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Voyager/Caravan leaking coolant
I have a 1995 Chrysler Voyager (3.3 V6). A few days ago the heater stopped blowing warm air and soon after that the engine started overheating.
The radiator was empty and the fan fuse was out. After filling the radiator, I could see coolant dripping from under the engine. The leak was pretty big, because it emptied the radiator in about 30 mins. The leak was only visible when the engine was running.
Then, all of a sudden, the leaking stopped. At the local repair shop the mechanic couldn't spot any leaking at all. Still, his guess was that it was a head gasket problem.
Now, is there a hose linked to the radiator somewhere on the driver's side of the engine? I couldn't see any leaks from above the engine, and the leakage point is not under the radiator itself. What could be wrong here? I'm hoping it's the water pump or anything else than the head gasket, which would be pretty expensive to fix.
The radiator was empty and the fan fuse was out. After filling the radiator, I could see coolant dripping from under the engine. The leak was pretty big, because it emptied the radiator in about 30 mins. The leak was only visible when the engine was running.
Then, all of a sudden, the leaking stopped. At the local repair shop the mechanic couldn't spot any leaking at all. Still, his guess was that it was a head gasket problem.
Now, is there a hose linked to the radiator somewhere on the driver's side of the engine? I couldn't see any leaks from above the engine, and the leakage point is not under the radiator itself. What could be wrong here? I'm hoping it's the water pump or anything else than the head gasket, which would be pretty expensive to fix.
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If the leak is one of the hoses or radiator, you might only be able to spot it when the system is under pressure. Did the mechanic do a pressure test on the cooling system or just did a visual check?
Now after driving around for a while, there still is no leaking or overheating. Maybe it was the water pump that let the coolant out for some reason (rust blocking the system or something)?
And there is no coolant in the radiator at the moment, just water, and I can't see any of it in the oil either.
Thinking "head gasket", I yanked the heads this last June and replaced the head gaskets. Unfortunately I didn't find a "smoking gun" when looking at the old gaskets, and sure enough, when I put her all back together, my coolant usage remained unchanged from before the gasket swap. I'm now thinking that one of the "O" rings in the timing chain cover has a slow leak and is draining into the oil. :-(
Anyway, I told you that to tell you this. I did a fair amount of research on these engines before I dove in and found two interesting things:
1) Engines with cast iron blocks and cast aluminum heads (like ours) have a tendency to "blow" head gaskets (as a general statement).
2) The Chrysler 3.3 and 3.8 engines seem to be fairly immune to this phenomena, however, it does happen upon occasion.
FWIW, there is an individual on another site that I exchanges posts with from time to time that has a 1996 DGC with over 400,000 miles on the clock. He made it to 360,000 miles on the original engine by simply putting oil, filters and plugs in it, and the only reason why he replaced it was that one of the rocker shaft towers (that holds the bolt from the rocker arm shaft) broke. He could have simply replaced the front head, however, he found an entire motor with "only" 140,000 miles on it for like $150, so he decided to go that route instead.
Best Regards,
Shipo
Hmmm, for starters, I haven't turned a wrench in anger for over twenty five years on anything more difficult than brakes and such, so needless to say, my skills are a tad rusty. That said, even accounting for the fact that transverse Vee engines are a pain in the hind parts to work on, I think I managed to do the entire job in about forty hours of wrenching, including having to manually cut one of the nuts off the cross over exhaust pipe due to a sheared off bolt. I'm thinking that that problem alone consumed an easy eight hours trying to figure out how I was going to deal with the issue.
If you do decide to attempt this on your own, I'd be happy to give you a few pointers. ;-)
Best Regards,
Shipo
I still don't know for sure what made the leakage disappear and then come back every now and then. Maybe it had something to do with the engine heating up to a certain temperature which was finally too much for the gasket. I couldn't spot any coolant in the oil, but then again, I'm no expert and didn't have the oil analyzed.
Thank's Mike
These are pretty rugged engines so you might still be able to get some life out of it yet, and if it really is toast, they're also very plentiful in bone yards, and not for very much money either.
Best Regards,
Shipo