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Stroker overheating

9

92stroker

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Pleasant View, Utah
Hello Jeep Gurus,

I’m having some issues with my stroker overheating. I’ve read through a lot of the past threads on overheating and have tried just about everything.
It runs right at 180 when driving on the highway, but goes redline when going uphill or under heavy load. The engine is freshly built with less than 500 miles.
Here are some of the specifics:

1992 XJ
New radiator.
New fan-clutch
New 16lb radiator cap.
New high flow water pump.
New 180 degree thermostat.
Ford 24lb injectors.
Adjustable MAP sensor input.
New Fuel Pump.
New hoses and belt.
New external auto transmission cooler.
All fluids are fresh. The system has been burped. The aux. fan is kicking on. The fan shroud is in place and is in good shape. The MAP has been adjusted from baseline to rich, (approx. 5.40) with no noticeable difference in the temp.
The engine has a bored throttle-body, with a spacer and a high flow filter. It’s running a Clifford header, new pipes, new low restriction muffler and CAT. The O2 sensor is new and is attached to a bung on the header.
It runs great other than the over-heating problem. I’d appreciate any input.
 
Since it looks like you have changed everything, are you sure that all of your new stuff is working? Sometimes even a new part can fail or be faulty from the factory. You can test to thermostat and the fan clutch. You said that the aux fan is turning on, but it still ovberheats even when it turns on? You can set it up on a switch so you can turn it on manually when you see it getting too hot.

good luck
K
 
I've seen more than one rebuild overheat due to replacing the water pump. There are two different rotation water pumps. Make sure yours is the correct rotation direction. They look identical from the outside.
 
Is there a way to tell the correct rotation without pulling the water pump? (I think I know the answer, the way my luck has been going)
Once I pull it, whats the difference?
 
If the rebuild house does it right, some of the housings have an R cast into them, but the problem is that the rebuild houses mix and match the housings. The only way to tell is to pull it off and look at the impeller. I can't remember the direction of the blades so a match against a known good pump would be required if you can't score a pix.

Other issues I have seen include the lower radiator hose collapsing at higher rpms. The OEM hoses used to have a "spring" inside to prevent this. Just because the radiator is new does not mean that it doesn't have plugged passages. Get it warm, shut off the engine and put your hand on the various parts of the radiator. If one part of the output side is cold, you have a plug. The top is normally somewhat warmer than the bottom. I actually use a non-contact IR thermometer for this since I have little feeling in my hands anymore. Thats what comes from breaking your neck a couple of times.
 
I have exactly the same problem with my junk. Same specs on the motor, etc. Switching to a late model fan with curved blades helped a little. Next on my list are a large plate and fin oil cooler and some hood vents. After that, I'm going to spring for a very large C&R or Fluidyne custom aluminum radiator.

In 105-110 degree ambient temps, fully loaded and towing my small Jeep trailer, I run down the highway at 220 degrees. Hit a hill for over a minute or two, and I'm at 230-40. I can keep it there with judicious throttle use.

Adding a 20% to your displacement + some compression, and you can see how you could easily overstress your OEM size radiator. I really think a larger rad is needed, and the associated custom mounting of evaporator, etc. It's a lot of work, but I think I'm going to just have to bite the bullet if i want to drive in these hot California temps.
 
CRASH said:
Adding a 20% to your displacement + some compression, and you can see how you could easily overstress your OEM size radiator. I really think a larger rad is needed, and the associated custom mounting of evaporator, etc. It's a lot of work, but I think I'm going to just have to bite the bullet if i want to drive in these hot California temps.
Click to expand...
X2

Also, I would hook up a manual override switch for the elec. cooling fan. So you can turn it on before it's getting too hot. Good Luck

Woody
 
Wa Woody said:
X2

Also, I would hook up a manual override switch for the elec. cooling fan. So you can turn it on before it's getting too hot. Good Luck

Woody
Click to expand...


My electric fan runs 100% of the time.
 
Mine is no stroker but I started to have the same problem with overheating after installing a new water pump. I pulled it back out yesterday and sure enough there is no 'R' stamped on it anywhere inside or out. I bought it new and not as a rebuild. Is not having an 'R' stamped on it definitive? I was sold the wrong part and I forgot to check before installing it?
 
Here is a pix courtesy of YuccaMan
waterpump.jpg
 
The impeller and direction of rotation on mine is the same as the one in the pic. Oh well. So just because there is no 'R' stamped on it means nothing.
 
The radiator that I'm using is an aftermarket 2 core. It's new so I don't really know what to expect from it.
I'm going to go back to simple things first and start eliminating things...again. I think I'll start by replacing the lower hose with a new OEM, replace the T-stat with an 195 OEM, inspect and possably change the waterpump. If that doesn't fix it I'll move onto the radiator.

Does an un-burped engine run hot or just make the sensor think its hot?
 
I'm running a modie 3-core.

An un-burped coolant system can leave an air bubble in the block behind the t-stat. Not being in contact with the hot coolamt this will cause the t-stat to not open as early as it should so the engine gets above normal temps before it begins to circulate coolant.
 
92,

Something else to consider.... IF your XJ has an automatic transmission.... the transmission cooler built into the radiator can add a lot of load (heat) to the cooling system. Why not add an external transmission cooler and remove that heat load from the cooling system. This should help some with the heat problem.
What gear ratio are you running and with what size tires...??
IF the tires are too large for the gear ratio... you have created an overdrive affect which moves the engine operating power band. You will be depending upon the transmissions torque converter to take up the slack for the difference.
These two items are missed a lot and can have a dramatic impact on cooling system operating temperature.

Charles
 
I run a 5 wire Bosch O2 sensor to a digital wide-band. 12.9 to 1 AF at WOT

New Modine 2 core.

Manual transmission.

4.88's and 35's, 2800 RPM at cruising speed.

Oh, I still need to add the Kwik Kool to the rad, it's sitting on my shelf. We'll see if that product works as claimed.
 
I haven't seen any comments in this thread about a stroker that doesn't have a heat problem in certain load scenarios -- that doesn't jive with my experience. I have a 99, OBDII, 4.6L, 62mm TB, 24lb ford injectors, STOCK cooling system -- I run at 200 degrees no matter the temp (i.e from 0 to 100 degrees) and no matter the altitude or load (live in Colorado, so altitude ranges from 4k-11k)... What is so different about my rig that I'm not having the same issues??
 
Back when I was doing the research work required to install a Chevy 350 into my XJ, I came across a site that seem to know there shit. It stated the area of a radiator should be equal to the cubic inches of the engine pluss 50. So, for my 350 conversion, 350+50 equal 400 square inches of radiator frontal area. I followed that advise. My 350 runs at 200* climbing steep grades, at 75mph, fully loaded for camping. The trick is getting a radiator that size into an XJ. I did it--it wasn't pretty. But you can do it.
 
Wa Woody said:
X2

Also, I would hook up a manual override switch for the elec. cooling fan. So you can turn it on before it's getting too hot. Good Luck

Woody
Click to expand...

Another thing you can do if the temp. gauge is heading beyond 220*F (or 5/8) is to switch on the heater. You'd be amazed how quickly the coolant temp. comes down again and you can always open a window to let the hot air out of the cabin.
This can be a temporary remedy until you find the root cause of the overheating.
 
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