hello i got in a minor fender bender today with a liberty. the tire cracked my header panel and broke my fan shroud. i plan on getting these parts from my local junkyard does it matter what year the fan shroud comes from? Also my jeep was leaking coolant after the accident. there wasn't a huge pool and it only got up to 220 on the 5 minute drive home. the radiator got bent in but i don't see any apparent holes what could be causing this leak?

 

Nope, all the same, as long as you get one for a 4.0L I6 you should be fine.

It is a pretty good bet your radiator is damaged. It could have a pin-hole, the plastic tanks on the end could be cracked or pulled away from the core causing a leak a the seals. If it is damaged it should be replaced, it is also worth checking all hoses though to make sure nothing was pulled loose. If you have AC your condensor may also be damaged since it is mounted in front of the radiator.

 

If your fan shroud broke and your radiator busted, you took a harder lick than you think.

 

yea my radiator is done my fan punched a bunch of holes into it that weren't leaking but now they are. ill have it towed to a shop and hopefully there is no frame damage.

 

I would advise that you not spend any money on it until you make sure the unibody is sound.

 

Check your door gaps front to back and both sides.

 

my hood also seems to have gotten pushed back it catches on the cowl whenever i try and open it. i was able to bend the header panel off it with a flat head so i could open it. could this mean that i have frame damage?

 

Yes. Remember our Jeeps don't have frames.

The unibody IS the frame.

 

It's called uni-frame.

 

Can you tell me how a busted header panel, radiator and bent hood hinges automatically mean that the uni-frame is bent?

Sounds like the upper radiator support is bent and the hood hinges are bent.(Without seeing pictures) You can fix that in one day.

 

^This. It sounds like a "high-hit" from the rear-mounted tire on the Liberty which mostly went over the bumper with the header-pannel, hood, and posibly rad support taking most/all of the impact. Unlike the bumper and "frame"-rails these parts wern't really designed to take an impact so it doesn't take much to do a fair amount of damage.

 

after i was able to get the hood open by prying my header panel back i noticed that the distance between my fan and radiator was different than before the accident, the radiator had a indent the size of my fan clutch with several holes, and my fan shroud was in pieces. so i took it to the shop and their replacing the radiator, fan, fan clutch, radiator support, and some hoses. the frame is completely fine i only hit the liberty going max 5 mph.

 

Unfortunately it's a bad place to take a hit. Had it been bumper to bumper there would have likely either been no damage or a scratched/dented bumper, but the tire up-high on the Liberty puts all the impact force on the fiberglass header panel which has no structural integrity whatsoever and the radiator support which is made of stamped sheet metal and was only designed to hold the radiator, not to take any kind of significant impact. Leaving the radiator, fan, etc. unprotected.