Cracked radiator...

[honu]

This evening, my daughter mentioned she saw smoke coming from under the hood of our 2002 Liberty. Turns out the "smoke" was actually steam, coming from what appears to be a small crack in the right tank of the radiator, near the upper radiator hose inlet. At first, I thought it might have been the hose, but after letting the engine idle for a few minutes, I could see where the coolant was bubbling out of the tank.

I know that radiators aren't repaired anymore, they're merely replaced, so I thought ask the good folks here if you guys have any aftermarket radiators suggestions, or should I go ahead and replace it with one from MOPAR?

And while I'm asking... not more than 3 weeks ago, I had the cooling system flushed and refilled. The "coolant" leaking from the cracked radiator is a thick, rusty colour. Obviously, there's something wrong here. Can someone take a guess on why the fresh coolant would look so bad in such a short period of time?

Thanks for any ideas you toss my way...

 

[TwoBobsKJ]

This evening, my daughter mentioned she saw smoke coming from under the hood of our 2002 Liberty. Turns out the "smoke" was actually steam, coming from what appears to be a small crack in the right tank of the radiator, near the upper radiator hose inlet. At first, I thought it might have been the hose, but after letting the engine idle for a few minutes, I could see where the coolant was bubbling out of the tank.

I know that radiators aren't repaired anymore, they're merely replaced, so I thought ask the good folks here if you guys have any aftermarket radiators suggestions, or should I go ahead and replace it with one from MOPAR?

And while I'm asking... not more than 3 weeks ago, I had the cooling system flushed and refilled. The "coolant" leaking from the cracked radiator is a thick, rusty colour. Obviously, there's something wrong here. Can someone take a guess on why the fresh coolant would look so bad in such a short period of time?

Thanks for any ideas you toss my way...

To answer your first question...Yep, go with a MOPAR radiator. Many have to replace other aftermarket rads within a year or two due to cracking, leaking at the same spot yours is. More money but you save yourself lots of grief having to pull and replace it in a few months...

As for the rusty coolant...

IIRC you had a lot of "goop" come out of the system when you had it flushed and refilled recently thanks to improper coolant being used by the previous owner. The new, correct HOAT coolant is most likely scrubbing the cooling system of scale and impurities created by the bad stuff that was in there before. It is probably a good thing that you'll have to drain the system again to replace the radiator as you'll be able to remove the discolored coolant that's in there now and put in another fresh batch of HOAT coolant. Should be good for the long haul then.

To other posters wondering what happens when you use the wrong coolant in these engines, Honu here is a perfect example of someone who has been victimized by a previous owner who thought the "universal" stuff was OK to use. FACT: Anything but HOAT coolant (Zerex G-05 from NAPA is a HOAT coolant) will cause bad things to happen to your Jeep.

You've been warned :shakehead:

Bob

 

[02blue]

X2! I'm one of the many who put in an aftermarket rad only to change it 10 months later. I put in a Mopar this time.

Also have gotten burned a few times by previous owners thinking "universal" meant universal.

 

[02blue]

BTW,

http://www.partswebsite.com/moparonlineparts/

Good source.

 

[honu]

To answer your first question...Yep, go with a MOPAR radiator. Many have to replace other aftermarket rads within a year or two due to cracking, leaking at the same spot yours is. More money but you save yourself lots of grief having to pull and replace it in a few months...

As for the rusty coolant...

IIRC you had a lot of "goop" come out of the system when you had it flushed and refilled recently thanks to improper coolant being used by the previous owner. The new, correct HOAT coolant is most likely scrubbing the cooling system of scale and impurities created by the bad stuff that was in there before. It is probably a good thing that you'll have to drain the system again to replace the radiator as you'll be able to remove the discolored coolant that's in there now and put in another fresh batch of HOAT coolant. Should be good for the long haul then.

To other posters wondering what happens when you use the wrong coolant in these engines, Honu here is a perfect example of someone who has been victimized by a previous owner who thought the "universal" stuff was OK to use. FACT: Anything but HOAT coolant (Zerex G-05 from NAPA is a HOAT coolant) will cause bad things to happen to your Jeep.

You've been warned :shakehead:

Bob

Thanks for your advice, I'll pay the little extra for the piece of mind.


BTW, I am the original owner and the Jeep has been serviced exclusively at the dealer from which we purchased it. It has just over 50,000 miles on it now and the cooling system had been flushed and refilled at 30,000... by the dealership!

From what I've recently learned about using incorrect coolants, all evidence would indicate that the improper coolant was used by the dealer's "technicians", when it was serviced it at 30,000 miles. Foolish me, I assumed they'd use the right stuff!

This time I will insist on them using nothing other than the proper HOAT type coolant

 

[tjkj2002]

Thanks for your advice, I'll pay the little extra for the piece of mind.


BTW, I am the original owner and the Jeep has been serviced exclusively at the dealer from which we purchased it. It has just over 50,000 miles on it now and the cooling system had been flushed and refilled at 30,000... by the dealership!

From what I've recently learned about using incorrect coolants, all evidence would indicate that the improper coolant was used by the dealer's "technicians", when it was serviced it at 30,000 miles. Foolish me, I assumed they'd use the right stuff!

This time I will insist on them using nothing other than the proper HOAT type coolant

A Chrysler dealership(till the '13's rolled out) only stocked HOAT coolant since 2002.

Your issue was going to long between coolant flushes.Don't buy into 5 years 150k,in reality it's more like 3 years or 75k.50k in 14 years means a lot of sitting or a lot of short trips which is worse then high mileage.

 

[honu]

A Chrysler dealership(till the '13's rolled out) only stocked HOAT coolant since 2002.

Your issue was going to long between coolant flushes.Don't buy into 5 years 150k,in reality it's more like 3 years or 75k.50k in 14 years means a lot of sitting or a lot of short trips which is worse then high mileage.

I guess your thoughts make good sense... Until my daughter began driving the Jeep, most of the miles put on it were from my wife driving less than a mile, round-trip, to and from work. I suppose it goes without saying, the thermostat rarely, if ever opened on those trips.

Like I said in my initial post, the cooling system was flushed and refilled less than 3 weeks ago, so I'm hoping the cruddy coolant that's in there now, is from the fresh stuff pulling any trapped gunk out of the nooks and crannies.

When I have the radiator replaced, I'll have the shop flush it again... really well, before filling it with fresh coolant.