Possible leak?

Hack12

Hack12

New member
Hey guys, just popped the hood today and noticed a little bit of fluid built up next to the power steering fluid reservoir and under the radiator fluid cap. My power steering fluid reservoir is full and my coolant reservoir seems to be a bit below the full line. There is no build-up of liquid on the ground or any of the suspension parts below what is pictured in my attached photos.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

photo 2.jpg

photo 1.jpg
 
Looking at the pic, it could be coolant being that HOAT in Jeeps is red in color but, I really doubt that's what it is. Haven't heard of many, if any radiators having leaks in that location. Looking at your power steering reservoir cap, I would have to guess you've boiled it over a tad in the past. The fluid is most likely ATF and if you feel it and smell it, you'll probably have a better idea one way or the other.

If it were me, I would try cleaning up the area the best I could and then check back again after a good drive. If it's coolant, it'll be there again and pretty quick. If it's your power steering reservoir, it'll probably take some hard wheeling to get it to do this again.
 
wayoflife said:
Looking at the pic, it could be coolant being that HOAT in Jeeps is red in color but, I really doubt that's what it is. Haven't heard of many, if any radiators having leaks in that location. Looking at your power steering reservoir cap, I would have to guess you've boiled it over a tad in the past. The fluid is most likely ATF and if you feel it and smell it, you'll probably have a better idea one way or the other.

If it were me, I would try cleaning up the area the best I could and then check back again after a good drive. If it's coolant, it'll be there again and pretty quick. If it's your power steering reservoir, it'll probably take some hard wheeling to get it to do this again.
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Sweet, thanks Eddie. :thumb:

I think you may be right about boiling over the power steering fluid at some point because, though you can't see it in the photos, I cleaned off quite a bit of blackish, gunky, semi-dried fluid off of the top and sides of the power steering fluid reservoir.

Is boiling over the power steering fluid something that occurs normally or is it any indication of a larger problem? :thinking:
 
At 43k miles I had an issue with my rad cap. It would spit out a lil coolant infrequently, seemed to happen only when under load for an extended period of time, like climbing a large hill. Visually the cap looked fine. I replaced it with a new one from the dealer and haven't had the issue since, so I believe it was just the spring was fatigued and could hold the proper pressure. The new one even looks a lil different.

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TheDuff said:
At 43k miles I had an issue with my rad cap. It would spit out a lil coolant infrequently, seemed to happen only when under load for an extended period of time, like climbing a large hill. Visually the cap looked fine. I replaced it with a new one from the dealer and haven't had the issue since, so I believe it was just the spring was fatigued and could hold the proper pressure. The new one even looks a lil different.

Sent from my LG-D800 using WAYALIFE mobile app
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Nice, thanks for the info! :thumb:

Since the reservoir is relatively clean now, I think I'll drive it normally for the next couple weeks and then check again to see if I've gotten any more overflow.
 
This is what my new one Looks like, my old one looked like the one in your picture's 1394558475172.jpg

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I've noticed my power steering fluid leaking around the cap a little. My buddies Moab leaked alot when he hit an obstacle kind of fast and we noticed it was leaking later on. I guess the little cap and tank don't like to be sloshed around.
 
groovebus said:
I've noticed my power steering fluid leaking around the cap a little. My buddies Moab leaked alot when he hit an obstacle kind of fast and we noticed it was leaking later on. I guess the little cap and tank don't like to be sloshed around.
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Yeah, after a little further inspection I think that's probably the same thing that happened to mine. :thumb:
 
After putting a bit more thought into this, it recently occurred to me that right after my last 2 touchless car washes I got quite a bit of steam coming off the radiator. The steaming lasted for about 2-3 full minutes after the wash ended. That had never happened before, however I didn't put much thought into it because my temperature gauge never spiked.

1. Why, all of a sudden, is my radiator steaming after every wash?
2. If the radiator, or something else, is running that hot, is that something the temperature gauge would indicate?
3. Could this also be the cause of my suspected "boiled over" cap?
4. Is this an indication that my radiator, or something else, is shot and needs replacing?

I should also note that I haven't been driving it for the last week or so and have no recent updates on it's status. However, before driving it approximately 75 miles to and from the Suds-n-Grub today, I plan on cleaning it and washing it.

I hope you guys have some insight on what might be causing this all of a sudden. I'd much rather figure it out and replace what needs to be replaced before it causes additional issues.

Thanks again! :thumb:
 
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Steam is caused by water sprayed on outside of warm radiator. I've seen it on my Jeep many times. I never had any issues with over heating.
 
Moochie said:
Steam is caused by water sprayed on outside of warm radiator. I've seen it on my Jeep many times. I never had any issues with over heating.
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This ^^^ I see it all the time and have so over the last 7 years of running 4 different JK's.
 
Wait wait wait, what about if it IS the power steering reservoir boiling over? Like 100% power steering fluid:)
 
TheDuff said:
At 43k miles I had an issue with my rad cap. It would spit out a lil coolant infrequently, seemed to happen only when under load for an extended period of time, like climbing a large hill. Visually the cap looked fine. I replaced it with a new one from the dealer and haven't had the issue since, so I believe it was just the spring was fatigued and could hold the proper pressure. The new one even looks a lil different.

Sent from my LG-D800 using WAYALIFE mobile app
Click to expand...

I had the same issue after replacing the water pump. After driving it for a bit I would see a little fluid around the top of the radiator cap and also just a little on the sides and some on the air box. Replaced the cap with a new one and havent had any issues since. *fingers crossed*
 
cis911 said:
Wait wait wait, what about if it IS the power steering reservoir boiling over? Like 100% power steering fluid:)
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Are you running a ram assist? If so, are you running a cooler? If not, I would recommend it.

If you are not running a ram assist but are running 37" tires or bigger, you really should consider getting one as your stock steering is letting you know it's having a hard time.
 
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