Ok so I've had this slow coolant leak for a while and it's time to fix it. Jeep has never over heated but I don't want it to. I've traced the leak (leaking from frame rail on passenger side) as far up as I can find. It appears to be leaking from somewhere near that side of the radiator down the frame rail. Has anyone had anything like this? Don't want to throw new parts at it willynilly. Thanks

 

All the places where I found it was wet

 

It's probably leaking at the seam where the plastic tank meets the aluminum core. Pretty common spot for the radiators to let go at.

 

Look and see if your radiator has a drain pepcock. They will start to leak and that is the exact spot where leak will show up.

I took mine out and replaced it with a brass plug. sealed it right up.

 

Thanks guys it looks like I'm going to have to take the radiator out to find a definitive answer.

 

How old is this radiator? I agree that the plastic seams on the radiator itself are high on the suspect list. That is where my OEM radiator let go on my 99. If this is an old radiator and you take it out, it should not go back in. Get a new radiator.

And as long as you have it torn apart, consider a new water pump, thermostat, etc. With cooling system maintenance, it's pay me now, or pay me a lot more later.

 

Consider new hoses, too, while you're at it. And always new clamps!

I had a clamp suddenly let go one day on the highway, the one coming out of the t-stat housing. It just broke. Blew the host off completely. It's amazing how fast you can go from cruising along at a normal temp, to blowing steam and seeing the temp gauge needle rising FAST.

You don't want to do that!

 

It's the oem radiator I suspect. Guess I just need to go through the cooling system and redo all that stuff. Pretty sure I've replaced the water pump and thermostat already though.