Overheating problem... or overcold?

Alright... so today I get in my jeep... its hot like I cant breath in the air it hurts my soul... anyhow I look at my sweet sunfire gauge cluster I have mounted infront of my shifter:


and I see it says 110 cold (actual outside temp)... not been run for atleast 9 hours and Im like "whoa its hot" and I leave and look back to see how hot it is after its warmed up (normal running temp around 200 or 210 on hot days) and this is what it reads:


(around 140)
and I know my engine is well over that temp and the highest it reached was 160 the half our ride home... this just set me over the edge or jeep problem worries because it has been running at really low temperatures compared to normal... yesterday did the same thing as today, and this morning going to work it barley made it to 110 (usually around 170 when I goto work) and both the times It didnt really mean anything to me other than "cool my engine is running really cool" but this isent right.

So when I get home from work I pop the hood:

and feel my water hose and it is really hot (not 140) to the point I cant hold my hand on it for more than a second... touch the engine agian very hot, touch the radiator, and antifreeze all hot... so Im guessing my guage is messing up but that wouldnt make any sence because its run right into the water hose (see above) which was very hot to the touch...

so I dunno whats up with that

but then as I look around for problems I hear a hissing... like a leaky air hose... so I jump back thinking my water hose is about to blow in my face and wait for the bomb to go off... nothing happens... inspect the hose no holes, steam, nothing... and I put my ear down to try an figure out where its coming from and I get an idea and then I look down:

and see something dripping on the oil filter I cant figure out where its coming from but its dripping down off the tube in the picture... and it looks like antifreeze but I dont plan on touching it yet to find out...

never found the hissing... and sorry for the poor picture quality...

So anyone have any ideas for either of these problems? :wave1:

Maybe your thermostat is stuck open. Dodge I just bought had been diong the same thing. Never would heat up according to the gauge. But the hand test sure said it was hot. Changed the T-stat. Normal operrating temps are reading now.

but how would that effect my aftermarket gauge thats hooked directly into the water? I have no idea but Im just asking if that would make a differece?

I drove around with my thermostat stuck open for a few days and it never really changed anything, especially with this hot summer we've been having. My guess is that your temp sensor/gauge is bad since everything else says you're running at the right temps.

What does the factory temp guage say? I don't know if you have a factory equipped temp guage or not but if it is correct then your aftermarket guage is wrong. Try taking apart the unit and cleaning it, could have some corrosion built up. Never know.

Your gauge or sensor could have gone bad. The sensor, by the way, should be in your heater hose, not your upper radiator hose. Another thought is that you could have some air in your upper rad hose preventing the hot coolant from touching the sensor bulb..???

Kyung

corbinafly said:

Your gauge or sensor could have gone bad. The sensor, by the way, should be in your heater hose, not your upper radiator hose. Another thought is that you could have some air in your upper rad hose preventing the hot coolant from touching the sensor bulb..???

Kyung

Click to expand...

Thats what happens when you use a tstat that does not have the bleed hole, coolant does not touch the factory sensor and it never registers the correct temp.

I doubt that its the gauge because its fairly new (months)... but it doesnt mean its not bad... and the reason I got the gauges is for the temp and pressure because I dont have factory gauges and my lights dont all work anyhow so yea... but im going to go take off the cap to the radiator and see if any air comes out.... would that fix the problem if it were air in there? or should I take an end off the hose or any other ideas?

You still need to put the sensor in the heater hose! That's the only way that you'll get the temp of the coolant flowing through the engine. The way you have it, you'll only read correct temp when the t stat is open.

Kyung