STILL leaking coolant & overheating...?!?!?!?!!!
#1
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Year: 1994
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0L HO
STILL leaking coolant & overheating...?!?!?!?!!!
Please excuse any typos or gramatical errors, I am extremely frustrated and posting this from my phone..
About a month ago I started seeing little puddles of coolant under the jeep. I saw a small buildup on the lower rad hose and replaced it... no fix. Observed that the coolant is running down the front of the motor... replaced thermostat and waterpump gaskets... no fix. Decided to run it for a couple days while I track down the problem, in the mean time over heating. Overheating makes sense.... if it leaks out, it leaks in... leaking in means it sucks in air being that it is pressurized.. air+heat=steam... steam is hot and holds heat well.... jeep overheats. Well, Tuesday, the Jeep POURS coolant out, faster than I can put it in (literally just poured back out as I was filling radiator.) I limped it home and tracked it down to the waterpump. Replaced the waterpump with a Flowkooler unit from Quadratec, replaced upper and lower rad hoses, replaced heater hoses (Needed to replace one because I did the brass nipple conversion on the waterpump and it wasn't long enough) and replaced the gaskets for the thermostat housing and waterpump. Put the jeep back together and fired it to check for leaks... ran it for about two minutes and am leak free. Shut it off, cleaned up, and went for a test drive. Temp stayed stable at about 1/8" above 210 like it normally does, then slowly climbed up. Pulled into a parking lot, looked under it and its leaking... the same slow leak it had a month ago when this all started. Popped the hood and felt the upper rad hose, its pressurized and filled with air bubbles as I expected. Looking for the leak, its still on the front of the block behind the pulleys that conveniently block your view. I don't know what to do anymore. I don't know anything else that can leak in that location. This is my daily driver... I'm tired of walking 9 miles too and from work. This sucks, please help.
About a month ago I started seeing little puddles of coolant under the jeep. I saw a small buildup on the lower rad hose and replaced it... no fix. Observed that the coolant is running down the front of the motor... replaced thermostat and waterpump gaskets... no fix. Decided to run it for a couple days while I track down the problem, in the mean time over heating. Overheating makes sense.... if it leaks out, it leaks in... leaking in means it sucks in air being that it is pressurized.. air+heat=steam... steam is hot and holds heat well.... jeep overheats. Well, Tuesday, the Jeep POURS coolant out, faster than I can put it in (literally just poured back out as I was filling radiator.) I limped it home and tracked it down to the waterpump. Replaced the waterpump with a Flowkooler unit from Quadratec, replaced upper and lower rad hoses, replaced heater hoses (Needed to replace one because I did the brass nipple conversion on the waterpump and it wasn't long enough) and replaced the gaskets for the thermostat housing and waterpump. Put the jeep back together and fired it to check for leaks... ran it for about two minutes and am leak free. Shut it off, cleaned up, and went for a test drive. Temp stayed stable at about 1/8" above 210 like it normally does, then slowly climbed up. Pulled into a parking lot, looked under it and its leaking... the same slow leak it had a month ago when this all started. Popped the hood and felt the upper rad hose, its pressurized and filled with air bubbles as I expected. Looking for the leak, its still on the front of the block behind the pulleys that conveniently block your view. I don't know what to do anymore. I don't know anything else that can leak in that location. This is my daily driver... I'm tired of walking 9 miles too and from work. This sucks, please help.
#2
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Year: 1993
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
I would do a pressure test and get a mirror and light to look in hard to see areas. It sounds as if you've changed everything except the radiator, rad cap and the soft plugs in the engine compartment.
#3
To help mine run cooler a friend took it to the carwash w/me and we sprayed the front of the radiator with the high-pressure washer and cleaned all the fins out.
They were filthy from the vehicle setting for almost 2 years with little miles put on it.
Now it runs proper temps.
Good luck, Wooddogg.
They were filthy from the vehicle setting for almost 2 years with little miles put on it.
Now it runs proper temps.
Good luck, Wooddogg.
#5
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Year: 89
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
To help mine run cooler a friend took it to the carwash w/me and we sprayed the front of the radiator with the high-pressure washer and cleaned all the fins out.
They were filthy from the vehicle setting for almost 2 years with little miles put on it.
Now it runs proper temps.
Good luck, Wooddogg.
They were filthy from the vehicle setting for almost 2 years with little miles put on it.
Now it runs proper temps.
Good luck, Wooddogg.
#6
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Year: 99
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
water follows the path of least resistance... Saying that your water leak could be no where near where your puddle is.. Just some food for though.
#7
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Year: 1990
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
To help mine run cooler a friend took it to the carwash w/me and we sprayed the front of the radiator with the high-pressure washer and cleaned all the fins out.
They were filthy from the vehicle setting for almost 2 years with little miles put on it.
Now it runs proper temps.
Good luck, Wooddogg.
They were filthy from the vehicle setting for almost 2 years with little miles put on it.
Now it runs proper temps.
Good luck, Wooddogg.
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#9
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Year: 2000
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0 I6
Check freeze plugs, check your thermostat housing for cracks, do a compression test making sure your head gasket is good...Keep us posted!
#10
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Year: 1993
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
Any time you have a coolant leak the first thing you do is a pressure test. Get the radiator pump and put pressure in the cooling system it will force coolant out of any place that leaks. Then you will know where the coolant is coming from, so then you can fix it.
#11
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Year: 1994
Model: Cherokee
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UPDATE:: The leak was the copper nipple conversion, so I made damn sure it's never going to leak again. But.... It's still overheating and the top hose barely has any pressure. Could the severe overheating have damaged the thermostat? It's only a few months old, but I overheated the Jeep so bad on the way to work last week that it stalled out and wouldn't idle. I plan to pull the tstat tomorrow after work and run it to see how things go.
#14
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Year: 1994
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0L HO
My oil is as black as it's ever been, my coolant is still a rich green, my exhaust doesn't smoke, exhaust doesn't smell sweet. I don't think it's the head.
#15
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Year: 2000
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0 I6