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dissapearing coolant

jayuu

NAXJA Forum User
93 xj 4.0HO 22xxxxmiles so for the past 3 months ive been adding coolant, about every 4 weeks id see its at the add line, it never went under that, until today. it always operated right at abouit 200 to 210 today it got to about 240. i just added some coolant the other day though. there is no puddles under it and doesnt seem to be any white smoke from exhaust. could this be a bad waterpump. i did notice i heard a weird almost grinding noise coming from the front passenger side of the engine. ill look into my haynes and see what it suggests too. thought id ask you guys first.
 
Check for a oily film on the rear window.

I'm tired and not thinking well, but if it is a closed system, a leaky radiator cap is the first thing that comes to mind.
 
Probably loosing it out of the weep hole in the nose of the water pump. Go to parts store and have them pull you a new one and look at where the hole is. There is packing around that seal that eventually goes, my 98 lasted about 260,000 mi or so, just replaced it a couple of months ago.
Get the pump, gasket, new thermostat, tstat gasket, hoses, pressure cap. serpentine belt, idler pulley and it might be time consider a new radiator while you have it all apart. Thats if you plan on keeping it and it's easier doing it now than when the snow starts flying.. I'd also get the tstat, tstat gasket, pressure cap and idlers from the dealer, the tstat gasket is all set to go on with rtv already applied, weep hole on tstat goes facing up at the 12 O'clock position. Pull your over flow bottle out and give it a good cleaning too as well as the hose that goes between the bottle and filler neck.
 
jayuu said:
93 xj 4.0HO 22xxxxmiles so for the past 3 months ive been adding coolant, about every 4 weeks id see its at the add line, it never went under that, until today. it always operated right at abouit 200 to 210 today it got to about 240. i just added some coolant the other day though. there is no puddles under it and doesnt seem to be any white smoke from exhaust. could this be a bad waterpump. i did notice i heard a weird almost grinding noise coming from the front passenger side of the engine. ill look into my haynes and see what it suggests too. thought id ask you guys first.

Your problem could indeed be a leaking water pump and the leak will be more obvious when you shut down the engine after running it for a while.
If there are no external coolant leaks, you could have a leaking head gasket and be losing coolant into the crankcase (engine oil will look like chocolate milkshake). Another possibility is an internal coolant leak from the radiator core into the tranny fluid cooler, and this would make the tranny fluid look like strawberry milkshake.
 
If its getting hotter than it should and losing coolant without leaking it, id think seriously about a head gasket. As mentioned it could be an internal problem with the radiator. Even though its not smoking have your oil tested for traces of antifreeze.
 
Sometimes a very slight leak at the lower radiator hose water pump connection, the thermostat elbow or even a pin hole in the radiator, will mostly evaporate before it builds up enough to hit the ground. It usually leaves a stain where it´s been leaking for awhile, either the same color as your coolant and/or white.
Right after shutting the motor down, the system will continue to build pressure for a few minutes and it's a good time to look for a drop. Wiping a white paper towel around the hose connections, sometimes shows very small seepage, where it's very hard to see.
A good trick to keep track of coolant loss, is to mark the recovery tank, at the full cold and full hot level with a marker. I usually fill half way between add and full when it's cold, then a make reference mark, then another when it is hot.
Springing little seeps, happens often.
 
i put a better radiator in it, and a new water pump. still eats up teh coolant. found some mayo on the dipstick and on the oil fill cap. bought some head gasket repair stuff to make it work for another month before i teardown and actually fix it. but the weird thing is it drains all the coolant from the overflow bottle, but it runs at about 200. id imagine it would overheat or something but its doesnt. whats the deal with that?
 
jayuu said:
i put a better radiator in it, and a new water pump. still eats up teh coolant. found some mayo on the dipstick and on the oil fill cap. bought some head gasket repair stuff to make it work for another month before i teardown and actually fix it. but the weird thing is it drains all the coolant from the overflow bottle, but it runs at about 200. id imagine it would overheat or something but its doesnt. whats the deal with that?

Probably where the crack is located, it's sucking coolant out on the intake stroke not pushing hot exhaust gases back in....
 
langer1 said:
With the stock closed system zero, that what I like about the closed systems.

...and with the open system, it's only slightly more than zero. I'd rather have the open system 'cause if you drain and refill it, any trapped air eventually comes out by itself so you don't have to "burp" the open system like you do with the closed. Ask anyone who has the closed system what a PITA that is (not to mention cracked pressure bottles leaking coolant).
 
not to bring up a dead topic lol but i've searched forever and still have a few questions. Been losing coolant quickly, but as far as i can tell, not externally. Been reading alot on leaking head gaskets, and am leaning that way, even though i'm not positive. Filled the res. bottle to the top and when the engine was running had a stream of bubbles floating to the top. However, the engine oil still looks good, and strangely, the vacuum canister in the front bumper was full of bright green antifreeze when i was tracking down vacuum leaks. Any ideas? It is an 87 4.0 comanche with 22xxxx miles.
 
By full of coolant , do u mean inside it or on top of it ? Because if its full of coolant on top of it , the line that runs from the reservoir to the rad runs in that direction and a hole can be hard to find especially if its temp dependant.

pete
 
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