yellocoyote
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- May 14, 2008
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Back when we got the first real cold snap here (single digits and under), I noticed a leak under the KJ. I got under to check it out, and it appeared to originate from the passenger side lower hose going into the radiator. The leak was a few drops overnight - not a huge amount by any means.
It leaked like this for about a week, and then stopped. Since then, I topped off the coolant reservoir because it was about 1/2" below normal when cold. I accidentally overfilled the reservoir
because it's very difficult to actually see the level through the plastic. I considered siphoning it out, but was told that it wasn't necessary. (Not sure how accurate that is.)
Since all of that, the KJ hasn't leaked anymore. It doesn't have any temperature issues while I drive it... but once it's up to normal operating temperature, and I let it idle (like at a traffic light, parking lot, my driveway, etc.), I have coolant steam coming from under the hood. When I pop the hood, the coolant level is still on the high side from before, and it appears to be burning off from boil-over.
So the question is... if I siphon out the extra coolant, do you think this will stop? Aaron suggested maybe it has a bad reservoir cap... and I was wondering if maybe the thermostat is going bad (what are the indicators of bad thermostat?). Why else would the coolant be boiling itself out of the reservoir at idle vs when driving. Maybe the cold air temperature has a lot to do with it? The temperature indicator gauge in the dash never moves, so I can assume the vehicle is within an acceptable range.
I wonder what the explanation for all of this be if the weather were warmer - if it would behave the same way, or if I would have these same symptoms when the vehicle was in motion.
My KJ is pushing 164K miles, and I haven't had to replace the thermostat yet... or anything else cooling related except for the radiator in '09 and the normal coolant flushes.
Any ideas?
It leaked like this for about a week, and then stopped. Since then, I topped off the coolant reservoir because it was about 1/2" below normal when cold. I accidentally overfilled the reservoir
because it's very difficult to actually see the level through the plastic. I considered siphoning it out, but was told that it wasn't necessary. (Not sure how accurate that is.)Since all of that, the KJ hasn't leaked anymore. It doesn't have any temperature issues while I drive it... but once it's up to normal operating temperature, and I let it idle (like at a traffic light, parking lot, my driveway, etc.), I have coolant steam coming from under the hood. When I pop the hood, the coolant level is still on the high side from before, and it appears to be burning off from boil-over.
So the question is... if I siphon out the extra coolant, do you think this will stop? Aaron suggested maybe it has a bad reservoir cap... and I was wondering if maybe the thermostat is going bad (what are the indicators of bad thermostat?). Why else would the coolant be boiling itself out of the reservoir at idle vs when driving. Maybe the cold air temperature has a lot to do with it? The temperature indicator gauge in the dash never moves, so I can assume the vehicle is within an acceptable range.
I wonder what the explanation for all of this be if the weather were warmer - if it would behave the same way, or if I would have these same symptoms when the vehicle was in motion.
My KJ is pushing 164K miles, and I haven't had to replace the thermostat yet... or anything else cooling related except for the radiator in '09 and the normal coolant flushes.
Any ideas?
