'04 Journey losing coolant

Golfingene · 09-28-2006, 08:23 PM

We just returned from a 2000 mi trip after having our radiator flushed and a new demister installed to keep the blow-by at bay. Everything went very well as far as cooling, even towing our Grand Cherokee during the hot weather. However, I used about 2.8 gallons of coolant along the way. The mystery is...I never saw any evidence of any dripping or smelled any coolant when it was hot or cold...just disappeared.

I'm going to schedule a return trip to the CAT dealer that fixed it, but would like to have ideas from my forum buddies to whisper in their ear. I read the heater core thread, but don't see any direct connection. Any suggestions?

Golfingene · 09-28-2006, 08:23 PM

We just returned from a 2000 mi trip after having our radiator flushed and a new demister installed to keep the blow-by at bay. Everything went very well as far as cooling, even towing our Grand Cherokee during the hot weather. However, I used about 2.8 gallons of coolant along the way. The mystery is...I never saw any evidence of any dripping or smelled any coolant when it was hot or cold...just disappeared.

I'm going to schedule a return trip to the CAT dealer that fixed it, but would like to have ideas from my forum buddies to whisper in their ear. I read the heater core thread, but don't see any direct connection. Any suggestions?

Florida Guy · 09-29-2006, 02:13 AM

It is possible, during the flush/refill that all the air was not evacuated. If so it should stabilize, otherwise I would have an oil sample taken to determine if any coolant in the oil. Good luck and keep us posted.

ichn2go · 09-29-2006, 02:49 AM

If you dont see any signs of leaks when crawling under it or puddles on the driveway my money would be with Florida Guy. Altho 2.8 gal is a lot of coolant.

When I had the radiator flushed and changed to ELC it took awhile to get the expansion tank to the mark. Doesn't ever hurt to get something checked. Good Miles

RKL2 · 09-29-2006, 04:33 AM

A heater core leak is hard to spot in hot weather when you have your dash AC on as the coolant will leak and travel down and out the AC dash drip tube and look like water run off....To test, shut off the AC and run the heater and put a dixie cup under the drip tube to collect any coolant dripping.....This is where the leak will show up on a heater core leak....RKL

smlranger · 09-29-2006, 06:30 AM

Agree with RKL...check under the front right to see if your heater core is leaking. Mine started on my current trip and I lost some coolant.

doc · 09-29-2006, 08:42 AM

We had a similar experience, although this was not after a flush. After a long run, the coolant would be low in the filler container (Cat diesel) Never saw any evidence of a leak when the coach was parked.
I had it parked on a concrete pad at a local college football game (Univ of Ga) and the engine was idling after I set it up. Saw a drop of coolant hit the concrete and then another. Turns out the thing leaked from a hose connection, but only leaked when the engine was running. FCC in Gaffney replaced the clamp the next time we had it serviced. End of problem. Hope yours is that simple

skigramp · 09-29-2006, 10:49 AM

Golf ...

I have a 2004 Journey with the Cat engine ... when it was new my coolant kept disappearing very slowly ... no visible sign of it ...

My local Freightliner shop found it ... one of the connections to the radiator was not tight ... the mechanic found it with a pressure device and listening for sound ... it took him about 10 or 15 minutes to find the leak ... and 3 minutes to fix it ...

On my rig the leak was on street side of the radiator about 3/4 of the way to the top ...

Somebody did not tighten this enough during assembly ...

Golfingene · 09-29-2006, 07:07 PM

Thanks for the great info...I'll fire her up and check before I take her to the CAT dealer. I'll let you know when it's fixed and how that was accomplished.

Golfingene · 10-04-2006, 07:47 PM

Interim update. Ran engine for over .5 hour, turned on heater, surveyed front and back...no visible leaks. Guess I'll schedule it into CAT. Keep tuned...

Joe-K · 10-05-2006, 03:17 AM

After the last test run, did you notice the coolant level drop again?

I'm in agreement with the other suggestions that the air is purging after the flush and fill. I know on my rig, I used coolant for the first 3 trip that we had it. Never used a drop after that until I changed it, then used coolant again for a couple trips.

Maybe the air is now flushed out and the level will stay up and you can save the expense of a CAT service appointment.

ichn2go · 10-05-2006, 04:17 AM

I had the same experience as Joe-K. Give it a little time and see what happens.

This is not a critical fault, just have some coolant on hand.Good Miles