Coolant dripping off the bell housing

Recently I found some coolant that the xj pissed on the drive way and the only place i could find it was at the bell housing. I wiped it off and let it run for 5 minutes while i looked to see where it was coming from. I couldn't see anything leaking down , but when I shut it off and went back under for another look some coolant was back in the same place. I'm shooting for maybe a freeze plug or a heater hose and I was wondering if anyone could shine some insight on where to look on the block for these plugs.

xj1028 said:

Recently I found some coolant that the xj pissed on the drive way and the only place i could find it was at the bell housing. I wiped it off and let it run for 5 minutes while i looked to see where it was coming from. I couldn't see anything leaking down , but when I shut it off and went back under for another look some coolant was back in the same place. I'm shooting for maybe a freeze plug or a heater hose and I was wondering if anyone could shine some insight on where to look on the block for these plugs.

Click to expand...

Check the heater hoses - that would have it dripping down the pax side.

Check the welch plug at the back of the cylinder head, that would have it dripping atop the bell and it could go either way.

Those are my first thoughts. The heater hoses are easier to repair, and probably more likely. Use a mirror-on-a-stick and a bright light to visually check the back the cylinder head.

I do not recall any potential coolant leaks from inside the bellhousing, without cracking the block. Badly. (If that happened, you have much larger problems before you...)

x2 on the heater hose. can you tell if it's leaking on the driver or passenger side?

I checked the top of the bell housing and the top of the head and I didn't see any leaks. I just seen some up by the rear main and on the bell housing. Here are some pics of what I found sorry if they are blurry.





This one is blurry but if you look up at the back of the pan you can see a drop in the center.

GrimmJeeper said:

x2 on the heater hose. can you tell if it's leaking on the driver or passenger side?

Click to expand...

Check your over flow bottle to it may be cracked or the over flow hose going to it. If it's up that high and on the pass side it's probably a hose like Grimm said. All the freeze plugs I believe are only on the drive side other than the rear so check that one it could be splashing off the fire wall onto your heater fitting in your pic!

Thanks for all the tips on where to look guys. I doubt its a cracked head only since where ever its leaking its not a large amount, but ill keep searching.

Check your heater control valve(thing w/green spots) in the first pic. They are plastic and will leak/disintegrate over time.
Have a new one ready if you touch the old one,,,,,,,

It would really help to know what year and how many miles, how long you owned it, how often the coolant was serviced and with what. The transmission type would help too, since it is harder to see over the AW4 than the 5 speed.

xj1028 said:

I doubt its a cracked head only since where ever its leaking its not a large amount.

Click to expand...

I don't think anyone else suspects a cracked head either.

I suspect the freeze plug in the rear of the head is rusting through. These start as a slow leak and progress. This is less likely if the XJ is 12 years old and had the antifreeze replaced regularly with a distilled water mix. If it is 25 years old and the antifreeze was replaced once with the radiator 18 years ago, then the freeze plug is a high probablilty.

Unfortunatly, there is not a lot of room in there for a mirror. I can't even get my hand between the firewall and the back of the head to feel the freeze plug. If you can get your hand back there, put a finger in the plug and feel if it has a rough surface, indicating a rust buildup. If you can't feel it or see it in position, you could drop the transmission cross-member and get a look at the freeze plug over the bellhousing. If it is the freeze plug, you will need to pull the engine to replace it. Use stainless steel or brass for replacements.

Wayne Sihler said:

Check your heater control valve(thing w/green spots) in the first pic. They are plastic and will leak/disintegrate over time.
Have a new one ready if you touch the old one,,,,,,,

Click to expand...

^this


there should never be coolant on the outside of the heater valve. they are cheap plastic that cracks if you look at it wrong, I would start there.

MoFo said:

It would really help to know what year and how many miles, how long you owned it, how often the coolant was serviced and with what. The transmission type would help too, since it is harder to see over the AW4 than the 5 speed.

Click to expand...

Its a 92 with 165,000 miles on it and a aw4 trans. Ive checked just about everything and cant find the source and it looks like what ever it was has stopped for now but ill keep an eye out for it. Thanks again everyone for the awesome info now ill know what to look for incase it gets worse.

x3 on that stupid heater control valve, they break easily.

Heater control valve is simple. Start there. The next place I would look, and I hate to say it would be the freeze plug on the back of the head. If it is the freeze plug your looking at a full weekend to R&R it, so try everything else first.

John

There is a freeze plug in the back of the block, between the engine and trans. Not saying it's the problem but it does exist.

I always go for the easy stuff first.

It's the heater control valve. Or, at least, that is part of it. Start the rig and let it idle until warm and watch the valve, there will be one or more pinhole leaks in it that will be pissing coolant onto the back of your motor and down into the bellhousing.

The good news is it's a cheap part (maybe 20 bucks) and not too difficult to replace, and most parts stores should have it in stock.

cruiser54 said:

There is a freeze plug in the back of the block, between the engine and trans. Not saying it's the problem but it does exist.

I always go for the easy stuff first.

Click to expand...

X2^^

it's definitely there, and mine's been leaking for about a year.... just too darn lazy to pull the engine/ transmission 'til I have to. you can use an inspection mirror and a good flashlight to see if there's coolant inside the bellhousing. If it's in there, it's probably the freeze plug in there that's leaking.

kastein said:

x3 on that stupid heater control valve, they break easily.

Click to expand...

Just did this, found it dripping off my starter (yea right my starter is leaking coolant hehe).

For mine it was the Packing around the little shaft that operates the heater bypass valve - I bet if you operate this thing a couple times it will Pee on your hand!

I ditched that stupid thing on my '92 and just ran hose straight to the core.

NotMatt said:

It's the heater control valve. Or, at least, that is part of it. Start the rig and let it idle until warm and watch the valve, there will be one or more pinhole leaks in it that will be pissing coolant onto the back of your motor and down into the bellhousing.

The good news is it's a cheap part (maybe 20 bucks) and not too difficult to replace, and most parts stores should have it in stock.

Click to expand...

Just eliminate the piece of crap. Splice the hoses rogether. You won't have a hot cabin or anything. I've done 3 of my own here in Arizona.

Not only that, but at some point they eliminated them on the XJs. My 2000 doesn't have one, straight hose.

IIRC they eliminated them from 96 to 97. I know my 96 had one, my 98 doesn't, and I don't seem to remember seeing one on a 97 I worked on a while ago either.