same one you got, Troy

Radiator Leak

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