Normal operating temp and story

i bought a 97 XJ in june and when i was driving it around in Las Vegas it was running at 210. Is this normal? The other problem i had with it was i took it to the dealership to have the window regulator replaced (the service writer says they go out alot) and when i pulled up there the thing just started spitting antifreeze everywhere. Well then they called me back later and said i needed a new water pump so i told them to put it in. 4 days later i was on my way across the country with my wife and my son to Florida. Right outside of flagstaff i saw antifreeze shoot out of the hood and the temp guage spiked. I automatically shut the engine off and coasted to a stop. It was a really good thing i had my pickup and flatbed trailer in vegas still so my friend jumped in it and came and got us and we took it back to the dealership. I thought we blew the head gasket because the oil was milky and the engine would still fire up. Well the Service Manager called me later that day and he told me that a couple of pistons were melted and he would have to replace the engine. I asked him why the pistons melted and he said that he had no idea. I then asked him how much a new engine cost and he told me with the bigger radiator he wanted to put in it would be $5300 and i told him i wouldn't pay that. Then he told me that he would talk to everyone at his dealership and see how much he could bring the price down on it. He called me the next day and told me he could get a new engine with the bigger radiator for $3300 installed. I ended up getting the engine installed from them and i got the bigger radiator ( he told me my jeep was ordered from SLC, utah and it had the smaller radiator in it from the factory). I just wanted to think what anyone thought of this because i am new to these jeeps.

Chris

You'll see that there are a lot of discussions about XJ's overheating. I think the new engine you got from the dealership was a good deal for a dealership. I've gone through tens of hours of work upgrading all my cooling components (pump, radiator, fans, thermostat, etc.). I found that the thing that causes mine to overheat is strictly outside air temp. I can pull a motorhome without budging the temp if it's 70* or below outside. If it gets over 90* outside, I run at 220* and boil over under stress. It's ridiculous I know, but a known problem with Cherokees. You'll see on that people either have no cooling problems at all or, like me, have thrown a lot of $ and labor and still can't fix the problem.

Real fix for running hot.....

Replce OEM t-stat with hi flow 180 degree t-stat....and convert green coolant to GM Long Life Coolant. One thing though, you would have to flush cooling system VERY good prioir to pour long life coolant in it....I've done it and ran mine accross deserts with temp gauge not reaching middle position at any times......Peace!!!

I think you need to contact Chrysler. Another member, "sidriptide," also has a '97, which coincidently just lost an engine. I suggest you drop him a PM, compare specifics, and perhaps both of you need to contact DaimlerChrysler. I think he had an extended warranty on his, though.

210 is the normal operating temperature for XJs. That is not hot enough to melt pistons. Something else either was or is wrong.

Did they show you the "melted" pistons? I have seen exploided rods, bearing caps, blown head gaskets, but a mealted pistonis a first for me. And if you did "melted" it would of siezed and made a cool noise. Like they said contact jeepbecause this sounds a little fishy.

Yeah i saw the pistons and they were a little melted on the tops, the cylinder walls were really good except for the two of them had a little scarring on the top but they said they couldn't patch up an engine that chrysler wouldn't let them and if they worked on it they would have to put a new engine in. I then asked him what if i don't want you to work on this thing at all. He told me that he would let me take the jeep out of there for free, he wouldn't charge me anything for taking off the head and inspecting it and i was like thanks alot. This was the service manager i was talking to the whole time at one of those supposed five star dealerships.

Chris

I know this is an old post, but I'm wondering if the water pump was cause for the failure. Aren't there two types (flow direction) for the xj?

The dealer had the jeep four days prior and seemed to think it ran okay...IMHO they should pay.

We had a t-case blowup on an out of warranty TJ days after going to a dealer...you can bet they paid for every cent of the repair (and rental car) cost.

Is there two water pumps for the XJ? i'd like to know. See the thing was that i was taking my wife to florida while i'm in Korea. I'm coming back for a month now so i think i might contact Chrysler now and see what they have to say about it. Thanks alot for replying no matter how long it took.

Chris

XJ water pumps:
I read some where that the XJ water pumps for the I6 4.0 and the 2.5 diesel bolt up the same BUT they run in opposite directions.You have to have the 2 of them laying side by side,to notice.
I changed my pump last summer,(I6 4.0 EFI) while I was at the local AZ I asked the guy to show me the one for the diesel...sure enough the impellors are different,but the pump bodies are almost identical...

churky89 said:

XJ water pumps:
I read some where that the XJ water pumps for the I6 4.0 and the 2.5 diesel bolt up the same BUT they run in opposite directions.You have to have the 2 of them laying side by side,to notice.
I changed my pump last summer,(I6 4.0 EFI) while I was at the local AZ I asked the guy to show me the one for the diesel...sure enough the impellors are different,but the pump bodies are almost identical...

Click to expand...

The FSM specifically says that before installing the water pump, you should check that little arrow imprinted on the inside to make sure you get the right one. I don't know what other one would match (with the exception of the direction) but I think that if you had the wrong water pump, you'd get hot a lot faster. I also did miss this post originally, as I would have suggested to go and contact Chrysler, as it is kind of suspicious that it dies like that, couple days after the cooling system is being worked on! Anyways, I'm curious if there is new info/updates on this.

The confusion isn¿t between the 4.0L and any 2.5L diesel. The confusion is due to the older YJ 4.2L (258) engine using the same block. The 4.2 engines that used conventional vee belts rather than a single serpentine belt had a water pump that rotates in the opposite direction from the one for the serpentine belt. But they will bolt onto the engine.

If the wrong pump is installed, the impeller is trying to pull coolant in rather than push it out.

I repeat -- your dealer screwed up. Contact Chrysler. I can't imagine a dealer selling you a late-model used vehicle, letting you drive it away and have the engine blow, then ask you to pay $3500 to replace the engine.

By the way -- if the engine isn't under warranty, Chrysler doesn't care what they do to it. They could hone those to cylinders, pop in new pistons, and send you on your way. Chrysler only cares if they are paying for the repair, and that only happens under warranty.