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98 TJ - Antifreeze Leak?

After a long trip in July over taking me from Ontario to Maryland - discovering that Pennsylvania is uphill both ways - I noticed that my coolant bottle was empty. No problem I thought and topped it up again. I checked it for the next few days and the level seemed stable.

Fast forward to last weekend when after putting my hard-top back on I noticed a small puddle in the driveway of radiator fluid. Checking the coolant bottle was empty again and there was radiator fluid in the tray at the bottom of the rad. I checked as well as I could but could not identify any leaks so I topped up again. After two days of driving to work (333km round trip) all seems fine still. The TJ has about 305,000km on it right now and I haven't replaced anything in the cooling system (yet).

Any ideas as to what might be wrong? I'm thinking perhaps my radiator cap might be weak but before I take it to the garage I thought I'd check to see what I should be asking them to check.

Thanks

Andrew Butchart snipped-for-privacy@floatingbear.ca

Reply to
Andrew Butchart
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Reply to
L.W.(ßill) Hughes III

Andrew Butchart did pass the time by typing:

Check your hoses for cracks (including the heater hoses) and the weep hole on the water pumps output. You might have a "teeny" little leak in a hose that's pissing on the radiator when you stop.

If any hoses are cracked or bulging(soft) then replace them.

Reply to
DougW

Thanks for the input - I've got an appointment with my local mechanic to check it over on Monday. No sense taking chances.

Andrew B

Reply to
Andrew Butchart

Reply to
James Gemmill

same thing happened to me.....looked all over & could not find the leak for a long time - I put the pressure tester on it & still found nothing. finally pulled off the overflow tank & put in some water to find the problem.

Reply to
Carlo

It was the rad after all - the guy at the shop said he was amazed that I got 300,000km out of a radiator. I didn't know they were "wear" items. It's not as if I abuse the vehicle or overload it

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I now have a new radiator and a full credit card.

Thanks for the advice.

Andrew Butchart snipped-for-privacy@floatingbear.ca

Reply to
Andrew Butchart

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