Overheating is becoming unsolvable *HELP*

Radiator was flushed, rodded, but didn't help. Installed a hiflow water pump, high flow theromstat housing, and a 180 degree thermostat, and it didn't help. Removed the skid from under my bumper to see if it helped, and it didn't. There is no head gasket leak or any kind of combustion leak. What the hell is going on with my jeep? The mechanic has run out of ideas, and other than that, we are going to try and replace the radiator, and maybe even take it to a dealership.

Does anyone have any advice as to why this is happening? I really need yall's advice, thanks.

give us a little more info,

is the engine stock? what year? what is the current radiator? does it actually boil over? what is your fan setup? mechanical electric etc. Was there any thing at all done to the jeep just before it started to overheat?

Im dealing with the same thing right now, it's a major PITA i know.

Dingo

Well then, it seems I am not alone, and here are some recent things that I have dealt with that may be a help to you.

1. Remove the transmission from the radiator cooling loop, and run a COMPELTELY seperate tranny cooler.

2. Check the aux fan realy and make sure it is coming on correctly.

3. Replace your fan clutch.

4. Try some spacers at the back of the hood to raise it and allow heat to escape.

5. Check your hoses, especially the lower radiator hose. Use only dealership ones, and that goes for the t-stat too.

6. Install an aux fan switch to run it all the time.

7. Burp your system if needed. NA on the open systems.

8. Replace your radiator. DO NOT USE A CSF. Don't buy the hype as they arent what they say. I am switching over to a Modine 2 row.

HTH

Fergie

Dingo509 said:

give us a little more info,

is the engine stock? what year? what is the current radiator? does it actually boil over? what is your fan setup? mechanical electric etc. Was there any thing at all done to the jeep just before it started to overheat?

Im dealing with the same thing right now, it's a major PITA i know.

Dingo

Click to expand...

The engine is stock, 96, bigger than stock radiator *the mechanic isn't sure, but he knows it's bigger than stock. My father drove the jeep before me, and never knew the parts that went into it.*, the temp gets to about the red, but doesn't actually go into the red, I have one mechanical fan, and one electrical that comes on when it is supposed to. Nothing was really done to the jeep before it started to over heat, it just turned into summer time.

Also, I have replaced all the tubing to the radiator, and any other cooling line that could be replaced has been. I have hood spacers, but they don't seem to help. I just bought myself a tranny cooler that fits a motor home, but I don't know exactly how to install it out of the loop. The fan clutch is fine, and doesn't need replacing. If yall need any more info, let me know.

Also, the engine really only overheats once I'm on the highway for about 5-10 minutes

xjj33p3r said:

Also, the engine really only overheats once I'm on the highway for about 5-10 minutes

Click to expand...

BIZZARE. You should actually get cooler since your forcing more air through it at highway speed.

hmmm only on the highway, sounds familiar i've got the same thing. i would first start by checking the temp with a mechanical guage or infra-red heat gun, get it above 210 and check it then. if you've actually boiled over it could be just the guage. if you replace the sending unit replace them both, the one at the back of the head is the one for the guage the one in the t-stat housing is for the computer (on your 96 you may only have the front one.)

Since that would be too easy, the next thing i would do is flush the system a few times THEN pull the radiator and take it a good shop and have it "rodded out" and pressure checked. do these in this order as there no sense putting a clean radiator back into a dirty cooling system. have them do the best job they can at identifing the radiator. Several of use have horror stories about different radiators, (me with a GDI, Fergie with the CSF, just for starters) if you need a new radiator get a genuine modine 2-core DO NOT fall for this "oh it's the same thing as a Modine" trust us, it's not.

And lose the 180* stat get a genuine MOPAR 195* stat. it's the only one with the bleed valve in it and it's the correct heat range. 180* don't do crap for keeping it cool.

As far as removing the Transcooler from the radiator follow the lines from the transmission to the radiator, IIRC the one that goes in the top of the radiator is the pressure line. Remove this line from the radiator and run it to the new cooler then run the oulet of the cooler to the line that used to go into the bottom of the radiator. you have now bypassed the radiator. personally I would recommend a trans temp guage too, but that's me.

Hope this helps.

Dingo

The high flow H2O pump will not necessarily make it run cooler..it can actually work the other way.....the coolant is moving so quickly through the radiator that it does not have a chance to cool as it should, is it cooler at idle? My 90' overheating problem just kept getting worse..nothing seemed to help..bit the bullet and bought a new radiator form RadiatorBarn.com ...think I paid just over a hundred w/ free S&H and it delivered to my door in less than 24 hrs. Cool as a cucumber now, no regrets.

It stays quite cool at idle. But the highflow pump is actually making the jeep cool down a lot faster than it used to... so I dunno. I'll make sure and replace the thermostat, and I don't think any more flushing is going to help. I flushed the system about 3 times before I finally took it to that radiator shop to rod out the radiator.

Are you running stock gears and large tires. My cherokee with stock tires ran at 200* and after installing my lift and 33s the temp runs about about 200* at Idle, but can get as high as 220* on the freeway in mid-day.

Had a radiator guy show me a trick once, he had me run my fingnail backwards down the fins on an old radiator and then a new one. With pretty much the same pressure on both the old radiator fins deflected and stayed bent, the newer on sprung back. He called the fins 'rotten', mostly from road salt and stuff like that and is a common thing here in the NE after 7-10 years. The copper starts to disintegrate and looses it's properties which inlcude transferring cooler air to the core. Since then I have never held on to a rad that long, once I start having problems with it I just get a new one, I don't even bother having it rodded out either, waste of money vs new one.

Well, I took a look at my radiator, and the fins are beat to shit. I'm getting more and more convinced that a new radiator is my next option.