shooter5635

Hey Guys,

So last night i finally got my hood open (another story) and since i was under there i checked all my fluids like i do normally and i noticed my coolant was below full so i added some. For some reason or another something caused me to look under the jeep and while doing so i noticed that some radiator fluid had leaked onto the concrete. It was night so i figured i had spilled some, whatever no big deal. Now today after school i open my hood up again to replaced the hood pull cable and i noticed my coolant had gone down a little bit. So i walk over to where i had my jeep parked and sure enough there are spots on the ground where it's leaking. I just spent the past 2 hours searching for the dang leak to no avail. From what i can tell when looking at the jeep it's coming from the left hand side (passenger side). When i look under the hood the rubber mat (not sure of the name) right below the main fan is wet. I tracked the "wetness" as high as possible and it led me to the bottom left hand corner of the radiator.

Now nothing has been wrong with my jeep. No overheating, runs fine, ect. I just googled radiator fluid leaking and a bunch of posts about a blown head gasket came up. Oh and also, when i shut the jeep off it sounds as if something is boiling. It's done this ever since i bought it. I asked my brother-in-law about it and he said it was because they had put water in the reservoir? I'm hoping it's not a blown head gasket because that doesnt sound cheap and my parents are gonna probably make me look into getting a different car because so many things keep breaking

Any ideas?

dzzavid

My first opinion would be a bad radiator. But before you take that out triple check all of your hoses, my f250 diesel was doing the same thing and there was actually a leak on the top radiator hose that trailed to the center of the radiator, i found this out after i took out the radiator. I'm new to this forum, but the general opinion seems to be if you are going to replace your radiator get a 2 or three core.

Blown head gaskets usually have performance issues relating to them as well as the one or a combination of the following symptoms:
oil in the water.
water in the oil.
exhaust gas in the radiator.
smoke out of the tailpipe.

It all depends where the head gasket has failed, but from your description it sounds to me like a bad radiator. Whatever you do , don't put stop leak in your cooling system. Bite the bullet and get a new radiator they aren't too bad to install.

As far as the boiling sound, you've got me there, do you have a correct mix of coolant and distilled water in your cooling system? The boiling sound could be the coolant leaking out of the small hole in your radiator.

NewXJaddict

Yeah. Check all the hoses really well. You could have very small crack or hole that only appears when the hoses are hot and expand then when it is cold the hole or crack closes up so you can't see it. When I first heard a "boiling" noise with mine it turned out to be the oil draining back down into the pan kinda sounds bad but it is normal. Not sure with yours though so don't overlook the boiling thing. Also a thermostat is a good thing to grab just in case. It should be pretty inexpensive.

RenoXJ

Make sure all your clamps are tight ?

XJFreak

i'm having the same problem with my 94 xj.Except it only does this the first time i start it up and drive it each day.after the initial startup,it doesnt leak again.

shooter5635

I got ahold of my personal mechanic and he seems to think it's the radiator as well, but im not going to be able to get it in to him until tomorrow at the earliest. I checked all the hoses to the best of my ability but came up empy-handed. Thanks again for the quick replys guys. Also, a friend mentions this sounds like the seal on the water pump weep hole could be going? Where is the water pump located?

shooter5635

Found the leak! It's on the lower passenger side of the radiator where i thought it was comming from. Time to replace it

dan lawrence

mine was leaking and ended up having to get a new water pump

Baja820

Welcome to my world.... I just replaced mine. wasnt too bad. set me back about 130 bucks and three hours...

dzzavid

well at least you can be relived that it is not a blown head gasket like you were originally suspecting.

shooter5635

This is very true. Called my mechanic he said it would be cheaper to go with an aftermarket radiator rather than one from jeep so I told him to go ahead and order it. I'm not going to drive it until I can get the radiator replaced because I don't want to cause any further damage.

dzzavid

Thats a good idea, even though the leak is small now, it could spring at any second. Wouldn't want to cause an over heating condition and blow a head gasket or worse crack your head. Remember to keep track of your current odometer reading so you know to change your coolant after 30k as well! Hope it all works out for you!

1994RedJeepCherokee

"When i look under the hood the rubber mat (not sure of the name) right below the main fan.."

Can anyone tell me what the "rubber mat" is called? Mine has fallen to pieces and was dragging on the ground so I removed it...I want to replace it to have that protection underneath. I called three parts places (including a Jeep Dealership's Parts Dept) to no avail.

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

richcrest

The mat you're talking about is called a splash shield. You can get a new one from Berry Jeep in TX for about 40 bucks.

Flowpro

I found the same leak on mine. Seems to be the common area to spring a leak. I'm hoping my new 3 core radiator will arrive sometime today from The Radiator Barn.

Did your mechanic order you an all metal one or one with the plastic tanks?