Still having problems with coolant guys

[SINCITY192]

OK, cooling systems are pretty basic. They require pressure and flow. Air bubbles or a weak pump or clogged radiator interfere with flow, leaks prevent pressure.

Put a pressure tester on it, take it up to 18 psi. Find and fix the leaks. Verify good flow by looking in the return bottle. Check the radiator with an infrared temp gun, it should have an even drop in temperature from inlet to outlet. Fan clutch and electric fan are both helpful. Purge all the air out when you're done sealing it up.

That should get you in business. One more thing, coolant temperature sensors are designed to run in coolant, not air.. it's possible to have an air pocket around the thing and have the gauge show a safe temperature when actually the engine's about to pop.

I work in a part store I knew I should of brought that presser tester already!!! I'll find what I can tomorrow
I was told on here, when I was installing my t-stat that drilling holes in the 12 and 6 o'clock position would help the system to burp itself? Is that true? if it is then should that get the air out/
I know I have a electric fan that was coming on but havent seem it come on tonight and it should have right?
about the Fan clutch what is that where is that located do i even have one! (88xj 4.0, auto trans, inline 6cyl) because im not sure?

 

[SINCITY192]

I think Im definitely going to have to save up to take this to a shop because of my lack of tools for this job. Just seems to impossible to do without being able to get back and forth from work!
Thanks guys I hear everything I'll go over this tomorrow while im working on it thanks again and sorry for being hard headed!!

 

[spat70]

Hey man, Im in the same boat. I have to work on mine and learn as I go, dont have any other options. what I have learned...

1. DONT LET A 4.0 GET HOT!!!!!!!!
2. DONT DRIVE A JEEP UNTIL YOU FIX ANY OVERHEATING ISSUE!!!!!!
3. The stock single core radiator only works if it in perfect condition.

If you dont fix it properly someone like me will buy it off craigslist for 200 bucks with a cracked head.

Now get to a parts store and buy a radiator, 195 degree thermostat, thermostat gasket, permatex gasket maker,prestone flush kit, radiator cap and 2 gallons of 50/50 mix. If you go to Advance auto everything should be under 150 bucks.

Add the T from the prestone flush kit to the heater core line. (the small hose that goes to your t stat housing) and flush everything with really well.

I would take the tstat housing off and clean the block with a razor and wire brush, do the same with the tstat housing. Put a thin coating of permatex on both sides of the gasket. Put the new tstat in and make sure it is the right direction, its stamped on the tstat "to rad" make sure that side is out.

Place the gasket on next and the permatex will stick it to the block and keep the tstat from falling out. put the tstat housing on next and just snug the bolts up. NOT TIGHT just snug.

Now take your time and swap out the radiator, its not hard just make sure you dont break the transmission lines and be patent.

Start the jeep and add coolant slowly when it wont take any more, turn the motor off and open the cap on the flush kit. With a funnel add 50/50 coolant mix, squeeze the top rad hose and you will see air bubbles comming out of the t. keep doing this until there is no more air.

Now go for a little spin and get it warmed up and then find a place where you can park the nose downhill. If you look at the very back corner of the head on the right top you will see a little sensor. Loosen that until coolant comes out. This will bleed any air pocket that might be trapped in the head. Go back to the t fitting and top off with coolant. and fill the bottle about half full.

That should solve your problem. I have had the same problem with every XJ I have owned.

You can fight it all you want, but if you keep driving it you will crack the head, melt #1 piston. If you dont everything...the most important is the radiator and getting a tstat in there.

I would use every penny you have or pawn your ps3 to get this done BEFORE YOU DRIVE IT ANYWHERE! If you dont you will be walking, loose your job, get in a big fight with your wife, get divorced, end up in jail b/c you cant pay the 1800 bucks a month child support.

Good luck!

 

[spat70]

Then go back and tighten the tstat housing just a little more and it should hold forever. It might be a good Idea to get a waterpump gasket and remove the wp and inspect it, use the same procedure as the tstat housing.

When the engine is hot shut it off and spin the metal fan. If it moves real easy with no resistance you will need to replace the clutch. Its the silver thing the fan blades bolt to. You will start running hot in traffic if the clutch is bad but you will be fine if you can stay moving. If you have to drive in heavy traffic and you are broke you can put two sheet metal screws in the clutch right where the the little round spring looking thing it. This is just a temp fix until your next paycheck, and you will loose 3-4 mpg.

Now check for leaks once its warm, and make sure there are no drips. The cooling system has to have pressure, any leak will lower the boiling point and it will over heat.

Oh before you do any of this I would check your oil, if if it looks like a choclate milkshake your screwed. you blew a head gasket or cracked the head already.

 

[SINCITY192]

Then go back and tighten the tstat housing just a little more and it should hold forever. It might be a good Idea to get a waterpump gasket and remove the wp and inspect it, use the same procedure as the tstat housing.

When the engine is hot shut it off and spin the metal fan. If it moves real easy with no resistance you will need to replace the clutch. Its the silver thing the fan blades bolt to. You will start running hot in traffic if the clutch is bad but you will be fine if you can stay moving. If you have to drive in heavy traffic and you are broke you can put two sheet metal screws in the clutch right where the the little round spring looking thing it. This is just a temp fix until your next paycheck, and you will loose 3-4 mpg.

Now check for leaks once its warm, and make sure there are no drips. The cooling system has to have pressure, any leak will lower the boiling point and it will over heat.

Oh before you do any of this I would check your oil, if if it looks like a choclate milkshake your screwed. you blew a head gasket or cracked the head already.

I know i am dripping coolant already from where i broke the bottom bolt on the engine block where the t-stat housing goes. I tried everything to get that bottom bolt tight except tap n die. But My opinion is I'll have to take the head off just to properly do it. So i might as well just changed the head on the damn thing right? Man listen im outta options i need to work
i have 400 dollars saved for rent, I have to use it to fix my jeep or I wont be able to keep my job.
So what exactly should I be looking at here because when i let the jeep cool down the second time and added more coolant. I sped home I probably got caught at 2 lights for less than 2 minutes at a time plus my hood wasnt all the way closed.(thought i mention that cause i thought it helped) I was watching the temp guage to see if it would go up again while i was driving like it did before and it didnt seem to go up but when i got home and shut her off, the coolant bottle was hissing and steaming
with that being said I'm all ears! Im going to check my oil now and the clutch which im assuming is not the electric fan, but the other fan right?(the one thats bolted)

 

[SINCITY192]

This might seriously be a dumb question right now but im going to ask it just to be sure

I looked at the engine oil and it didnt look like chocolate milkshake. but it is black. I thought i change my oil like a month or 2 ago not sure though.
but i want to ask on the dip stick the oil fully covered the stick up until the add point (i know so that means add). but oddly there was still some oil on the stick after the add mark it just didnt cover the whole stick it kept coming out, only covering half of it from the add point down probably 2 inch's or so. Does this mean anything?

 

[SINCITY192]

oooooooooook guys after a few looks at it in the light i think im getting some where
I have noticed my coolant bottle after adding some distilled water sorry all outta coolant!
Ive noticed that the reservoir is leaking right where the top hose goes onto the reservoir
so its either the hose or the reservoir
also i dont know if i let the jeep get hot enough for the test but I tried to spin the fan thats bolted in front of the radiator and it didnt spin freely it would turn but with resistance but as i thing about it that area has been making a funny nose hard to describe really and it just did it now but i cant pin point it!

 

[spat70]

This might seriously be a dumb question right now but im going to ask it just to be sure

I looked at the engine oil and it didnt look like chocolate milkshake. but it is black. I thought i change my oil like a month or 2 ago not sure though.
but i want to ask on the dip stick the oil fully covered the stick up until the add point (i know so that means add). but oddly there was still some oil on the stick after the add mark it just didnt cover the whole stick it kept coming out, only covering half of it from the add point down probably 2 inch's or so. Does this mean anything?

Wow....um. Ok when the motor is cold pull out the stick. Wipe it off and put it back in. Pull it out again and you will get the level. If you just were running it there will be oil coating the inside of the tube and you wont get a reading.


As for the broken bolt, you can fix it with a helicoil insert. Most auto parts stores have a kit with the drill bit and tap. Should take 20 min to fix it right.

There was some one saying to use a infared thermometer, that is the right way to check that radiator. However with Rads being so cheap I would swap it out. There is a very high chance that is 90% of the problem. When I try to solve a cooling issue on a 4.0 the rad is the first thing I change.

Im doing one today on a 98 that I got on craigslist for 400 bucks. The guy kept driving it and blew the motor. I just put a new motor in and fired it last night. When I put it back together it gets a new rad, tstat, water pump, hoses, and cap.

This way I know I wont be overheating in 110 degree Florida summer days. I did the same to my other 98 and it runs @210 all the time.

 

[SINCITY192]

Wow....um. Ok when the motor is cold pull out the stick. Wipe it off and put it back in. Pull it out again and you will get the level. If you just were running it there will be oil coating the inside of the tube and you wont get a reading.


As for the broken bolt, you can fix it with a helicoil insert. Most auto parts stores have a kit with the drill bit and tap. Should take 20 min to fix it right.

There was some one saying to use a infared thermometer, that is the right way to check that radiator. However with Rads being so cheap I would swap it out. There is a very high chance that is 90% of the problem. When I try to solve a cooling issue on a 4.0 the rad is the first thing I change.

Im doing one today on a 98 that I got on craigslist for 400 bucks. The guy kept driving it and blew the motor. I just put a new motor in and fired it last night. When I put it back together it gets a new rad, tstat, water pump, hoses, and cap.

This way I know I wont be overheating in 110 degree Florida summer days. I did the same to my other 98 and it runs @210 all the time.

about the engine oil I did do it cold I didnt even start the car before i checked it!

afterwards I did start it to see where it was leaking from other then the t-stat housing and seen the overflow bottle leaking like crazy right at where the hose connects!
so i was thinking new reservoir and cap might help too!

but due to what u just said i think ill try the helicoil thing but problem is how do i drill in that tight space i have a close quater drill but it aint fitting there.
If i get the new rad for $105 bucks at advanced auto and take my rad out that would give me some room I guess!!

 

[spat70]

Yep. You can strip the front of that thing in 20 min.

Take the entire front off. it looks like a big deal but it will give you plenty of room to work.

Just remember to put the plastic fan cover over the fan before you bolt the new rad in. You can damage the fins of the new radaitor easy trying to get that thing in at the end.


Just keep you bolts in baggies and mark them. After you take it apart 20 times you will know where they go, but for you first time do the baggie thing. Take your time. Do it right, dont ham fist anything.[/

 

[spat70]

Good luck

 

[SINCITY192]

Just my luck the only parts store i can walk to had to get the part from another store so ill just change the reservoir and see if that will get me to stop over heating and hissing and spitting if so i'll drive to get the radiator and swap it out and grab coolant while im there!!!

 

[SINCITY192]

SO FAR so good after changing the coolant overflow bottle It still leak from the top hose!
so I changed the hose and the reservoir and seriously i have been waiting for it to over heat. Well what do you guys think now should i GO ON with the rad change since I got it

 

[Letterman]

Get some La Barron hood vents and try to drive faster.

 

[AIbandit]

SO FAR so good after changing the coolant overflow bottle It still leak from the top hose!
so I changed the hose and the reservoir and seriously i have been waiting for it to over heat. Well what do you guys think now should i GO ON with the rad change since I got it

don't rad swap yet.
I don't know what exactly was covered here since there's so much BS.

Burp the system! until there is no more air. Then Burp it some more. If it has a temp sensor in the head I'd open it and burp from there aswell.

The prestone flush kits are awesome! they help with burping and, well flushing.

Make sure your clutch fan is good.

Replace your Tstat.

Since all of that is fairly cheap I'd do it then if it continues to over heat we will go from there.

 

[SINCITY192]

don't rad swap yet.
I don't know what exactly was covered here since there's so much BS.

Burp the system! until there is no more air. Then Burp it some more. If it has a temp sensor in the head I'd open it and burp from there aswell.

The prestone flush kits are awesome! they help with burping and, well flushing.

Make sure your clutch fan is good.

Replace your Tstat.

Since all of that is fairly cheap I'd do it then if it continues to over heat we will go from there.

I check the fan clutch as described by (?) I FORGOT but he said to let it get warm and then try to spin the fan clutch and i did and it didnt spin freely in my opinion it actually had some resistance to the spin
with that being said is their another way to check it or no?

I have began to change my radiator already sinced i already changed my t-stat thats when i first started having cooling trouble
so i figured i brought the rad time to change it but i cant get this damn tranny line off what or how does it come off with out bending the metal

 

[SINCITY192]

Ok guys after a really long day I have finished
like i said the t-stat was new so i didnt changed it!
But i got a new radiator(advanced auto) and overflow bottle(Napa)
I also have the inserts but didnt have it in me to take the damn t-housing off
(this is something im going to personally take to the shop and have them due for me, a little tap and die new t-stat and gasket. let them worry about sealing it up without messing up the head.)
with that said i installed the rad and the overflow. I did the overflow bottle first because i had to drive to get the rad and after changing the overflow i didn't seem to over heat but i did notice the top hose that goes onto the OF bottle was leaking so i changed that out as i pickep up the rad when i got home i purposely left him running to see if it would overheat but it didnt
I decided to change the damn thing anyway because i already bought it so it was a long day. for some reason it really wasn't that hard just had to cut the top trans line and add hose n clamps but i flush the new rad before i put it on to make sure no metal shaving was in there.
I ended having a problem getting the damn thing to take coolant filled the overflow and it wouldn't go down
it started to over heat i quickly pointed my head down but couldn't get my damn sensor off to burp the thing. (i think it has to due to the heat cause its a new one i know what sized i used to put it on, the damn thing wouldn't come loose so pointing the nose down was all i could do next thing i knew after I turn the jeep off the OF was empty so i added more and it started taking it and then i turn the jeep on to let it idle!
filled the OF as needed until it was full and let her run for a while, no over heating while i had it idling so I think I am in the clear? Whats ya thoughts?

 

[88 Wagonman]

Whats ya thoughts?

At the moment: Bacon and bourbon taste good!:chef:

 

[keep0njeepin0n]

Ok guys after a really long day I have finished
like i said the t-stat was new so i didnt changed it!
But i got a new radiator(advanced auto) and overflow bottle(Napa)
I also have the inserts but didnt have it in me to take the damn t-housing off
(this is something im going to personally take to the shop and have them due for me, a little tap and die new t-stat and gasket. let them worry about sealing it up without messing up the head.)
with that said i installed the rad and the overflow. I did the overflow bottle first because i had to drive to get the rad and after changing the overflow i didn't seem to over heat but i did notice the top hose that goes onto the OF bottle was leaking so i changed that out as i pickep up the rad when i got home i purposely left him running to see if it would overheat but it didnt
I decided to change the damn thing anyway because i already bought it so it was a long day. for some reason it really wasn't that hard just had to cut the top trans line and add hose n clamps but i flush the new rad before i put it on to make sure no metal shaving was in there.
I ended having a problem getting the damn thing to take coolant filled the overflow and it wouldn't go down
it started to over heat i quickly pointed my head down but couldn't get my damn sensor off to burp the thing. (i think it has to due to the heat cause its a new one i know what sized i used to put it on, the damn thing wouldn't come loose so pointing the nose down was all i could do next thing i knew after I turn the jeep off the OF was empty so i added more and it started taking it and then i turn the jeep on to let it idle!
filled the OF as needed until it was full and let her run for a while, no over heating while i had it idling so I think I am in the clear? Whats ya thoughts?

Did you ever fill the radiator? You say you kept filling the overflow but never mention the radiator itself.

 

[1990heepxj]

its an 88 he means the pressure bottle so no cap on the rad