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Coolant

D

darkoverlift

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Lufkin, Texas and Orlando, FL
I have been smelling coolant since I bought it. On the way back to work from lunch the temp pegged. I pop the hood and hear a hissing sound from the water pump radiator area.

I would guess the water pump. Am I right? How do you change it? How long will it take? This is my DD so I can't wait for the super parts and have to use local Advance parts.

Ideas? Help? Tricks and tips?:exclamati
 
Hallo. If the engine is warm, the coolant system is under pressure.
If you have a leak, it will sissing.
Radiator can be leak and the waterpump has a little hole underneat , which can leak if the pump is failing.
But maybe you have only to check the hoseclamps for leaking when hot. :eyes:


p.s. watch your bottle level.

'92 XJ
 
Since I bought the XJ I have smelt coolant. Today it got to hot and the smell has gotten worse. I am still not seeing a leak underneath and want to be proactive and avoid catastrophe. It hit the red before I was able to react. I usually watch it, but I know something is up.
I did flush the radiator with it on the car. I may need to remove it and flush it good and check the thermostat first????
 
4.0's eat waterpumps. Start the engine and look at the pulley in front of the waterpump that the belt rides on. If your water pump has gone bad, the pulley will probably be loose and moving around.
It's not that hard to replace. Might as well replace the bottom radiator hose while you are in there.
 
You can throw parts at it or locate and repair/replace what is the problem.

You didn't say what year/engine. But you have upper and lower radiator hoses, heater hoses, heater control valve, radiator, cap, water pump, thermostat housing, and if a closed system the expansion tank all could be the problem.

Rent a pressure tester, pump it up and use an inspection mirror and strong light to check things.

BTW, didn't mention the fans in the above list because you said you could hear a hissing, but now would be a could time to inspect them for proper operation too.
 
1995 XJ
4.0 liter
Automatic

Coolant Smell from Radiator area
Hissing noise when listening by rad and water pump
Runs over 210 always and gets near the red until the eletric fan kicks in at times.

Already placed a new radiator Cap
Flushed rad in driveway in the lazy man way
 
If it over heated your thermostat is 99% for sure toast, one overheat usually does them in. I would find a better parts store and get a NEW waterpump vs a rebuilt. Get all your pulleys and brackets out of the way and I mean all of them, you want a nice clean install of the pump and gasket or you will be doing it again the next day or so. On my 98 I cheated and tried to get around the power steering bracket, fubar'd the gasket twice, finally just unbolted the bracket that goes alongside the block and moved it.
Coat one side of the new gasket with Indian Head gasket cement and stick it on the pump with the bolts thru it, let it dry for a while so it sticks, coat the other side and stick it on the block. Also make sure the area is dry, I stuck a towel in the block area to get all the water out and then patted it down to get it really dry. My last pump I got from CarQuest, had the same part number cast into the pump as my factory one and cost half as much as the dealer OEM one. And use distilled water when you make up your new coolant.
 
Ok, open system so not pressure bottle.

You replaced the cap and that is good--quality cap I hope. Cap has two valves, one that lets the expanded coolant run to the overflow bottle and one that allows the vacuum created by the contracting coolant to draw from the overflow.

Pressure gauge test would be best, but you could try a 3' piece of vinyl tubing held to your ear to isolate the hissing sound.
 
I believe they are asking you on what side of the vehicle the upper radiator hose inlet belongs. Just call their tech line and they will get you the right one.
 
darkoverlift said:
SO what is the best DIY method to diagnois this. Any special tool to find the leak? Verify the water pump is fine or the thermostat is okay?
Click to expand...

If you can repeat the hissing situation, then use a vinyl tube and listen for the source of the sound.

If you can not repeat the hissing situation, then rent a cooling system pressure gauge pump and when the system is cooled down enough to safely remove the radiator cap you can pump the system up to something higher than the cap's rating, say 20-25 lbs.

Good light, inspection mirror are great DIY tools.
 
darkoverlift said:
Replaced the hoses and thought the lower hose had a leak instead the lower hose, even when replaced with a new one gushes from the lower water pump area.

Ideas now?
Click to expand...

Dam, opened a can of worms, I noticed I was running hotter than normal today and actually the last week or so, got it home, let it cool down, added a quart of 50/50 to the bottle and half a gallon to the radiator. Must have a leak myself, will change the rad on sat and all the hoses plus the tstat and see what happens, did not see any dripping down so it may not be the water pump. When the pump goes it usually starts as a leak on the bottom of the pump at the weep hole in the nose. Now if it is coming from the lower hose you can either tighten it and see what happens or pull it off, swab the inside 2" with indian head and put it back on. By the way, I nave never gotten a good seal using a screwdriver to tighten the clamp, I always use a 1/4 inch ratchet.

I'm also wondering if I should rough up the water pump pulley wheel so it's not so shiney, may be the pump is not turning fast enough.
 
Waterpumps are a maintenance item. It's not really throwing parts at a problem when you replace a part that should be replaced before it goes bad anyway. I just replaced my waterpump, heater and radiator hoses along with the thermostat at 76k miles for insurance. I like to know I can go down the road and not have to worry about the vehicle breaking down. The waterpump is cheap to replace and not that bad of a job. Replace it.
 
Indian Head gasket cement and stick it on the pump with the bolts thru it, let it dry for a while so it sticks,
X2
HI-TACK spay works very well with much less or no drying time to.
 
I bought a Duralast New Water Pump. It says New Premium Components, Prescision Machined Mounting Surfaces, Permently lubricated bearing for a long life.

Then bought a Duralast Thermostat. Stainless Steed, Built in Bypass Valve. I went with 160 Degrees... I know 195 is stock, 180 would be okay, 160 was to cold. Well I did it.. LOL.... Plan to run a fan bypass later on anyway.

Felpro gaskets for both

And Permatex water pump and thermostat housing RTV Silicone


The pump has a lifetime warranty and was 34.99, the gaskets .99 and 1.99 anf the thermostat 7.99.

Then add in my two new hoses from earlier and I have a nice project. It should cure my radiator fluid smell..


Now lets talk installation.

1. Remove radiator I assume (About how long will it take?)
2. Remove Belt
3. Remove Water Pump???? (About how long now?)

Plan to use distilled water only and 1 jug or just the lubricant add in. I am in Florida and this summer will be hot...
 
darkoverlift said:
I bought a Duralast New Water Pump. It says New Premium Components, Prescision Machined Mounting Surfaces, Permently lubricated bearing for a long life.

Then bought a Duralast Thermostat. Stainless Steed, Built in Bypass Valve. I went with 160 Degrees... I know 195 is stock, 180 would be okay, 160 was to cold. Well I did it.. LOL.... Plan to run a fan bypass later on anyway.

Felpro gaskets for both

And Permatex water pump and thermostat housing RTV Silicone


The pump has a lifetime warranty and was 34.99, the gaskets .99 and 1.99 anf the thermostat 7.99.

Then add in my two new hoses from earlier and I have a nice project. It should cure my radiator fluid smell..


Now lets talk installation.

1. Remove radiator I assume (About how long will it take?)
2. Remove Belt
3. Remove Water Pump???? (About how long now?)

Plan to use distilled water only and 1 jug or just the lubricant add in. I am in Florida and this summer will be hot...
Click to expand...

You really don't want the 160, these engines run in cold loop, very rich, untill they trigger the ecu at around 180 where they go into closed loop. It will take that much longer to run correctly with the colder tstat.
 
180 thermostats dont get too much of a popular write up on here so i imagine 160 will be worse, id look into this some more before fitting. Also have you got a new pipe for the water pump? They usually come without the pipe and the one you take off may well have rusted. It took me about 6 hours to replace just the pump for one that i got from a bone yard(definatley not recommended!) and id get a new pipe. This for me was the biggest pain. Im gonna be replacing my pump and radiator the next month or two and im giving myself two full days to be safe but i cant wrench too well and i have to have access to my jeep so cant run over time wise. Flushing your entire system first i believe is also wise prior to fitting new parts.
 
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