Leaking Coolant out of bell housing

[scotterooni]

1065100

I just majorly screwed up. I just bought a 1996 grand cherokee, and almost immediately discovered that it's leaking coolant from where the bell housing meets the rear of the engine. Leaking might not be exactly right. It's POURING from that area. I'm 99 percent sure it's coming from inside the bell-housing area. It's such a large volume that I think I'd see the path if it came from anywhere else.There's no lemon law that I know of in my state to cover used vehicles, so I'm gonna be on my own with this. The question is, where the heck is it leaking from, and how hard will it be to repair? I'm guessing maybe it's a freeze plug, and I'll have to remove the transmission to replace it. Is that it? Or could it be something else. Is this a common problem with this vehicle? I really like the vehicle and otherwise it's in great shape. As long as it isn't a major problem (like a cracked block), I'm not too terribly worried, but I need some imput. Can someone help me? What's my prognosis?
Thanks, Scott H. [addsig]

 

[bluebelle]

1065127

hi scott.

dosen't sound reall good. :-O

if you're leaking coolant, there's not many places it can come from. try this- isolate the fluid by letting it dry if you can. lay next to the jeep and let the motor idle. if you can, try to determine where the source is.

there's freeze plugs, but they rarely leak and if they do, it's more of a weep, not a pour. a pour sounds more like a gasket, or (horror) a crack.

look at your oil - is it foamy? any water in there. any oil in your water?

you may have a blown head gasket and there's a water passage next to the opening in the head gasket and the rear of the leak

not to worry. it's all just mechanical and the worst thing may be that you'll have to buy some tools - but it's possible.

let me know. the trick here is to find the source.

blue[addsig]

 

[MudderChuck]

1065146

Freeze plug isn´t that big a deal, just a lot of wrenching. I´d try and to isolate the leak before I started taking things apart. I had pretty good luck, with a large economy sized bottle of number three food coloring, in the cooling system to find stuborn leaks. A mirror and a good flashlight also helps. Might try removing the dust cover at the bell housing, blowing out all the junk at the quarter wash and taking a close look. Don´t know for sure if it will work on a Jeep, but most cars when the torque converter is unbolted it will slide towards the transmission a bit, might be able to get a small welders mirror in there for a look. A handfull of modeling clay and a bicycle pump will put some pressure into the cooling system (no more than 15 PSI carefull) to make it seep without the engine running.[addsig]

 

[MudderChuck]

1065148

Somewhere to take a close look at is where the heater hoses pass through the fire wall, I´ve seen numerous leaks,seeps and squirts there.[addsig]

 

[dingus]

1065219

it could be something simple(r) like a headgasket too...[addsig]

 

[scotterooni]

1067531

Thanks for all the advice and info. It turns out it was the freeze plug that I'd suspected. The dealer split the difference on labor -- ended up costing me 200 bucks. It was still a deal overall though. So far, it's been a great car since the repair.

Thanks again for the help.

Scott H. [addsig]