Coolant leaking

[07EddyB]

Seems to be a pattern here....

Was looking at the engine tonight and noticed that something had been leaking on my passenger side exhaust manifold. Sure enough - the wye on that side was wet. I just replaced it a little over a year ago by splicing in a new wye. Wait - the hose above the wye is wet - and what is this residue on the heater control valve.

Yep - it's bad. Leaking out around the pivot. Got one on order from Amazon. Of course, this time of year, even with Prime and two day free shipping they say it will be here NEXT Friday. No biggie - other cars to drive. Not a big deal to replace but maybe I should buy a Jeep?

 

[MotorCityFats13]

its a jeep thing and you dont want to understand

 

[07EddyB]

its a jeep thing and you dont want to understand

No doubt - I swung at making a joke based on a currently running thread here and apparently struck out

 

[tripplec]

Jeeps aren't what they used to be. When Chrysler was running things Jeeps were built robust, yet things went wrong but the power train and suspension had BALLS. I had 2002 Grand Cherokee and ran it up to 300k in KM. Then sold it running great.

Its hard to find new vehicles well built any more!!

 

[07EddyB]

The valve came today - about a 5 minute swap. So far looking good but I'll have to take it out tomorrow to get the thermostat open and get it hot to make sure.

 

[07EddyB]

Took it out today for a short trip - pulled back in the garage and ended up with water on the floor. Not much - but still.
Inspected it and the wye - some small wet spots but I wasn't convinced I had a problem. So I blew every bit of water I could see out of there.
Took it back out for a longer drive and no new water. As I suspected, it was residual water from the swap. I caught most of it that hit the floor but there are a lot of things between it and the concrete. The first drive didn't blow it off but just moved it around enough to hit the floor.
Next problem - hood struts. My hood struts barely hold my hood up anymore.

How embarrassing is it to say - "Yeah - my vehicle spends so much time with the hood up that it wore out the struts".

I probably won't mention that on the for sale ad when the time comes.....

 

[07EddyB]

So I did replace my hood struts today. I cheaped out on Amazon but they are great so far. Pop the hood - lift a bit and it raises on it's own. Which is the opposite of the cheap struts even though they are cheap. I know because I replaced the rear glass lifts and I still have to push it up.
Any way - here they are if you are interested - $13 for the pair.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H72CSJ4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Edit - OK - apparently they are 14.99 now. I followed my own link to verify and apparently since I ordered them the price went up. Gotta love Amazon!

 

[07EddyB]

I want to also mention that since I replaced the heater control valve that I've never had better heat than I do now.
I had assumed that vacuum was applied when the heat was on so with a defective valve I wasn't getting good flow to my heater core. When I checked the old valve I discovered that it defaults to an open position with no vacuum.
The only explanation I have at this point is that maybe the valve was stuck in a less than open position when I removed it? The radiator was low - I put about a quart in. But it's been that low before and topping it off didn't help the heat.
It's fixed - it bothers me that I'm not sure how. Fixing the leak was obvious - why do I better heat now?

 

[MotorCityFats13]

I want to also mention that since I replaced the heater control valve that I've never had better heat than I do now.
I had assumed that vacuum was applied when the heat was on so with a defective valve I wasn't getting good flow to my heater core. When I checked the old valve I discovered that it defaults to an open position with no vacuum.
The only explanation I have at this point is that maybe the valve was stuck in a less than open position when I removed it? The radiator was low - I put about a quart in. But it's been that low before and topping it off didn't help the heat.
It's fixed - it bothers me that I'm not sure how. Fixing the leak was obvious - why do I better heat now?

only thing I can think on mine is either clogged heater core or the control valve.... ive never tried to fix the issue but heat from the aux rear heat is 20-30f hotter than the front but sometimes the front does heat up enough to melt my face

temp gun shows 150f rear roof vents after a 30 minute drive and 120f from front vents I never thought about the heat control bypass valve because when I bought it there already was a leak in the t stat housing and it looked like the dealer or previous owner might have tossed in a ton of stop leak not knowing about the issue or aiming for a quick fix and I know that can really mess up a heater core

 

[07EddyB]

Motor - one thing I noticed was that if I moved the valve manually while blocking the vacuum port on the top I could get the rubber diaphragm to bunch up and prevent the valve from opening completely. It wasn't off by much but it could have slowed the flow. Grab a mirror and check out the bottom. If it looks like there is an o ring in there preventing it from seating completely then pull the vacuum hose and exercise it to see if it will clear up. My old one will after a few pumps.
I forgot to mention that when I checked the radiator last night it was completely full. That's only after 3 days of driving but I also had coolant in my overflow tank for like the first time ever.

 

[MotorCityFats13]

its definitely nice to not have to drive around with a jug of coolant.... my level has been consistent since i replaced that tiny bypass hose under the t stat housing..... i didn't know it had a tear until it was just about ready to totally fail