[MyWifeBoughtAJeep]

I noticed a slight drop in coolant level. Did some digging around and I noticed a couple drops of coolant on the passenger side of the engine down on top of one of the accessory pulleys. Any idea where that would be coming from? The jeep has 140k miles but the thermostat and housing were replaced at 100k when I flushed the coolant system. Is the metal to rubber hose before the thermostat a common leak point? Or any other common leak points in that area?

Thanks!!!

 

[sanghill]

Check the tightness of the hose clamps you removed and replaced. Sometimes they need to be re-tightened.
Make sure the thermostat gasket isn't leaking.
Could it be leaking from the water pump.
Is it possible for the serpentine belt tensioner to leak coolant?
Where you SEE the coolant is usually nowhere close to the actual leak.
Do the radiator hoses look ok? Maybe it is time replace all of the radiator hoses and the serpentine belt.
Supposedly the coolant system does not require maintenance for 100K miles or 10 years, which ever comes first.
I am never going to replace my coolant or hoses. A couple times a year I remove the antifreeze from the overflow tank and refill it with 50/50 new antifreeze.
That way the chemical additives are maintained.
The Cherokee uses strange hose clamps. If you used screw type clamps that could be the problem.
My 2014 V6 TH looses a little coolant and I just top it up.

There may be some V6 coolant Posts on this Forum, but I haven't found them.
Well I finally remembered this one: Unpressurize Cherokee
Mopar probably has some Seal Tabs that are compatible with Mopar antifreeze, if they work you are in luck.

Let me know what you eventually find, in 4 more years I may have 140K miles on my TH.

 

[Flybynightcru]

Is the metal to rubber hose before the thermostat a common leak point?

Yes, it actually is...😎

 

[MyWifeBoughtAJeep]

Yes, it actually is...😎

I think that’s where it is coming from. Does just cutting off the old clamp and adding a new one fix it? It’s a 2014 with 140k miles. Really just want to make it one or 2 more year (until the car market goes back down). We have not gotten the engine tick (rocker arm issue) yet so I don’t want to tear the top of the engine apart until that needs to be done at the same time lol.

 

[Flybynightcru]

I think that’s where it is coming from. Does just cutting off the old clamp and adding a new one fix it? It’s a 2014 with 140k miles. Really just want to make it one or 2 more year (until the car market goes back down). We have not gotten the engine tick (rocker arm issue) yet so I don’t want to tear the top of the engine apart until that needs to be done at the same time lol.

I'm not familiar enough with the 3.2 Pentastars, as mine has the 2.0T, but I'm sure someone will chime in with the answer...😎

 

[popsandthefamily]

Looks like I have a coolant leak too. Car was sitting for 5 days when I had covid and I came out to a puddle... Not sure where to go from here.

 

[MyWifeBoughtAJeep]

Looks like I have a coolant leak too. Car was sitting for 5 days when I had covid and I came out to a puddle... Not sure where to go from here.

Is your jeep a v6? Looks like you found the source. From the picture it is hard to tell, but do you know what component that is coming from?

 

[popsandthefamily]

Is your jeep a v6? Looks like you found the source. From the picture it is hard to tell, but do you know what component that is coming from?

Yes it's the v6. Coming from that hose but I don't know what that hose does.

 

[Flybynightcru]

Yes it's the v6. Coming from that hose but I don't know what that hose does.

It flows coolant through it. I'm guessing it's the one right there on the front top of the motor, and hooks to the plastic fitting???😎

 

[popsandthefamily]

Yep that's the one!

 

[Flybynightcru]

Yep that's the one!

That's the thermostat housing I think. I don't have the 3.2, but we've seen this issue, and it's fairly common. Now the question is, loose hose connection, cracked plastic housing, or bad housing gasket. Either way, should be an easy diagnosis, and fix, and not too costly...😎

 

[jcool001985]

@MyWifeBoughtAJeep make sure you check your plastic coolant crossover which is near the thermostat housing on the v6 its another plastic part that can leak coolant. Looks like the below. While not super common failure with higher miles plastic gets brittle. If your thermostat and hoses are dry coolant crossover would be next thing to check.

 

[MyWifeBoughtAJeep]

@MyWifeBoughtAJeep make sure you check your plastic coolant crossover which is near the thermostat housing on the v6 its another plastic part that can leak coolant. Looks like the below. While not super common failure with higher miles plastic gets brittle. If your thermostat and hoses are dry coolant crossover would be next thing to check. View attachment 218122

Thank you! I believe it is coming from the hose right before the thermostat housing, going away from that pipe. I could be wrong and need to do some more digging, but from feeling around it appears wet (may just be condensation from the hard pipe). It’s just so damn cold here right now I haven’t been able to get out there and jack it up and take a closer look. Oh how I wish I had a garage lol.

 

[Trailfirst]

Dorman make a metal replacement oil filter / cooler housing for the V6 - and I'm waiting eagerly for them to also make metal replacements for all the other crap plastic parts like thermostat housing etc. With any luck this nonsense of making engine parts out of plastic will get ditched thanks to the recent awareness awakening in environmental impact of plastics!

 

[Rob_fall]

Mine it the same. 2016 Cherokee TH. I thought it was the t-stat housing or pump as they are right at that spot. When I get on the gas hard it leaks more. I guess the air flow or something slings it around making everything wet. It's 30s-40s F here so I let it get to running temp. It was steam above and couldn't see anything. Turned it off and let it set for about 10-15mins to dry out coolant the had been spread. Only thing wet was that hose where it clamps to metal pipe. The squeeze clamp is facing the motor and not easy to get to. I'll grab the lower side clamp finger and twist it up. That was it loosens the clamp as you pull it up instead of tightening it. Mine the loop is on top and finger facing almost down. If you grab that loop it will just tighten and probably not move.

I have 2 2016 Cherokee with 3.2 v6. One is over 210k. I think we got it with around 100k. A lot of hwy miles. Replaced lower A arms a few months ago on the Limited. Saw bushings were cracked when looking for rattle. Figure it's time to change out the struts also. $300ish each. The TH started with 25k. Has 120k-ish. I have had to do nothing to it besides, of course, battery change. Both of course needed battery change. Twice on both.

Both have had spark issues. I found a cheap way to fix that. I'll post what I did in a few days.

Only the TH has coolant leak. 🤞. It was noticed in the summer just couldn't find it with the coolant evaporation so quickly. I'm scared to drive as there is a lot of wet coolant in that area. With a leak the coolant reservoir is useless. Where the leak is will draw air instead of bringing coolant from reservoir. So coolant reservoir could look just fine but motor is low.

Also forgot about the "oil filter/cooler" I replaced on the limited. DO NOT tighten the oil filter like your Hercules!! It can break the housing. I think Walmart broke it for us. It was a pretty replacement.

Sorry about the rant. But I am VERY HAPPY with the two 2016 Jeep Cherokee(s). Plus when I buy motor parts they are EXACTLY the same.

 

[Gary Kline]

Looks like I have a coolant leak too. Car was sitting for 5 days when I had covid and I came out to a puddle... Not sure where to go from here.

Hi @popsandthefamily, I assume you have the 3.2 V6. That's the coolant send tube from the thermostat to the upper radiator. I assume you took the photo from under the passenger side, looking up. The black hose comes banded to the aluminum cross tube where the drop of coolant is in the photo. That aluminum tube and the black hose come from Mopar as one assembly but you CAN get just the black hose separately at AutoZone or Advance Auto. Note, you can't see it from the photo but the left side of that black rubber hose is actually slightly wider than the right side which is banded to the aluminum tube. It's not just a "straight through" length of 1.5" radiator hose.

If the aluminum tube itself is damaged or leaking you'd need to replace it. BUT if the issue is just that it's leaking around the clamp(s) you might be able to remove the clamps, clean everything up and replace it.

Note, the clamp on the aluminum tube side is very tightly banded and there's no easy way to get it off other than using a dremel or similar with a fine cutting wheel and cutting the band off (being REAL careful not to go through the hose into the aluminum pipe below of course).

I assume your thermostat has been replaced in the past as the clamp on the left side looks like a worm gear clamp. FCA uses constant tension on the radiator hoses so I'm getting that side was a replacement.

Best bet, start from the top and take off your airbox so you can get a good view if the leak is originating from the bottom or it's actually on the top and dripping to the bottom. Either way, to do the repair, you must take off your airbox (easy to do). This is required to work on this pipe or to replace a thermostat.

Best.