2005 Town & Country - Apparent Coolant Leak

[timrice]

I have an '05 T&C with 50K miles on it. It recently started leaving a small puddle of what appears to be coolant on the garage floor. The spot left by the leak is well aft of the engine compartment. I looked closer today and it is just to the passenger's side of the spare tire cover. There are four parallel metal lines running between the engine compartment and the rear of the van; I assume these are for the rear heater and A/C. I saw a drip forming at a junction in one of these lines where the metal tubing crimps onto a short run of rubber hose. The line with the leak is one of the two inboard lines (inboard at that particular location, anyway--they cross back and forth over each other in other spots). As it's been cold weather, I have not been using the A/C (except on occasion just to keep the seals lubed), but I have been using the heater. The dripping doesn't seem to start until some time after the van's been parked.

Questions:
1) Not being 100% sure which system this leaky line is tied to (heat or A/C), I'm hoping it's not A/C. An A/C leak (lubricant) wouldn't produce this sort of fluid volume would it?

2) If this is coolant as I suspect, and it's leaking at the crimped fitting, what sort of repair costs am I facing?

It's quite likely unrelated, but the water pump was just recently replaced because it was starting to weep. (48K seems like too soon to have to replace a factory water pump, but that could be a thread of its own.)

[RIP]

If it's an A/C line you'll see a light brown oil dripping out and if you're leaking A/C oil you're also leaking A/C refrigerant. The A/C eventually will not produce cool air. If there is a leak detect die in the A/C refrigerant you'll see it at the point of the leak either with a bright light or ultraviolet light. The die will appear bright green or orange. This oil is very slimmy to the touch as are most oils. If it's a coolant line for the rear heater you'll see either a light green or reddish orange tinge to the liquid and it will be only slightly slimmy. You may see the coolant level decrease in the coolant overflow bottle under the hood.

If it is an A/C line leaking and is beyond just tightening a connection you'll have to have the leaking line replaced. If it is a heater coolant line leaking you can replace the line with OEM parts but, many just splice in and clamp in place a piece of flexable tubing where it is leaking. I've read of some who replace the entire length from the engine to the heater with flexable tubing. I'm sure it's the cheapest option. Rear heater lines are infamous for rusting out and leaking.

I once saw a 12" diameter puddle of oil on the floor under the front passengers door on my van. It was light brown and I initially thought it was brake fluid. Turned out to be a cracked A/C line. Luckily it was the middle of winter as in your case. Dealer replaced the line under warranty.

[Cntrysthbst]

I had the dealer bypass mine, they bypassed it up in the front engine compartment, this way I don't have to worry about it until the heater lines are completly changed over to rubber hose. Those heater lines rust out like RIP said, front and back. This may help, has some good info.

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...ht=rear+heater

You know, you figure Chrysler would have fixed this by 2005...lol.

[timrice]

Thanks for the link there...that was interesting. Makes me think I should get the metal portion of these lines treated against corrosion, because these are apparently quite a weak spot on these vans. I think what I will do here in the near term--as the puddle is getting bigger each time--is ask around at some local repair places and see what method they'd suggest. I like the idea of cutting off these unreliable crimps and going with a segment of hose that's custom-fit with compression fittings. I don't really have the right tools to do that properly. Don't know how many of these crimps there are in these lines from front to back on the four HVAC lines, but there's a bunch. All potential leak points, but I'm sure it made sense to Chrysler either for cost or ease of assembly. Just made it past the 36,000-mi. warranty as designed, too!! I intended to attach a photo of the obnoxious little puddle-maker, but I don't think I have attachment rights, so too bad on that.

[timrice]

After talking with a friend about the leak, I looked up the Chrysler TSBs (Technical Service Bulletins) that apply to this model of van. Amazingly enough, there were *two* that were related to the HVAC lines:

F06 APR 06 Underbody Heater Hose Replacement
F01 FEB 06 Rear A/C / Heater Tube Corrosion

These were both listed as "Campaigns" on the website where I found the TSB list, as opposed to "Recall." I don't recall ever getting a notice in the mail on these as I had on a couple of others. So in my curiosity I called the dealership where I bought the van, and at first they tried to tell me that the van was out of warranty--and it is--so the leak is my problem. Once they looked up the TSBs themselves and checked my VIN, they stated that these were actual recall issues and they set up a service appointment next week to do this work for free. The service manager I spoke to said that one of the two TSBs calls for complete replacement of all four lines from stem to stern(!!), which should take care of this pesky leak.

I was impressed when they told me that they could do both TSBs listed above plus the G09 Front Air Bag Sensor Replacement in just three hours. I am extremely interested to learn what the fix for the corrosion issue is. When I find out, I will report back on that as well as how the rest of the repair goes.

I'm trying to balance my excitement for getting it fixed like this vs. my concern about having all four lines disturbed, the A/C being opened up, etc. Hopefully this fix doesn't end up leading to more problems and repairs down the road.

[timrice]

I thought it would be good to report on how the repair went. I took the van back to the dealership where I bought it, and they did the G09 (airbag sensors) and F01 (HVAC lines) recall work in about 4 hours. It probably would have taken closer to the 3 hours they originally stated had it not been for a problem they had with the spare tire cable/winch system. They had to lower the tire to get some access to the HVAC lines, and when they were done they could not get it back in the "up" position. The service mgr. said they get mud and dirt in them and the "gear" strips out. I'm beginning to believe those are notoriously bad on these vans--I have a buddy with an '05 T&C and he said his spare tire equipment fouled up on him the very first time he had to change a tire. At any rate, the total was $300, of which the G09 work was about $50, the F01 work about $150, and the winch work about $100. The charge to me was $0, as the dealer will turn in the parts & labor cost to Chrysler as a warranty claim. So far the leak appears to have been successfully resolved.