Freeze Plug

obxbronco

obxbronco

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2008
Location
Elkin, NC
Ok was driving my 01 Tj to work yesterday. When i got there and parked and got out i seen what looked like tranny fluid dripping from the bell housing. After further investigation it was coolant. I checked the water pump it seemed fine. I'm guessing it's a freeze plug, only problem is i can't see it. Am i going to have to drop the tranny? Oh yeah it's a 4.0
 
You sure its coming from the engine? Could be a heater hose or heater core?
 
well no i'm not, i just no it don't look like it's coming from anywhere up that i can see. only place i can see it is on the bell housing. i drained about 1/4 of my radiator.
 
Floor board wet at all? May have a cracked heater core and its leaking out the weep hole for the a/c condensation.
 
Passenger side seems to be damp. It leaks the worst when it's been ran. After a while it pretty much stops.
 
After a while of driving? May have a crack that closes up slightly when the heater core gets hot but leaks when cold, like the mornings heading off to work from a cold start.
 
what's a good way of checking it? yes like when it gets warm, or sometimes u just crank it up. mostly when it gets warm. it's kinda a fast drip not gushing. and it don't completly drain the radiator.
 
I guess a sure fire way to know you can unhook the heater hoses at the fire wall and connect them together, eliminate the heater core, if its not leaking any more its the heater core. If it is, you can try and get a mirror down the back of the engine and start looking. May leak a little still til the heater core is empty if you try that.
 
Ok I'll try it, I'll let u know thanks
 
Not sure if they do, but yo may see if AutoZone or Advance has a pump you can check it with. All you need to do is fill up you system, and this tool attaches where the cap goes. Pump air into it, and if you have a leak it will show it's self.
If it's coming out of the bell housing, it's about 100% the rear freeze plug. If it's rolling off to either side of the bell housing, it could be a freeze plug in the rear of the head, a cracked block, or a bad head gasket. And as said, it could be a heater hose or a cracked inlet for your heater core.
 
i checked the heater core and it seems to be good, i bypassed it and the leaking continued. So i guess i'm back to the freeze plug.
 
my father-in-law came over (who can build any vehicle from the ground up) and we bypassed the heater core and it still leaked like hell.
 
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