COOLANT EVERYWHERE!

[jbcrane]

Oh No!
My trouble-free days with my '21 JLU have ended. Today I smelled coolant at the drive through but didn't think much of it. I'd topped off the reserve tank the day before and spilled a drop down into the bowels of the engine. It's burning off, I thought.
Fast forward today while getting gas and I look down under the Jeep and a waterfall of coolant is now on the ground. I open the hood and the reserve tank is full, bubbling, gurgling, overflowing. Coolant temps and oil temps, as well as temp. gauge all show normal.

I turned on the AC to get the fan going, and nothing... normally I can hear that fan a mile away.
I'm thinking my fan, or a fan controller has gone out? I just replaced my main battery - that's the only other change that has been made.
Any thoughts? Calling the dealer today but would love to go in prepared with knowledge.

TIA, JBC

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[jeepingib]

Oh No!
My trouble-free days with my '21 JLU have ended. Today I smelled coolant at the drive through but didn't think much of it. I'd topped off the reserve tank the day before and spilled a drop down into the bowels of the engine. It's burning off, I thought.
Fast forward today while getting gas and I look down under the Jeep and a waterfall of coolant is now on the ground. I open the hood and the reserve tank is full, bubbling, gurgling, overflowing. Coolant temps and oil temps, as well as temp. gauge all show normal.

I turned on the AC to get the fan going, and nothing... normally I can hear that fan a mile away.
I'm thinking my fan, or a fan controller has gone out? I just replaced my main battery - that's the only other change that has been made.
Any thoughts? Calling the dealer today but would love to go in prepared with knowledge.

TIA, JBC

Ugh, that sucks. 3.6? There seems to be a very bad trend beginning with overheating and head gasket failure.

 

[jbcrane]

Ugh, that sucks. 3.6? There seems to be a very bad trend beginning with overheating and head gasket failure.

es, 3.6. It has been trouble-free until now.
It seems one thing leads to another... overheating can cause head gasket failure, vs. opposite (?). All temps are normal: coolant temps between 180-222, oil same, no movement on temperature gauge. Hoping my extended warranty begins paying for itself here.

 

[SadRobot]

That sucks. I'm in the same boat. Looking like I'll be getting a new engine put in.

 

[Aonar]

Something similar happened to me (JLURD) on our 1st trip out to Moab. I started smelling and seeing "smoke/steam". Bubbling up like nobody's business. Weird thing was that the cap was open slightly. I didn't open or fill at any time B4 the trip and this was hundreds of miles along our journey.

After we were able to get her to cool off and we found more coolant, we filled her up. It took almost a full bottle. No more problems after that.

 

[Steph1]

The Jeep’s coolant bottle will throw up any excess fluid you put in. All the Jeeps I know keep the coolant level right under the bottle’s middle seam. If you put more, out it will go when the Jeep reaches normal operating temperature.

 

[Heimkehr]

Lately, coolant loss is a recurring and troublesome theme on the forum.

I'll just toss this out here:
When I perform my weekly fluid level checks every Saturday morning, I'll also check the seating of every cap under the hood. The cap on the coolant reservoir, for example, clicks in place at the limit of its travel. Little things like that are important to stay on top of.

 

[nU7OuxIx]

Where was the coolant leaking from? If the temps showed normal I don't know if it would be the head gasket. When my head gasket went on another car that had a different engine, the temperature spiked and the coolant reservoir went to empty.

I wonder if maybe the cap wasn't on all the way and where it didn't pressurize and coolant came out of the cap? I also remember seeing that the reservoir can crack at the seam.

 

[Aonarch]

Lately, coolant loss is a recurring and troublesome theme on the forum.

I'll just toss this out here:
When I perform my weekly fluid level checks every Saturday morning, I'll also check the seating of every cap under the hood. The cap on the coolant reservoir, for example, clicks in place at the limit of its travel. Little things like that are important to stay on top of.

Is it mainly a 3.6 problem?

 

[jbcrane]

That sucks. I'm in the same boat. Looking like I'll be getting a new engine put in.

Ugh... and ouch. Hopefully that fixes the issues.

 

[jbcrane]

Something similar happened to me (JLURD) on our 1st trip out to Moab. I started smelling and seeing "smoke/steam". Bubbling up like nobody's business. Weird thing was that the cap was open slightly. I didn't open or fill at any time B4 the trip and this was hundreds of miles along our journey.

After we were able to get her to cool off and we found more coolant, we filled her up. It took almost a full bottle. No more problems after that.

We're supposed to head back to Utah next week so I feel like it's sort of a blessing it happened now, instead of in the middle of nowhere. I have an appointment tomorrow morning and he'll be towed in to avoid any further harm. I'm really thinking this is a fan issue. I can normally hear and feel the fan kick on. But it hasn't - even when I've turned the AC on. I checked fuse N5 as best I could and it looks normal/good - but I can't really tell. Glad you were able to sort through your issues.

 

[jbcrane]

The Jeep’s coolant bottle will throw up any excess fluid you put in. All the Jeeps I know keep the coolant level right under the bottle’s middle seam. If you put more, out it will go when the Jeep reaches normal operating temperature.

I'd just topped mine off to the Min/Max line the day before. When the engine was hot, the bottle ran full/overflowing/bubbling. There is no fan noise what so ever. The fan isn't coming on.

 

[jbcrane]

Where was the coolant leaking from? If the temps showed normal I don't know if it would be the head gasket.

That's what I'm thinking too...

It was hard to tell where it was coming from on the plastic bottle. The coolant was boiling and gurgling in the bottle.

When my head gasket went on another car that had a different engine, the temperature spiked and the coolant reservoir went to empty.

I wonder if maybe the cap wasn't on all the way and where it didn't pressurize and coolant came out of the cap? I also remember seeing that the reservoir can crack at the seam.

The cap was all the way on, snug. Or so I think... I remember turning it until it didn't turn any more with that in mind. But I don't remember feeling/hearing a 'click' as @Heimkehr pointed out (2.0 vs. 3.6?). It was definitely dripping onto the floor from above driver-side control arms.

 

[Heimkehr]

Is it mainly a 3.6 problem?

I can't say. A V6 owner might be better informed here.

 

[Jamrock]

Oh No!
My trouble-free days with my '21 JLU have ended. Today I smelled coolant at the drive through but didn't think much of it. I'd topped off the reserve tank the day before and spilled a drop down into the bowels of the engine. It's burning off, I thought.
Fast forward today while getting gas and I look down under the Jeep and a waterfall of coolant is now on the ground. I open the hood and the reserve tank is full, bubbling, gurgling, overflowing. Coolant temps and oil temps, as well as temp. gauge all show normal.

I turned on the AC to get the fan going, and nothing... normally I can hear that fan a mile away.
I'm thinking my fan, or a fan controller has gone out? I just replaced my main battery - that's the only other change that has been made.
Any thoughts? Calling the dealer today but would love to go in prepared with knowledge.

TIA, JBC

Much will depend on how long the overheating was taking place. It takes a while for the higher temperatures to cause damage.

Was there coolant left in the radiator? If there was sufficient coolant left, this would help keep the engine cool.

When the engine gets hot during regular driving, the engine fan will come on to cool it down. if the fan is not working, the temperature will start going up.

Your temperature gauge did not reflect the increased engine heat. Hopefully, the overheating was not going on for long.

Keep us updated.

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