So I was having issues with my cooling on my jeep and I thought the clutch fan was the issue but it stopped overheating, or so I thought,before I changed it out. Today I was driving normally thru town and began to smell a strong odor of engine coolant. My temperature gauge was showing normal so I continued until I parked.
When I came back to my vehicle I saw a large puddle of what I believed to be coolant under my vehicle. I raised the hood and found that it looked as if my large radiator hose on the drivers side was leaking. I filled the jeep with coolant in the reserve reservoir and drove home.
When I parked it and started examining it more thoroughly by placing a cardboard box under the place where it was leaking and staring the jeep so I could see EXACTLY where the coolant was leaking...it wasn't showing a sign of leakage. On closer inspection the large radiator hose was completely dry on the metal directly underneath it but wet everywhere else around it.
I don't understand where the leak is coming from and how to diagnose it either. Has this happened to anyone else???

 

Where you upper hose connects to the engine is your thermostat housing. It is possible for that housing to be leaking. Also, coming off of that housing is the hose that runs to your heater core. Check that for a leak.

 

Cracked radiator maybe? when it heats up enough pressure is created to purge out? Did you flush system? How is water pump? By "large rad hose" do you mean the upper hose? Theres an in and out hose that are same size, smaller lines are for heater core.

 

It can be leaking from many places. Check all of the hoses, t-stat housing and the bottom of the water pump. There is a weep hole on the bottom of the pump. There is a seal in the pump that will start leaking when it is bad. It that is your problem, It's time for a new pump. Also when you lose that much coolant you need to also refill the radiator and not just the overflow bottle. Maybe that is why when you rechecked it it wasn't leaking, you didn't have enough it to leak out?

 

There is a metal pipe that is screwed into the water pump, they can rust out and start leaking. You need to pressure test the system and look for the leak.

 

Thank you so much, guys! I'm going to start working on it shortly!

 

Ok, so I found the issue was actually the lower radiator hose, the large one on the drivers side, was leaking. I fixed that issue and now it's cooling as normal. Thanks!

 

Be sure to check coolant level in both the rad and bottle motor COLD for the next several days.

 

If you have coolant leak make sure you have proper levels at all times. The thermostat is at the very top of the coolant system so if your coolant is low it will NOT show the proper temperature of your engine, just FYI

 

I did not know that but looking back at it that makes sense.

 

That would be the return line. How did you fix it? Tighten hose clamp or replace the hose and clamps? If it's the former then keep an eye on it as the hose might be worn enough to fray and leak.