Lets play, where the coolant coming from ??

You guys know the feeling... a small new puddle under your Jeep when you go outside to get in...

This morning I was getting ready to leave for work when I noticed a small wet spot on the driveway... about 10" diameter. Wasn't the normal dew dripping from the corners of my XJ so I grabbed my flashlight and crawled under the front bumper. I could see coolant on the bottom Radiator Hose w/a slight clinging drip just waiting to fall. I checked coolant levels and decided to drive her to work keeping and eye on the Temp Gauge. All was well and I thought perhaps my wormdrive clamp maybe came a little loose...

So I backed into my parking spot and while the 4.0 was still running climbed under the front bumper and there was NO coolant coming out, the hose was now dry and the pressurized hose looked good.

So my first thought was loose clamp which now I don't think is right. Any ideas where this might have come from? Could my water pump be leaking coolant... maybe the precursor to that going out? Any ideas so I can plan ahead and fix this so it doesn't blow on my in 5 o'clock rush-hour traffic??

Appreciate any suggestions on how to test it here. Thx!

water pump

cruiser54 said:

water pump

Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking too... I replaced this one several years/miles back so probably time for a new one.

Found a Mopar pump and all accessories needed @ RockAuto. Local dealership wanted the same price to order a Mopar pump only... I got new Clamps, Lower Hose, Gasket, Water Pump Inlet Tube and Water Pump shipped in 2 days for only $10 more than the Dealership wanted.

Guess I have some work to do this weekend... assuming my water pump holds up until then. (praying I'm good....)

Update:

After posting about the coolant leak, I noticed that I couldn't find an actual leak while driving it the following week. However, I decided to order a new Mopar Water Pump, New Motorad 195 Degree Thermostat, New lower Rad Hose (as I can NEVER get those off without damaging them) and various other parts that go along w/the installation.

Got the new parts installed Saturday and after 2 days I can't find any other leaks (knock on wood). After replacing my Radiator a few months back and now my Water pump and thermostat... I should be good to go for a while on cooling.

On the other hand... I found the box of the water pump I was replacing and I apparently changed out the water pump on 2/2014 and I couldn't find anything wrong w/the one I pulled off this Saturday. No bearing wobble or pitted impeller. The only thing I could really find was an apparent gasket failure on the bottom part, but not a terrible failure. The removed pump was from Autozone/Duralast model.

99 XJ leaking small of antifreeze only while warming up. Replaced radiator cap, problem fixed.

gdavis said:

99 XJ leaking small of antifreeze only while warming up. Replaced radiator cap, problem fixed.

Click to expand...

Had that happen before as well... missing coolant and dried up coolant on the hood above cap. Ha

Ive had the overflow line leak a little before. Ive had small leaks when cold (winter time)that disappeared when warmed up. Each time i found hose clamps slightly loose and figured engine heat was expanding things enough to seal everything back up.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk