My gladiator lost coolant and over heated

[njc2rn]

Noticed my 2021 Jeep Gladiator’s fan was coming on a few days ago. Today it came on and I smelled antifreeze, then temp gauge came on indicating high engine temp.

Pulled over to check engine bay and discovered dealership didn’t put my fill cap back on coolant reservoir after they did the check/top off during oil change and service. It was about 3 weeks ago it was changed, and since that time no issues, including a trip from here to Jacksonville, NC, a 13 hour drive.

Anyway, made it to the next gas station like 4 miles away. Temp was between 265-295. Refilled with antifreeze and engine seems to be fine now.

Any idea if there will be any long term issues!l? So pissed I didn’t follow behind the dealership to make sure they did everything correctly.

thanks in advance!
~Nick

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[Killroy Was Here]

Noticed my 2021 Jeep Gladiator’s fan was coming on a few days ago. Today it came on and I smelled antifreeze, then temp gauge came on indicating high engine temp.

Pulled over to check engine bay and discovered dealership didn’t put my fill cap back on coolant reservoir after they did the check/top off during oil change and service. It was about 3 weeks ago it was changed, and since that time no issues, including a trip from here to Jacksonville, NC, a 13 hour drive.

Anyway, made it to the next gas station like 4 miles away. Temp was between 265-295. Refilled with antifreeze and engine seems to be fine now.

Any idea if there will be any long term issues!l? So pissed I didn’t follow behind the dealership to make sure they did everything correctly.

thanks in advance!
~Nick

Did you make sure that the antifreeze you added was the correct OAT (Organic Additive Technology) w/spec (MS-90032) 10 year product. I have only found it at the Chrysler/Jeep dealer parts dept.

The OAT (Pink) & glycol (Green colored fluid) do not play well together, and can cause all kinds of problems if mixed, not to mention will most likely void your factory warranty as it applies to your cooling system.

If you added standard glycol (Green) antifreeze from a gas station, you will want to get it drained & flushed ASAP & replaced with the correct OAT Mopar antifreeze.

Hope this is a help.

Dave

 

[ecidiego]

The real question is why would your coolant need to be topped off that points to a bigger problem

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I'm not sure why you "made it to......" with temps that high. I'd have let it sit and cool and not continued to drive it at all. With low coolant, if there's no coolant against certain engine parts, they can get extremely hot. You can crack and warp heads and do other damage.
Low coolant and no pressure means coolant can boil, causing steam pockets of extreme heat.

>> Temp was between 265-295.<<

That's pretty extreme and in damage territory. Even with pressure and the right coolant mix at about 14 psi or so, coolant can boil at something around 265 or so (I'd have to check my charts to be sure of the exact temp) You were over that by up to 30 degrees.
With no pressure it would boil much quicker, but even with pressure, you were in the boiling point.

The most extreme thing I'd do if my vehicles ever over-heat is sit however long it takes for them to cool down to below normal, then drive for a very short way, shut down again, let it cool, repeat.....
It may take a couple of hours but that's better than a cracked block or head damage.

Look for leaks, coolant loss, oil consumption as you may have taken the temper out of the rings.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

The real question is why would your coolant need to be topped off that points to a bigger problem

Multiple owners have had that need, one comes to mind right away. He's had to add more than once.

In 2.5 years I've added maybe about 12 ounces of coolant but that's just because my OCD hated the coolant being just right at the edge of ok when cold.

Depending on the miles on it, the type of use, the temperatures, and age of the vehicle, it's not out of the realm of reality that could have been doing their due diligence and putting the coolant level at a better place. But to not replace the cap is a big snafu.
You can bet that not all of these are right where they should be even when new, so maybe someone noticed hey, this could be better, and added some.
They should not need anything added on a regular or even semi-regular basis, though. If mine needed any after only a year I'd be looking for leaks.

When we did "service" jobs like oil changes, the boss insisted all fluids be checked and put in the middle of min and max, never left at min and yet the factory isn't going to be that picky.
To this day, fluids need to be in the middle for me to be happy about it. Never sitting at the minimal when cold line.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Did you make sure that the antifreeze you added was the correct OAT (Organic Additive Technology) w/spec (MS-90032) 10 year product. I have only found it at the Chrysler/Jeep dealer parts dept.

I found some at Fleet Farm.

 

[njc2rn]

I'm not sure why you "made it to......" with temps that high. I'd have let it sit and cool and not continued to drive it at all. With low coolant, if there's no coolant against certain engine parts, they can get extremely hot. You can crack and warp heads and do other damage.
Low coolant and no pressure means coolant can boil, causing steam pockets of extreme heat.

>> Temp was between 265-295.<<

That's pretty extreme and in damage territory. Even with pressure and the right coolant mix at about 14 psi or so, coolant can boil at something around 265 or so (I'd have to check my charts to be sure of the exact temp) You were over that by up to 30 degrees.
With no pressure it would boil much quicker, but even with pressure, you were in the boiling point.

The most extreme thing I'd do if my vehicles ever over-heat is sit however long it takes for them to cool down to below normal, then drive for a very short way, shut down again, let it cool, repeat.....
It may take a couple of hours but that's better than a cracked block or head damage.

Look for leaks, coolant loss, oil consumption as you may have taken the temper out of the rings.

I “made it” to the gas station because I was on my way to work and knew the only fix would be coolant. If it had gone over 300 I would have stopped but my ignorance, I thought less than 300 for a short distance would be okay. Unfortunately, I was on my way to work and being late is really not an option.

I will be taking i back to my dealership to have a system flush and coolant replace. Hopefully there wasn’t any permanent damage, ran well this AM on way home from work with coolant at the proper level and temps below 200.

 

[njc2rn]

I am hoping that having non OAT coolant in the system for a short period will be okay, but that is “water” under the bridge. I am worried about engine longevity since over heating but who knows. Glad it wasn’t a 90 degree day. The dealership acknowledged their mistake. Whether it’s true or not they told me on the phone that the tech no longer works there “for obvious reasons”.

Anyway it is what it is, at this point I can only move forward. It’s funny (not) this happens the month I pay it off lol.

Thanks for the responses.

 

[Rusty PW]

The real question is why would your coolant need to be topped off that points to a bigger problem

This is why.

"dealership didn’t put my fill cap back on coolant reservoir"

 

[ecidiego]

This is why.

"dealership didn’t put my fill cap back on coolant reservoir"

But why was the cap off where did the coolant go why would it need topped off...

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I “made it” to the gas station because I was on my way to work and knew the only fix would be coolant. If it had gone over 300 I would have stopped but my ignorance, I thought less than 300 for a short distance would be okay. Unfortunately, I was on my way to work and being late is really not an option.

I will be taking i back to my dealership to have a system flush and coolant replace. Hopefully there wasn’t any permanent damage, ran well this AM on way home from work with coolant at the proper level and temps below 200.

You'll want to have them pressure test the system and do a check for combustion gases in the cooling system. Would be a good idea to have a sample of the oil sent for analysis after the next change. Running that hot can cause issues - doesn't mean there will be issues, but it's a possibility.
Like I said, coolant will boil - without pressure on the system, at about 223 degrees, 15 psi pressure will raise that to about 265-270.
Although you saw less than 300, if the coolant boiled at any spot inside the engine, that part of the engine saw temperatures higher than that.

Get it checked thoroughly - even your less than 300 is a danger zone. I've seen some bad stuff happen.......

 

[ShadowsPapa]

But why was the cap off where did the coolant go why would it need topped off...

Because sometimes they do. They aren't truly sealed. 1 year should not need anything, even 2 years, but depending on the driving, the temperatures in his area, load on the engine, etc.
I guess I'm wondering why you are shocked it needed coolant. They are all vented in some way otherwise they'd blow up. That means each time something vents out a little, a tiny bit of coolant goes, too - tiny for sure, but enough heating and cooling cycles, it could happen.
Mine went over 2 years. But in 2+ years I'd not be shocked to see it needed a few ounces.
They shouldn't need any in a year or two, but we don't know his driving history, etc.

You are thinking none of these should ever need any, ever, and they always come from the factory with a tank filled exactly up to the max cold line or something?

It could have been a bit low from day one - it's their duty to check those things.

 

[njc2rn]

Well the what is beginning to worry me more is that it has been running for 3 weeks without the cap on before there was a noticeable issue…. Including a 800 mile trip to NC. So the system hasn’t been pressurized for 3 weeks.

Really a bummer only have 33k and have had all oil changes and preventative stuff done on time and through the deslership to maximize the life of the engine.

 

[NC_Overland]

Holy crap, 295 degrees?!?! I would have pulled over at 240. What was the end result here? Did everything test ok?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Holy crap, 295 degrees?!?! I would have pulled over at 240. What was the end result here? Did everything test ok?

This was a choice - and the choice was to drive on and destroy it.
Most people working in a profession knows where water boils, and what the result is of boiling water, etc. so it was a choice knowing the result was likely destruction.
But we'll likely never know the rest of the story.
I know people say "late is not an option" but I've never had a boss who wouldn't allow for things beyond one's control especially if you call and warn them - I'm trying to get there but things blew up. (and I've had a couple of bosses that were the absolutely pits, the worst, just plain nasty)

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