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JLU 2.0 Turbo Rust Color Antifreeze Coolant

Willys4x4

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Hey Jeep fam I have a 2020 wrangler jlu with 2.0 turbo without generator. It’s got about 13k miles and I was doing the usual inspections of liquids and notice my radiator antifreeze reservoir dip stick was pretty much dry so I peeked inside and noticed the reservoir was really low and had this rust color to it. My experience as mechanic tells me this is bad and could possibly mean blown head gasket to bad antifreeze. Has anyone looked inside their reservoir and noticed this, or had this same issue? Haven’t gone to dealer yet.

Jeep Wrangler JL JLU 2.0 Turbo Rust Color Antifreeze Coolant 88C2BE4B-926E-4B4C-82CA-679C7DB7CAD3


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emptyminded42

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Take it to the dealer. Any other info or advice you get from this forum will be speculation at best. Keep us updated; hopefully it is benign.
 

chevymitchell

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Hey Jeep fam I have a 2020 wrangler jlu with 2.0 turbo without generator. It’s got about 13k miles and I was doing the usual inspections of liquids and notice my radiator antifreeze reservoir dip stick was pretty much dry so I peeked inside and noticed the reservoir was really low and had this rust color to it. My experience as mechanic tells me this is bad and could possibly mean blown head gasket to bad antifreeze. Has anyone looked inside their reservoir and noticed this, or had this same issue? Haven’t gone to dealer yet.

Jeep Wrangler JL JLU 2.0 Turbo Rust Color Antifreeze Coolant 3884D1C4-573B-4678-B809-B18F8FE4E125


Jeep Wrangler JL JLU 2.0 Turbo Rust Color Antifreeze Coolant 3884D1C4-573B-4678-B809-B18F8FE4E125
Coolant only turns brown when there's rust present in the system, oil in the system, or it's gotten too hot/boiled.

Definitely let the dealer take a look at it.
 

Buddy Lee

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Mopar uses OAT coolant in its modern vehicles. The coolant looks purple when you pour it but can look a dark rustic red when inside the radiator. That looks similar to both my Jeep vehicles coolant. I think it is probably normal. If the head gasket was blown I would think you would clearly see a milky appearance in the coolant.
 
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Willys4x4

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Take it to the dealer. Any other info or advice you get from this forum will be speculation at best. Keep us updated; hopefully it is benign.
Right I am just wondering if anyone else has had this issue.
 

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Willys4x4

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Mopar uses OAT coolant in its modern vehicles. The coolant looks purple when you pour it but can look a dark rustic red when inside the radiator. That looks similar to both my Jeep vehicles coolant. I think it is probably normal. If the head gasket was blown I would think you would clearly see a milky appearance in the coolant.
Yeah that’s what I thought but still doesn’t explain why coolant was so low, also noticed engine oil dip stick has oil level higher than normal. Idk if it’s fuel or water in there. I know Honda’s direct injection engines had fuel dilution issues where fuel would get past rings and go into oil pan making levels higher.
 

Buddy Lee

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Yeah that’s what I thought but still doesn’t explain why coolant was so low, also noticed engine oil dip stick has oil level higher than normal. Idk if it’s fuel or water in there. I know Honda’s direct injection engines had fuel dilution issues where fuel would get past rings and go into oil pan making levels higher.
I know direct injection engines do have some fuel blow by, how much i guess depends on the ring wear and oil change intervals. When I have seen oil the coolant it's very apparent and messy. Have you done your own maintenance? I know some on the forum have complained about the dealerships putting in 6 quarts of oil instead of 5.
 
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Willys4x4

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I know direct injection engines do have some fuel blow by, how much i guess depends on the ring wear and oil change intervals. When I have seen oil the coolant it's very apparent and messy. Have you done your own maintenance? I know some on the forum have complained about the dealerships putting in 6 quarts of oil instead of 5.
I have lifetime oil changes so I take it to dealer. I always check when they do an oil change and it has been at spec. I had it done a month and half ago and oil level normal. Now it’s way above normal and no sign of coolant. I hate to think that’s all fuel in there but only one way to find out is oil sample, I’m going to take a sample to an auto shop that has a tester to see for myself before I take it in this weekend.
 

Buddy Lee

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I have lifetime oil changes so I take it to dealer. I always check when they do an oil change and it has been at spec. I had it done a month and half ago and oil level normal. Now it’s way above normal and no sign of coolant. I hate to think that’s all fuel in there but only one way to find out is oil sample, I’m going to take a sample to an auto shop that has a tester to see for myself before I take it in this weekend.
Throw me an update if you don't mind, I would like to know if these engines are dumping that kind of fuel in the oil. if that's the case I will definitely keep shorter oil change intervals. I only have 1,000 miles on mine right now.
 

four low

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If you had that much fuel in your oil, wouldn't you be able to smell it ? Enough fuel or water to raise the dipstick reading should be a color or smell warning. Do you wipe the dipstick first, to avoid a false high reading from oil level creep ? Same temperature when comparing readings ?
 

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I've had an analysis done by Blackstone and fuel was a little high in my sample. Change between 7-10k miles.

I've also noticed the overflow reservoir in my 2.0 tends to be a little low, never dry. I've had to top it off a couple of times. I found one spot that looked wet under the engine near the transmission but couldn't determine if it was coolant and have not seen any evidence of leak or splatter anywhere else. No coolant present in my oil either so it must be either evaporating somewhere minutely or there was air in the system.

Oil and coolant (basically water) is immiscible so you'd have coolant that is very viscous or oil separating and floating after letting it sit. Looks like rust accumulation and needs a full system flush or two.
 

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Hey Jeep fam I have a 2020 wrangler jlu with 2.0 turbo without generator. It’s got about 13k miles and I was doing the usual inspections of liquids and notice my radiator antifreeze reservoir dip stick was pretty much dry so I peeked inside and noticed the reservoir was really low and had this rust color to it. My experience as mechanic tells me this is bad and could possibly mean blown head gasket to bad antifreeze. Has anyone looked inside their reservoir and noticed this, or had this same issue? Haven’t gone to dealer yet.

Jeep Wrangler JL JLU 2.0 Turbo Rust Color Antifreeze Coolant 3884D1C4-573B-4678-B809-B18F8FE4E125


Jeep Wrangler JL JLU 2.0 Turbo Rust Color Antifreeze Coolant 3884D1C4-573B-4678-B809-B18F8FE4E125
That color should be a huge warning sign. That color is what leaked out before the regular color of the antifreeze poured out from my 2021 Willy <11000 yesterday. Had to have it towed to dealer and now waiting to hear back. Had an oil change and an inspection just in August.



 

Quinn99

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Hey Jeep fam I have a 2020 wrangler jlu with 2.0 turbo without generator. It’s got about 13k miles and I was doing the usual inspections of liquids and notice my radiator antifreeze reservoir dip stick was pretty much dry so I peeked inside and noticed the reservoir was really low and had this rust color to it. My experience as mechanic tells me this is bad and could possibly mean blown head gasket to bad antifreeze. Has anyone looked inside their reservoir and noticed this, or had this same issue? Haven’t gone to dealer yet.

88C2BE4B-926E-4B4C-82CA-679C7DB7CAD3.jpeg


3884D1C4-573B-4678-B809-B18F8FE4E125.jpeg
Have you tried sampling some from the reservoir? The color on mine looks similar to yours in the reservoir but outside it is similar to the pinkish color that it is when it goes in. Maybe a little lighter.

Unfortunately there do seem to be a number of people with coolant loss issues (including me). See:
https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/2-0-coolant-top-off-frequency.92055/

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/2-0l-water-leak.84706/

Jeep Wrangler JL JLU 2.0 Turbo Rust Color Antifreeze Coolant 11630436-E777-4434-98CB-CB5305072499
Jeep Wrangler JL JLU 2.0 Turbo Rust Color Antifreeze Coolant 2F499972-C0FC-42C6-ACB0-330348021E56
 
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Yeah, this coolant is tricky. It does look “orange-ish” or rust colored when looking into the reservoir or gallon jug. I bought some official OAT/ MS90032 Mopar coolant and it looks the same.

When it leaks, or drys, or in small samples… it looks pink.

It’s Gotta be the Unicorn pee in it. :CWL:
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