Coolant Leak and Collapsed Radiator Hoses

[Angus]

Got a call from my wife last night that our srx had smoke/steam coming up from the hood while she was stopped in traffic. I got home last night and fired it up and went inside. I came back out and there was a large puddle of coolant on the ground under the front of the engine bay. Looked in the engine bay and the front driver's side is wet with that orange dexcool coolant.

With the car running and hot, I couldn't see where it had leaked from. It wouldn't do it again for me...

I also noticed (and had seen before) that the radiator hoses are collapsed or flattened when the car is cold. They expand to normal after it warms up. Is this normal?

Is the leak a boilover problem or a leaking water pump or something else? I thought it would be a hose but I can't get it to leak again when hot.

Thanks for the help. Unfortunately, this is one of the many issues with this car...

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[Yaj Yak]

which engine does it have?

 

[Angus]

3.6 non-DI

 

[DJ]

The hose is a common thing I have seen multiple times. Actually very common in the i6 jeeps. Pretty much means the quality of the hose is crap or is old and worn. Never seen it cause any types of leaks so you might want to dry everything off really good and try and duplicate the problem. I have also seen, if the overflow tank does not have a vent a bad radiator cap can cause the hose to collapse. (Radiator cap acts as the vent releasing pressure when it cools down)

 

[Angus]

I looked into it some more and did learn that the cap being faulty can cause the hose collapsing. I pulled the cap off and starting prying at the metal parts and it felt like I just un-stuck something. Cleaned it up and put it back on. After cool-downs, the hoses aren't collapsed anymore.

Still haven't been able to replicate the leak and it hasn't done it since... I wonder if just that cap was messing something up to cause a boil-over or something?

OH, I also saw that when the fan kicks on when the car is hot, only 1 of the 2 fans is spinning. Is this normal or is the second fan busted?