Specs:
95 XJ
4.0HO

Well I haven't been driving it in a while but before I parked it to fix the rust issues, I was losing coolant from the overflow bottle.. Long story short, here are the things I have done for testing and to be honest I'm still stumped..

1. Pressure test
2. Radiator sniffer
3. Smell exhaust

I had no drops of coolant with the pressure tester however the top corner of the radiator had a hiss of air, so I know I need a new radiator anyway but it didn't leak. The radiator sniffer showed clean and didn't show signs of exhaust fumes. The radiator has no bubbles when it's up to temp like a cracked head would have. The oil has no signs of coolant and the coolant is green as ever. The exhaust doesn't smell sweet but I guess I'm not 100% sure what I'm smelling? I just can't find what's going on.. Any help is awesome, thank you everyone.

 

Replace the radiator.

 

any further suggestions? It's not driving right now.

 

How much coolant are you losing?

If the radiator hisses, it leaks something. Replace the radiator and the radiator cap. Sometimes you can't see coolant because the leak is small and hidden by the shrouds.

Examples of coolant in the oil from a lightly blown head gasket or cracked head can be creamy filler cap, chocolate milkshake drops in the CCV tubes, ... yet the dipstick will look fine.

 

it's not incredibly fast but I need to fill it once in a while .. It's not milky as explained in the first post, oil is good and coolant is perfectly green.

 

Pretty sure you have to test the oil for a definite answer on the presence of coolant. Blackstone does a kit, you send them a sample and get a report back.

 

So why are you worried about losing coolant?

Is this just supposed to be a thought experiment? I guess it doesn't cost any money or labor to speculate. Easier just to type on a keyboard or phone. Put it down and get the wrenches out.

Spend the money and time to do what Cruiser54 said. If it then has unexplained coolant loss, call us back.

 

REPLACE THE RADIATOR.

You have a known problem. Fix it first. Even if that's not your ultimate issue, it will complicate diagnosis of other problems until it's out of the way.

Loss of pressure in the system allows the coolant to boil at a lower temperature and evaporate. Even if you're not seeing an actual coolant leak, it can escape from that leak in gaseous form. Until you fix that, you'll just be chasing phantoms.