Coolant leak

[HickoryBoy]

1998 TJ 2.5l

Been running great. Fun to drive. First Jeep.

Coolant appears to be coming from the bottom radiator hose where it connects to the engine.

Look how close the head of the clamp screw is to the belt. I loosened the clamp today but couldn’t rotate the clamp and coolant was coming down all over me. And I was late to a HS volleyball game so I tightened it back up and went to the game.

I’ll be back at it tomorrow. I plan to loosen that clamp, ensure the hose is all the way on, rotate the clamp so the screw isn’t so close to the belt, then tighten it down. Then look for leaks.

Anything else I should be looking for or checking? Thanks in advance.

 

[macleanflood]

Get rid of the worm clamp and use the original constant tension clamps.

Thread 'Correct sizes for constant tension clamps for the cooling / heat system?'

Mar 26, 2023

Doing a spring flush of the coolant system and replacing the four associated hoses of unknown age. I want to use new clamps.. just because the originals look nasty. My research says better to stay with the OE style constant tension clamps. Are there any objections to staying with the stock style constant tension and what size do I need? I want to order them before I start the flush and know the hoses are of various sizes..

• MikekiM
• Replies: 12
• Forum: TJ General Discussion

• 

-Mac

 

[HickoryBoy]

Get rid of the worm clamp and use the original constant tension clamps.

Thread 'Correct sizes for constant tension clamps for the cooling / heat system?'

Mar 26, 2023

Doing a spring flush of the coolant system and replacing the four associated hoses of unknown age. I want to use new clamps.. just because the originals look nasty. My research says better to stay with the OE style constant tension clamps. Are there any objections to staying with the stock style constant tension and what size do I need? I want to order them before I start the flush and know the hoses are of various sizes..

• MikekiM
• Replies: 12
• Forum: TJ General Discussion

• 

-Mac

Thanks for the suggestion!

There's a couple salvage yards not too far away. They have some late 90s Cherokees... I'll check it out to see if I can salvage a couple oem clamps.

I was just reading on another post that weather changes can cause these types of leads to show up... it just dropped into the 50s here (Central FL) on Wednesday and that's when this leak started. Think it could be related?

 

[macleanflood]

Absolutely! Cheap fix!

-Mac

 

[Link]

If it was me, I'd replace the hoses. I've never had a screw clamp fail to seal. Used many of them.

I'd still replace the hoses and use whatever clamps you like.

 

[HickoryBoy]

I loosened the clamp, ensured the hose was pushed all the way onto the pump, and tightened the clamp. Leak stopped. Not sure how long it'll hold.

 

[macleanflood]

So thermodynamics...hot things expand. Cold things shrink. A worm drive clamp is a fixed size. A constant tension clamp is effectively a spring designed to provide the correct clamping force to the rubber hose.

-Mac

 

[HickoryBoy]

So thermodynamics...hot things expand. Cold things shrink. A worm drive clamp is a fixed size. A constant tension clamp is effectively a spring designed to provide the correct clamping force to the rubber hose.

-Mac

Absolutely. I'll end up with the right clamps for sure. Just wanted to put an update out there that it did stop it, for now.

Question... when I remove that hose to put on a new clamp, do I need to drain all the coolant first?

 

[macleanflood]

Question... when I remove that hose to put on a new clamp, do I need to drain all the coolant first?

How fast are you? =)

And is the cap off on the radiator? You can seal up a few things like pinching off the overflow hose to minimize the deluge.

But yeah...empty is better...

-Mac

 

[HickoryBoy]

Not that fast... for sure.

 

[Mac57]

Or you could also disconnect the hose at the top and slide the new constant tension clamp down to the bottom, then remove the worm gear clamp.Would be easier access and likely less spillage.

 

[Link]

So thermodynamics...hot things expand. Cold things shrink. A worm drive clamp is a fixed size. A constant tension clamp is effectively a spring designed to provide the correct clamping force to the rubber hose.

-Mac

Springs can also lose tension over time. Our Jeeps are old. I'd rather have a new worm clamp than an old spring clamp. I've used MANY worm clamps over the years on coolant lines (and other things too) and have never had one fail or leak. Well, to clarify, I did have a couple years ago strip out when installing them...but they were cheap junk (probably from Harbor Freight!). I never used a cheap worm clamp again. Only use the quality stainless ones. So, if you use the worm clamps, use quality ones. If you just have to have the spring clamps, get new ones. I wouldn't but it's not my money and not my vehicle. So, use what makes you happy!