Ok, 2000 Wrangler. It had a leak in one of the heater hoses, so I replaced all the hoses up top while I was at it. Flushed the system and ran it for a bit. Suddenly coolant started slowly leaking from the front of the oil pan. I am sure it is just going there from somewhere else, but in the end, we decided it was probably the reservoir, as it quit leaking shortly thereafter.
3 weeks later, I go out to the garage, and a huge puddle of coolant is under the Jeep, all of it dripping from the Oil pan again. I checked underneath, and the entire passenger side of the engine from the middle back appears wet including water on the oil filter, but I can't find a stream of water that would tell me where it is coming from. From above, all looks dry.
I decided to try to get it back to the house to work on it. I filled it with water, drove about a mile and it overheated. I topped it off to try to get to the next gas station. Once there, put in half a gallon and continued. I stopped every 2.5 miles to check, and as I went further, it required less and less water, until when I got home, it needed none.
My next step was to replace the water pump and thermostat. Took it all apart, and looking at the water pump, it had a lot of rust around the weep hole, thus was feeling pretty good about it being the root cause of the issue. Filled it up, and idled it for a bit, and all appeared good, no leaks. Took it for a trip around the block, ran beautifully. Got it up to temp and pulled it back into the driveway to start putting away the tools, and it was running like a faucet from the oil pan again. Checked, and it appeared to be coming off the starter, but couldn’t find where it was coming from above there.
I think it could be several things, one of them being that perhaps I ran it too soon after sealing it, and the seal might not have had enough time to set. The other options are what I am more concerned about. Any thoughts?
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