Hey,

Anybody got any ideas on why my engine coolant resevoir is empty twice in two weeks? No leaks, no check engine lights, and no idea why. I took it to a shop and they said I needed to replace the valve cover gasket. I'm going to do that this weekend but I don't see how that would rectify the coolant situation... Anyways thanks in advance for any ideas.

 

It must be either boiling off or leaking into the combustion chamber or the oil. You need to search harder it isn't leaving it is either moving or being consumed. This is not rocket science here or crop circles either.

 

How's the oil pressure? What condition is the oil in? (i.e. does it look like a chocolate milkshake, or look and smell like oil should)

2000's are prone to head problems, as Chrysler switched to a different head casting starting that year. Typical signs are loss of coolant, loss of oil pressure (most times both). Most of the time they crack between the #3 and #4 cylinders, and you can see the crack if you take the oil cap off and shine a flashlight down there....would be on the drivers side of the head if i'm not mistaken.

Not saying just yet that this is your problem, but the 2000 and 2001's are much more prone to cracking heads than other years. If all of the above checks out OK...I would look for signs of an external leak (water pump...small hole in the radiator hoses or radiator itself...etc) that could be burning off while driving, like BlueXJ mentioned.

 

Rocket science...nice. All that stuff you typed and not one thing productive.

Anyways, The oil is fine in color and thickness. I'll check on that crack take a closer look at the radiator tomorrow. Thanks UNCC

 

I had same situation for about 2 months till the weeping valve in the waterpump let go... slowly leaked it out and left a dry green trail of steamed coolant on my motor below the water pump. It suddenly let go and left me stranded requiring a new pump.

Maybe inspect below and behind the pump pulley for signs if steamed off coolant... pump is cheap to fix and not TERRIBLY bad to change, (suprisingly with the lack of room under the hood it was better than my prior 1993 Grand Cherokee to change).

Just a thought.

 

One other thought would be the head gasket....but it would be pretty rare on that new of a 4.0......not saying it's not possible, just fairly rare...unless you have a bunch of miles on yours.

At that rate though, if it were the head gasket, you should be able to see it burning off steam out of the tail pipe well after it's warmed up.

 

Or milk chocolate looking oil. If the head gasket were bad the results should also manifest themselve with poor idle and running badly too. Water does not burn in a combustion chamber very well so a bad running motor will result.

 

True.

Even though the pressure and oil are still good...this may be the very early stages of the all too familiar cracked head on that year. Double check every thing else just to be sure however (water pump, hoses, radiator..etc).

 

Yeah I don't think it is that. None of those symptoms are present. I've only got 66 on this one, or 66,000 miles for scientific people who take stuff seriously.

 

Well Nero that leaves only two possibilities, waterpump is seeping or the head is cracked. Is it running poorly? Pull the center two plugs and see if they look like they have been steam cleaned. That might confirm the cracked head. Tape a small square of paper towel (about 1" square)over the waterpump's weep hole to see if it gets wet on a trip around the block after it reaches operating temp.

 

Most people see head problems anywhere from 60K-75K from what i've seen. There have been some that have been sooner, other that have been later....but 60-75K is a good average.

 

These guys advertize in JP magazine and say they have a 4.0 head coming out soon on their website. Might be worth a call to see if you can be a testbed for their new 4.0L head Nero.http://acheinc.com/contacts.html

 

Based on my experience with other cars, I would say its a Head issue. I have actually had Head's crack before and show zero other signs other then disappearing coolant, bet you a dollar to a donut its your Head.

 

Yeah I'm beginning to think it's the head. I did however squeeze the upper radiator hose and felt no pressure surge when I released it. That makes me think it might be the water pump. I didn't see any sign of a leak from it though BlueXJ. I can not see any bubbles or crack in the head at this time, but that's not saying it isn't there. This sucks.

 

Nero, The data I have read say it is between the middle two cylinders and can rarely be seen fron the outside casting. It is often only detected with magnaflux, thus a machine shop. Sorry you are experiencing this problem.