Cooling system trouble

[pikemarsh]

I am curious to see if anyone can provide me with a little help. I have a 1998 Wrangler Sport and am having a little cooling system trouble. I first noticed that I had a leak a few days ago. I took it to Tyson's Jeep in McLean, VA today and they told me that I have a leak in the water pump, the thermostat, and the radiator. However, upon squeezing the lower radiator pump, it feels like there is a crack in the hose, but the dealership says the hoses are fine. Now I know these dealerships like to turn a little cold into the black plague, but I'm concerned that I am going to have to shell out some serious bucks to get this issue fixed. I tried putting some stop leak in and that seemed to help, but I'm looking for more than a band aid.

I have noticed what appears to be a leak on the bottom of the radiator fan. I am not sure if the leak is coming from the fan itself as I cannot get a clear view of the source.

Furthermore, on the drive home from the dealership, my speedometer and tachometer began to jump and the airbag light started going on an off. Could this be related to the cooling system leak?

Any advice or help you guys could offer would be great. Thanks!

[miljeep]

I say pick up a new radiator hose since you think yours may be cracked, bring it to the auto shop on Belvoir, have a few people check it out and try to trac down the leak, and go from there.....if it is driveable.

[korisu56]

Sent pm.

[treefrog]

If you have a 98 TJ and the radiator is just now starting to leak, consider yourself lucky. The radiators in TJ are bad about this. They are cheap aluminum core with plastic tanks. Most of the time the leaks occur where the tank joins with the core. It's just a little rubber gasket in there. If it is the radiator, get a good brass replacement from some place like www.radiatorbarn.com (http://www.radiatorbarn.com). My brother got a three core brass radiator for his 98 TJ cheaper than what autozone wanted for a stock one. It could also be a water pump or hose. If it's a water pump, it will leak from the weep hole on the bottom side of it.
As far as the dash syptoms go, that is also common in early TJs. The fix is to pull your dash apart and disconnect the instrument panel connectors. Clean them with electrical contact cleaner, then use something to spread the male side of the connectors apart just a little to make a tighter fit when plugged back in. (it's been so long since I have done this, I can't really remember what the connectors looked like).
That worked for my old TJ. You should be able to google it also.
Hope this helps a little.