*Update:
The problem turned out to be a faulty radiator cap trapping pressure in the system. But just to be safe, I ordered a new water pump and gasket. Both MOPAR. I'm not messing around with these cheap Amazon reproduction parts anymore if I don't have to*
Ok I need to call in a life line here. My cracked radiator is gone and replaced with a fresh OE reproduction unit which is cooling and holding coolant just fine.
HOWEVER, I all of a sudden now have an intermittent leak coming from my water pump. WTH?!? Is there anything in the coolant system that might cause excessive pressure other than a bad head gasket, and do so intermittently?
The reason that I say "other than a bad head gasket" is that I’m not seeing any other signs of a bad head gasket.
•No bubbles and or exhaust fumes present in the inlet of my radiator while the Jeep is idling with the cap off.
•No milkiness to the oil on my dipstick or on the bottom of my oil filler cap. I check with the engine both cold and hot.
•No white smoke coming from my tailpipe.
•No engine temperature fluctuations during idling or driving.
•No loss in engine performance. Jeep runs like a top.
The reason that I say "intermittent" is because the problem seems completely random and unpredictable. The first time I noticed a leak was shortly after I had installed the new radiator.
Obviously the first thing I checked was that. The radiator itself and all the connections to it were fine. So I just assumed that what looked like a leak was probably just left over coolant pooled in hidden corners of the engine compartment which was now being blown around by the fan. But then after about a 5 minute test run in the garage mostly at idle speed I noticed the leak was getting progressively worse. So I shut the engine off.
What followed was 20 minutes of my soul leaving my body while I frantically google searched "head gasket failure symptoms"
After the panic attack subsided, I restarted the Jeep and ran it at idle speed to see if I could pinpoint the leak. To my surprise the leak was gone.
So with great hesitation and skepticism I once again convinced myself that it MUST have just been the left over coolant that had previously shot out the top of my old radiator like a geyser last week. I then proceeded to take the Jeep for a 15-20 minute test drive at both city and highway speeds. I nervously came back, parked the Jeep running in the garage and looked underneath...No leak! So I shut it down and took a sigh of relief.
But then when I restart the engine 20 minutes or so later, the leak came back as the engine approached running temperature. That's when I was able to finally dive in and track the leak to the bottom of the water pump. But this left me scratching my head because I just replace the water pump along with the thermostat and thermostat housing only about six months ago. Not because anyone of them was particularly bad. I was just part of a really satisfying preventative maintenance kick I was on.
So, is there any way that a bad water pump could cause excessive pressure resulting in a radiator failure like mine? Or.
Could a blocked radiator cause excessive pressure resulting in it's own failure and in the proses damage the water pump and/or its gasket? Or.
Could some other component of the cooling system have caused the the radiator to crack under pressure and now the water pump and or it's gasket have become the next weakest link? Or.
Are my above bro-science head gasket diagnostics misinformed?
I have a big camping trip lined up for the end of this month, and I'm really gonna be bummed if I have to bail on it.
I'm gonna to spam this across all the forums and groups and hope for the best. God help me. And I'm not even religious...
6 сен 2024
