I have a 08 JKU and noticed that my engine coolant seems to be depleting pretty quickly. I have had it drop to the minimum once since I've owned it and have steadily refilled it and checked it around twice a month and every oil change. I DO NOT burn oil as many other 3.8's have, just seems like I burn engine coolant instead. Is this normal? It is not milky. I guess my question is how much loss of engine coolant is normal per oil change? Right now I'm about 1300 miles away from needing another oil change and I've lost close to 1/3rd of the coolant. Keep in mind this is a 3000 mile oil change recommendation. so I'm not every at that mark yet and have lost that much.

Thanks for any input

 

Sounds like your coolant is dropping too fast. I added about a half liter in my first 100,000 miles and that was a mistake. It was at "Min" line. Went to Moab, and proceeded to spill it all over as I played off-camber on the rocks. So now I leave it at "Min" line.

Check your exhaust for antifreeze smell and visible vapor (some vapor is normal sometimes), especially when engine is cold. You could have a blown head gasket or a cracked head. Oil may still appear normal since antifreeze is finding its way out exhaust.

 

Thanks for in the input. I checked the exhaust and did not smell or see any vapors. I though the coolant was lower than it actually was. I overfilled it the last time so now its actually about an inch lower than the max line so thats fine. But it still does lose coolant pretty fast. Im going to keep an eye on it and check if it drops lower. I think in December or January was the last time I filled it up.

 

also check for a dry pink/strawberry syrup under the water pump. my 2007 water pump gasket leaked at 120000km.

 

Another sign for a blown head gasket would be white residue under your oil filler cap.

 

You may have the mystery leak

 

Ill take a look in the morning and see if I can spot anything.

 

Mine was like that when I picked it up last year. 2007 unlimited. Took it in and they said bad head gasket. Decided to look more into it myself and you could see puddles in the v and under the intake. Changed intake gaskets on a weeknight and hasn't leaked or lost any coolant in the last month!

What I'd do is go out at night with a flashlight and look for anything reflective like coolant puddles built up. That's how I found my issue.

 

You might want to pressure test the system.

Another possibility is the radiator cap isn't holding the correct pressure. 18psi, I believe.

Keeping that extra pressure in the system raises the boiling point an additional ~25 degrees over the bp of the same concentration of coolant in an unpressurized system.

 

I checked it out right now and did not see any puddles anywhere it was completely dry.