Non XJ help..... Anti-freeze is gelling

[Renegade XJ]

The wife has a 2011 Liberty that I'm pretty came with Dex-cool from the factory. It's never had a flush or needed radiator fluid to be top off as I check it every oil change so no chance in mixing the wrong fluid. Today sitting at a drive-thru the idiot light came on and it was almost in the red. At that point she tells me it's been doing that for a few weeks :facepalm:. After it cooled I popes open the radiator cap and it was bone dry. But all around the cap was a red gel.... Wtf?!?! Why would it gel by itself? I looked underneath the Jeep and it looks like a Dexcool gel bomb went off from the lower radiator hose. Any ideas why it would gel by itself?

 

[winterbeater]

Back around 2008, a Chrysler assembly plant had a bad carload (train tanker) of coolant. Heater cores and oil coolers (oil to water) were clogging up with gel like substance. Many warranty claims.

Likely just bad coolant. It would be a shame if Chrysler didn't institute positive corrective actions. Try flushing aggressively flowing water back and forth thru the system. We replaced a lot of heater cores.

 

[scottmcneal]

If your system has a bunch of Gel in it, i wouldn't do the flush myself. I would have a shop do it so they get it all out. If you leave any of it in the system it may plug up something and leave you sitting on the side of the road.

Just a thought.

 

[KRG.FAB]

Is it still under warranty? I would take it to the dealer if it was and let them flush and replace stuff.

 

[md21722]

Ditto on the warranty. I'd be particularly concerned about the parts that aren't easily cleaned- radiator and heater core. New coolant is supposed to last a while.

 

[Renegade XJ]

Nope, its about 5,000 miles out of warranty. after topping it off with water it hasnt got hot once today (I was forced to have to drive it). Gonna take a better look at it in a few min, maybe pull the upper or lower radiator hose off and see whats inside.

 

[winterbeater]

Push the dealer hard. And try contacting Chrysler customer advocates. Do inlet and outlet heater hoses get equally hot like they should?

 

[Renegade XJ]

After digging through some files I found the window sticker for it. Turned out I have a 5yr/100,000 mile power train warranty. Thank god because the trans was shifting funny under load also. Took it into the dealer and I'm getting a new water pump, all new hoses, an EVAP leak fixed, and a new transmission! Two weeks of down time but that's cool with me if it's free!

 

[XJLI]

nice! cant beat free and under warranty.