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cooling probs?

suprz

NAXJA Forum User
Location
rhode island
my new (well actually used but new to me) cherokee did someting strange yesterday. the temp outside was 76 and low humidity i had her on the freeway in rush hour traffic and she was around where she always is on temp around 220. after getting off the freeway the temp jumped to just before the red (i'm figuring around 230-240?) and she cane down abit while driving but as soon as i got to the next red light she would jump back up but no matter how long i was at idle she would not go into the red. the only thing that has been done to this jeep was 2 days ago and the little "splash guard" under the very front was re-attached because when i bought it, it was hanging down under the front of the jeep. i checked the coolant bottle and the coolant in it doesnt have any color to it so i will be replacing the coolant ASAP. anyways i have a few questions

1-can i run reg ol coolant in this jeep or do i have to use the "special" extended life crap/ (like dexcool etc...)
2- i have a real problem when my vehicles overheat, what about using a 180 t-stat?
3-at no time did the electric fan turn on yesterday, is that normal is the electric fan on just when using the A/C? (i checked the fan clutch on the mechanical one and it is alittle stiff )
4-i guess that i have an "open system" because my coolant bottle is on the passenger side fenderwell and does not have a pressurized cap
5 - is here anything special i need to do to flush the old coolant out and add new pretty green stuff? (burp the system? etc...)


the specs on the jeep are: 1996 jeep country 4 door 4x4 auto trans (i have no idea the model) the trans case has from the top, 2HI 4HI N 4LO do whatever that model is,
the engine is a 4.0L H.O. 113,000 miles
the sticker on the door says it was made 10/1996

any help or insight would be greatly appreciated. this was supposed to be my jeep but the future wife fell in love with it and now i will be looking for my own jeep!

thanks again!
 
the fan will only come on if the temp hits like 290. and in my 90 i have regular coolant. i would check to see if you have coolant. if you do check radiator cap, radiator, waterpump.

you have cherokee contry model.
 
suprz said:
my new (well actually used but new to me) cherokee did someting strange yesterday. the temp outside was 76 and low humidity i had her on the freeway in rush hour traffic and she was around where she always is on temp around 220. after getting off the freeway the temp jumped to just before the red (i'm figuring around 230-240?) and she cane down abit while driving but as soon as i got to the next red light she would jump back up but no matter how long i was at idle she would not go into the red. the only thing that has been done to this jeep was 2 days ago and the little "splash guard" under the very front was re-attached because when i bought it, it was hanging down under the front of the jeep. i checked the coolant bottle and the coolant in it doesnt have any color to it so i will be replacing the coolant ASAP. anyways i have a few questions

1-can i run reg ol coolant in this jeep or do i have to use the "special" extended life crap/ (like dexcool etc...)
2- i have a real problem when my vehicles overheat, what about using a 180 t-stat?
3-at no time did the electric fan turn on yesterday, is that normal is the electric fan on just when using the A/C? (i checked the fan clutch on the mechanical one and it is alittle stiff )
4-i guess that i have an "open system" because my coolant bottle is on the passenger side fenderwell and does not have a pressurized cap
5 - is here anything special i need to do to flush the old coolant out and add new pretty green stuff? (burp the system? etc...)


the specs on the jeep are: 1996 jeep country 4 door 4x4 auto trans (i have no idea the model) the trans case has from the top, 2HI 4HI N 4LO do whatever that model is,
the engine is a 4.0L H.O. 113,000 miles
the sticker on the door says it was made 10/1996

any help or insight would be greatly appreciated. this was supposed to be my jeep but the future wife fell in love with it and now i will be looking for my own jeep!

thanks again!

1. Regular coolant with a 70:30 mix of distilled water:antifreeze will do fine.
2. It soulds like your t'stat may have stuck closed. Replace it with a Robertshaw 195* unit.
3. The electric fan should switch on when the coolant reaches 220*F. Yours doesn't so something's wrong. If the fan comes on when you switch on the AC, the problem is a faulty coolant temp. sensor (the one in the t'stat housing).
4. Yes, you have the open system.
5. Use a garden hose and thoroughly flush out the whole cooling system including the engine block.
 
Saudade said:
Was this a typo? 290?

it was more like an irrelevant number but by the time the fan usually goes on. (i don't know if this only apples to renix) but the needle is already in the red. unless there is no coolant in the system..
 
My needle ('88) is nowhere near the red when my elec fan comes on. It's more like 220-ish like Pioneer84s.

The '88 FSM calls out 190 degrees for the coolant switch to close and turn on the fan. Since this is measured at the outlet tank, it would vary from the gauge reading.
 
my electric fan doesnt come on at 220 either. i had sort of the same problems as you, but i found out it was my engine fan clutch. it was not comming on full speed when my jeep was stopped or started to get hot. maybe check out if your fan seems to be on full blast when it should.
 
I've recently had a problem with my system overheating. I got rid of that really quickly by adding a failsafe t-stat, a new fan clutch, a new radiator cap, and a standalone wiring kit for my electric fan. The standalone kit has been a really big help. It adds an extra sensor that turns the fan on at 200* and off at 180*. When I'm on the trail it will stay on constantly, not letting my get too hot when crawling. It also will stay spinning once the motor is off to prevent the motor from ever heating up due to shutoff. The biggest thing to the standalone kit is that if for any reason the electric fan stops working, I know exactly what to check.
 
the only problem of having the fan on all the time is the fact that it will where out faster. and that it is trying to cool the heep lower than operating temp. i would have it go on at 230 and off at 200.
 
90xj06 said:
the only problem of having the fan on all the time is the fact that it will where out faster. and that it is trying to cool the heep lower than operating temp. i would have it go on at 230 and off at 200.
I don't see it wearing out anytime soon, and it runs right around 200 when crawling around and in slow traffic it's around 190. That's no problem.
 
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