Jeep Wrglr 2.5L 4cyl. is losing coolant?

[Gary Allan]

Hard to say. The rad on these is basically a throw away item ..but unless you see a leak along the seam of the plastic tanks ..that's usually good. The clamps should be a (I don't know the term) "sprung" type that never need retightening like regular worm gear clamps ..so that should be eliminated. A hose leak should use more coolant than that ..or so I would think. Naturally I'd do a UOA to eliminate the head gasket. If your heater core is weeping ..it's a pretty expensive bill to have it replaced. This you can tell by the fogging of the windshield. I believe if it was leaking, the evap drain would let it leave the passenger compartment via the evap drain tube ..so it may not show up on the floor.

 

[MarkC]

Gary, would the heater core weeping fog the windshield all the time, or just under certain condtions, such as cold, wet days?

 

[Gary Allan]

Well, it may not show up on the windsield when the def isn't on ..but it should stick around. That is, the fog leaves a film that doesn't clean up all that easily. If it's bad enough (but not necessarily super severe) you can smell the sweet odor of the stuff. The heater core is our bypass and runs all the time.

 

[Ryan00TJ]

How long has the current fill been in there? My factory coolant started turning the brown color you spoke of in the overflow bottle around 2 yrs 24K miles. I flushed everything out, cleaned the overflow and went w a 50/50 mix G-05 @ Distilled. Around the same amount of time and miles on the new mix w everything still looking great. My 2.5L has always seemed to need monthly refills in the overflow. Never really measured the amount but a few ounces or so. I've done 3-4 UOAs in it's 60K miles w no signs of leakage into the motor and no apparent external leaking.

I offroad pretty often and the motor gets pretty hot in the summer w 220 degree oil temps at slow crawling speeds.

Do a UOA to be sure no coolant is getting the crankcase. HTH

 

[Jim Spahr]

1998 Jeep Wrangler SE, manual trans, 60k miles, with the 2.5L 4 cylinder is losing about one pint of coolant a month. I notice the radiator coolant seems to stay green, but the coolant in the reservoir turns a rusty brown rather quickly and has a strong smell. It does not seem to run hot. Spark plugs look normal. Used in a combination of city and hwy driving. What should I check?

 

[Jim Spahr]

This is my daughter's Wrangler. She has changed the coolant at least once. She has owned it since new-1998. She needs to change it at least every two years, going by the change in color.

 

[andyd]

I would check the waterpump's weep hole for traces of leakage

 

[Jim Spahr]

I have been watching for leaks and see none, other than the normal condensation drips.
Ryan T3- what is G05 coolant? Gary, can the housing surrounding the htr core get a drain clog and then back up -causing condensation water-not coolant- to drain into the passenger side? Where is the exterbnal condensation drain on the SE?

 

[Ryan00TJ]

G-05 is an extended life coolant made by Zerex and comes OEM in new Wranglers and DC vehicles, Ford and Mercedes. Seems to be a good coolant. Can be had at Napa and Pep Boys it seems.

 

[Gary Allan]

Gary, can the housing surrounding the htr core get a drain clog and then back up -causing condensation water-not coolant- to drain into the passenger side? Where is the exterbnal condensation drain on the SE?


Very common problem in the TJ. There's a TSB on it. The drain tube either clogs or is at the wrong angle (it faces into the wind so to speak). Anyway the ventilation plenumn then fills until it reaches an outlet ..you make a turn ..splash (or it seeps out) ..voila~ wet passenger side floor. The finally fixed it in my wife's by putting an elbow shaped hose to the evap drain (I took the service writer outside to show him what I was talking about- when I got it back ..the old hose was replaces with a slightly longer one that turned down.

It's a simple fix ..but I never had to do it myself due to warranty

Edit: You can see the drain from the engine bay. You'll see the end of a small hose protruding, IIRC) on the passenger side of the fire wall ..right under the ac hardware (accumulator, etc.). It appears different on my 02 SE then it did on my wife's 99 Sahara. They may have mod'd it due to the frequency of complaints ..but that's where it drains on both. I also wonder about the air intake drain (if you look you'll see the plastic piece that runs from the cowl to toward the floor along the firewall). I don't think that this uses the evap drain ..otherwise it would drain there every time that it rained.

Either way ..it's not a REAL expensive fix. I think the factory time was under 1/2 hour on it.

[ October 14, 2005, 02:14 PM: Message edited by: Gary Allan ]