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Coolant overflow bottle

M

megabyte5689

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Kansas
I recently have been having a problem with my hoses going to the bottom of my coolant tank, the end of the bottle that connects to the tip of the hose has been leaking. I have tried loosening the clamp and pushing the hose up, this doesn't seem to help at all. Currently its just dripping. I replaced the hoses going from the side of the tank and heater control valve over the summer. This is a 90 XJ by the way. My xj hasn't been warming up like it used to and the temp. gauge reads 210, but once I start driving it decreases dramatically, is this a t-stat issue? Do I need to go ahead and replaces the hoses coming from bottom of tank? how do I go about flushing the coolant?
 
Sure the pressure/overflow bottle isn't split at the back and running down to the lower hose?

You might simply have air in the cooling system.
 
If I understand you correctly you have a closed system where the tank is a mounted on the firewall and is an actual pressure tank and part of the cooling system, might just be time replace it, sounds like it's leaking and if it's leaking it's not allowing pressure to build. I think www.quadratec.com sells them for $15-$20 or something, tank and pressure cap.
 
I had that exact same problem for 2weeks and than I went to fix the junk and it had a huge crack in the bottle. You need to change it out fast before it gets you stuck somewhere.
 
There's a metal "reinforcement" tube at the bottom of the tank surrounded by the plastic. It has a tendenct to crack without a crack being evident and can leak without there being any sign of a crack.

As luck would have it I have an extra (brand new) tank that I bought before I converted to an open system just laying around my shop. PM me and pay the shipping and it's yours.

Just gimme an address and a ZIP and I'll give you a ball park on the shipping. I don't need to make any money on this and I'd just as soon give it to someone who can use it.
 
This would make alot of sense, I'll have to check it out. I know I need to replace the thermostat. How do I drain all the coolant out on the 90 xj, and how do I add coolant in and make sure I don't get any air inside the system?
 
Drain you coolant into a 5gallon bucket through the drain hole located on the passanger side of the radiator. You'll find the plug if lookin at the side of it under the front fender. After you change your t-stat start your XJ and add through the coolant bottle with heater on full blast. Some guys drill holes into the t-stat at 12 o'clock, but im unsure on how to accomplish it. Also your new t-stat may already come with a float built in or pre-drilled holes and than you wont have to worry about it, because it will "burp" itself.
 
I usually just crank them but not to the point before stipping the head. Some guys may torque them, but I've never heard so.
 
I would start the XJ and add the coolant while it's running? Also do I need to buy some RTV sealant? Also since I'm doing this I just plan on doing a flush and putting new coolant in, I already have some in my garage. One is not premixed. The other I used a little last summer and then filled up the remaining portion with water from the hose outside. Is that alright to do, or do I need water like purified aquafina?:dunno:
 
distilled water is recommended, you can get it at most grocery stores in a 4liter jug, 50/50 mix is best
 
IF there is air in the system it could cause this too? Remember I said last summer I had to add more coolant because the heater hoses coming from the side busted. I lost a substantial amount of coolant when this happened. I just added more coolant once I fixed the issue. It leaks right where the hose connects to the bottom of the tank, I can see coolant in between the hose and connection. Clamps are as tight as they should be. Also on the side connection of the tank it is leaking a small, very small amount of anti-freeze where it is connected, we've pushed the hose up as much as possible also.
 
Replace the coolant recovery bottle and see if that stops the problem. You will need some RTV thats Red not Blue to replace the T-stat! Go to Napa and get the T-stat seal, it is sticky on the back side so all you'll need to do is stick it on the engine block and put RTV on the front and stick the housing back on and reconnect the hoses. Yes, turn motor on and add coolant, because when adding the coolant to a running motor it causes the air to be pushed out while the coolant pushes out the air.
 
Last edited:
Did I miss something here, way back at the beginning it was recommended to replace the coolant pressure bottle. As for the Tstat, I prefer the dealer OEM Tstat and gasket, every time I've used an aftermarket gasket it's given me fits.
When you get the Tstat housing off lay a piece of medium grade emory cloth on a table and run the face of the housing over it to clean it up.
I went thru 3 aftermarket gaskets on the ZJ one sunday and the ZJ with the 4.0 is a real PIA to do the tstat on. Picked up a OEM one and that went on and sealed.
 
I had nothing but problems with both Tstat gasket and bottle. After market gasket didnt work for me either. And after month of trying to get the closed system to work, I yarded the hole thing. I replaced everything in the cooloing system. Nothing but good now. But if it matters I did see the bottle on e-bay for $16.00.
 
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