acfortier Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Well, I was making the "maiden voyage" to my dorm with my new-to-me and finally-fixed 96' Grand Cherokee. Needed a tranny replacement, and while I was down there also changed out the NP249 for a NP242. Shortened and balanced driveshaft. That's about it for work to it. So, I figured why not? It's only a 25 mile ride... I get there, hop out of my car, go to the passenger's side door to get my things, and all I hear is a pffft-ssssssshhhhhhh followed by a lot of fluid on the ground and steam everywhere... Sigh... Should I be worried as to WHY is busted like that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimoshel Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Stuff a rag in it. You'll be OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexia Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 The vibration and twisting of the engine slowly cracks the plastic tanks which then blow apart under pressure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenobian_84 Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 The vibration and twisting of the engine slowly cracks the plastic tanks which then blow apart under pressure. :eek: And I just got a new replacement rad a few months ago that has a plastic filler neck . :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexia Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 The vibration and twisting of the engine slowly cracks the plastic tanks which then blow apart under pressure. :eek: And I just got a new replacement rad a few months ago that has a plastic filler neck . :( It takes hundreds of heating and cooling cycles for the plastic to get this failure point. So an original radiator with plastic tanks on a 1996 vehicle has certainly hit that mark! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 It takes hundreds of heating and cooling cycles for the plastic to get this failure point. So an original radiator with plastic tanks on a 1996 vehicle has certainly hit that mark! Plus it takes fewer cycles in New England since everything rusts there, including plastic. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainman Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 It takes hundreds of heating and cooling cycles for the plastic to get this failure point. So an original radiator with plastic tanks on a 1996 vehicle has certainly hit that mark! Plus it takes fewer cycles in New England since everything rusts there, including plastic. :D :rotfl2: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acfortier Posted August 18, 2012 Author Share Posted August 18, 2012 It takes hundreds of heating and cooling cycles for the plastic to get this failure point. So an original radiator with plastic tanks on a 1996 vehicle has certainly hit that mark! Plus it takes fewer cycles in New England since everything rusts there, including plastic. :D That ain't no joke... Well waiting my next paycheck to buy a new radiator... luckily $100 isn't too steep for a fix like this. Just puzzles me how it could happen, especially now out of any other time... Bad coolant mixture -> Water froze and cracked the radiator? Something else failed which caused it to overheat and blow out of the radiator? I'm thinking that because the radiator actually blew after the car was turned off, that it was due to the fact that the fan shut off and that the water pump stopped circulating... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainman Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Thats a common failure point. The upper radiator hose comes directly from the head in most cooling systems. So it sees the highest temp coolant. That spot flexes over and over with expansion as someone else said... sooner or later the plastic fails. Right when you shut it off... the temp spikes in the upper radiator hose as there is no more flow and the head is the hottest piece. So thats not something to lose sleep over. new rad will fix it. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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