coolant useage

[nanatothesixth]

My 91 XLT uses radiator coolant(one quart per week in the summer, and 2 quarts in the winter). There is no water in my oil, plugs are not fouled. No visable leaks to be found anywhere. I have a 4.0 with 123,000 miles on it. It is not a head gasket. Radiator was pressure tested, and it is fine. This is annoying to say the least. Open for suggestions and recommendations..have been told by a few other 4.0 owners they have the ssme problem, and it is normal, not to worry ????

 

[JDraper]

Welcome to the board!!! You will find all sorts of useful info here!

Using anti-freeze like that is NOT normal. When your radiator was tested, did they test it while it was installed, or was it removed and bench tested?? Several possibilities exist.

1: Water pump has a leak and the antifreeze is leaking out.

2: Radiator cap is weak and you are blowing the antifreeze out the overflow tube.

3: Small pinhole in one of the hoses

4: Leak in your heater core, but that should show up as a thin film of antifreeze on the windshield, especially when you use the defrosters.

5: Lower intake manifold is loose/has bad gaskets. This is a known problem on the 4.0 that can cause loss of coolant or loss of oil. Do a search on lower intake manifold, lower manifold, or just manifold here for more info on that problem.

 

[kps36]

I had the same prob on the Ranger. Drove me nuts, cause there was no visible leaks.....Turned out the Rad cap was either loose or shot. A new on to the proper pressure fitted properly (important)...solved it!

 

[Mbrooks420]

Can you ever smell antifreeze when the ruck is cold? My truck occasionally smelled like antifreeze, and used some fluid. It turned out to be the heater control valve hose. It is on the passenger side of the engine near the back. on mine you could see where the coolant was burning off of the exhaust manifold.

 

[Lemondrop]

I had a heater control valve leaking coolant on my 95 . It took me a few weeks to figure out where the coolant was going cause it lost it so slow . The coolant would come out of the arm that pokes out of the valve that the vacuum motor turns (to open and shut the valve) . It seeped out of the seal that seals the arm off where it comes out . I only found it by dumb luck . Mine seemed to leak worse when it was cold as when it was hot it never leaked .