3.4L loosing coolant (help)

[Joah_from_Alberta]

I have a 3.4L V6 rear wheel drive engine in my Jeep Cherokee.

It is loosing about 1 litre of coolant a day (30 miles) and getting hot, but cools down when I fill the rad.

I think I saw faint shreds of white in the rad when I opened the cap. My dipstick is clean.

What do I do? There doesn't appear to be anything leaking on the outside of the engine

[Joseph Upson]

If you can't see any sign of an external leak it's probably somewhere in the radiator core causing coolant to evaporate before it gets a chance to hit the ground.

[Joah_from_Alberta]

Yeah, I need something. This just started happening, I've looked online and people with 3.4L are laying LID gasket (but my 3.4l is rear-wheel drive and I dunno if that applies). Other people are saying head gasket ... I just don't know where to begin,

I just don't want to replace the gasket and find out it's the block or something else.

Thanks for your reply, if anyone else has any experience with this please let me know what your take on this would be,

Cheers,

[Joah_from_Alberta]

When I first start:

http://s209.photobucket.com/albums/bb231/Joah_from_Alberta/?action=view&current=VIDEO_013.mp4

After 10 mins idle:

http://s209.photobucket.com/albums/bb231/Joah_from_Alberta/?action=view&current=VIDEO_014.mp4

[pocket-rocket]

Considering you are from the Great White North I would check the tailpipe for excess steam if you are thinking head gasket. I would also go to an auto parts store and get the coolant system pressure tester loan a tool and pump it up to see if you can see/hear where the leak is at.

[Joah_from_Alberta]

Thank you, I will call partsource to see if they have this tool. Will it be able to tell me if I have a head gasket leak?

[Azrael]

If coolant is leaking into a cyl it would also add a very sweet smell to the exhaust. Is your rad cooling anything else like transmission oil?

[Joah_from_Alberta]

Nope, it's a standard. I'm concerned about that outmeal in my rad ...

[Joah_from_Alberta]

It seems to lose coolant when only parked as well.

[pocket-rocket]

No luck tracking down a cooling system pressure tester I take it?

[Joah_from_Alberta]

I can't understand how a pressure tester will tell me if it is a head gasket leak, but I will go loan one tonight. I want to thank you for your follow-up on this, in my head-down state any words of encouragement is like a golden ray of sunshine.

[Joah_from_Alberta]

I found out today that the guy who sold me the engine did not use torque-to-yield bolts when he put the heads back on. Apparently he put 30000 km on it and I put another 5000 km on it.

[pocket-rocket]

I can't understand how a pressure tester will tell me if it is a head gasket leak, but I will go loan one tonight. I want to thank you for your follow-up on this, in my head-down state any words of encouragement is like a golden ray of sunshine.

It would allow you (most of the time) to hear where the coolant leak is. That's what I use mine for about 90% of the time. I put it on the radiator, pump it up and listen for the leak. I open the oil fill on the valve covers and listen if I can't hear anything externally. For a head gasket I diagnosed with it, it would maintain pressure when cold but when warm it would leak like a sieve. You could also pop the plugs out (when cold or slightly warm, but not up to full operating temperature) and put a piece of tube in the cylinders to listen for the leak in there if it were a head gasket leaking into the combustion chambers.

[Joah_from_Alberta]

Okay, here's the thing: My friend advised me to put 2-3 tea bags in the rad-- this was on Friday. Today I drove all day about 30 miles (and slow through construction) and no overheat and no coolant loss.

[bob442]

well if you want to fix it or band-aid it, and have it fail on the worst day of the year for you. get a pressure tester and listen for the leak, smell the exhaust for a sweet smell, or and check you transmission oil, if antifreeze gets in there it will look or and green.