Disappearing Antifreeze?

[mcaffrey55]

Hey everyone. I just bought my first Jeep last week (1998 Sahara) and I LOVE IT! There are a few things that are going to be fixed next week at the dealer, but I am concerned about something else....

Upon opening the hood, I noticed that the coolant level was low. Very low. I filled it to the full line, and drove it home. I checked it later that day, and it went down a bit, drove it that night, and then checked it in the morning. It went down even more. It doesn't leak out on the ground at all, which is weird to me. It is just disappearing. No splatter or anything. Any ideas??? Is the radiator just filling up again since it was so low? Plus it doesn't overheat or anything.

[addihs214]

It could be a few different things. If it just had the anti-freeze drained for any reason, then that could be the problem. If you empty the coolant, when you go to refill it there will be an air pocket. While there are a bunch of ways to get rid of that air pocket, most people just decide to run the motor until the t-stat opens and the water pump moves the air and it escapes through the resevoir bottle. That could be the case. But if you have a 4.0L motor, it could be a cracked head, there was a few model years that commonly had cracked heads, I think 1998-2000. Easiest way to check is get a flashlight and look down through the oil fill cap. If you see a crack, then your heads cracked, if you don't more then likely it's something else. Hope this helps!!!!

[drm11900]

I got a 94 2.5 that recently had the same problem. Could just be a head gasket. If so check your oil often to see if the oil line level is increasing. Antifreeze can get in there and ruin your bearings. Or check to see if your burning it out the exhaust. Pull the plugs and check for color. they all should be a light brown. If one is white then your burning it. I bought a good stop leak for the radiator and followed the directions exactly. Mine quit leaking. This is a temporary fix. I will have to replace the gasket. Good luck.

[mcaffrey55]

Thanks for the info. It has a powertrain warranty that covers coolant leaks and head gaskets. I have an appt on thursday. Is it ok to drive until then, as long as I keep adding coolant?

[o|||||||o]

You will most likely be fine, but you don't know the history on the vehicle... You can never be sure.