My lovely thermostat

So with all this cold weather recently I've noticed my XJ doesn't warm up worth a shite. I did the whole "cardboard in front of the radiator" trick to help but even with that it wasn't really reaching operating temp. I figured it was the thermostat so I went to replace it today. This is what I found:

Pretty sure I don't need to test this thing in boiling water to see if it really did fail on me. ;D

That'll buff out.

I think it would make a good spare if I were to JBWeld it back together.

You're lucky!

I had that happen once and the spring got stuck waaaaay back in the head.

It took 2 days of fishing to get it out.

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My 98 jeep is hitting temp but isn't blowing but warm are out and not the hot air like my 01xj. I've done two flushes and Keep getting nasty water out of it. First time was nasty muddy rust color water and I flushed it tell I was getting good clear water. topped off with new coolant. It works and heats up just fine and the blower blows good but after a week then it's back to luke warm water again. I'm I to guess the heater core is backed up full crud maybe or the radiator is and I'm going to have to keep flushing it tell its all out.

Any hints would be great the GF is getting hates the cold.

jdogg4 said:

My 98 jeep is hitting temp but isn't blowing but warm are out and not the hot air like my 01xj. I've done two flushes and Keep getting nasty water out of it. First time was nasty muddy rust color water and I flushed it tell I was getting good clear water. topped off with new coolant. It works and heats up just fine and the blower blows good but after a week then it's back to luke warm water again. I'm I to guess the heater core is backed up full crud maybe or the radiator is and I'm going to have to keep flushing it tell its all out.

Any hints would be great the GF is getting hates the cold.

Click to expand...

Are you flushing the entire cooling system -

or have you done JUST the heater core flush?


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Dont those fail safe thermostats work wounders *pfft*?

RTicUL8 said:

Are you flushing the entire cooling system -

or have you done JUST the heater core flush?


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Click to expand...

The whole system. Got one of those prestone kits that you hook up to the hose to flush with fresh water and all. ran that tell the water was cycling as clear as it could get because I can't get to the drain on the passanger side of the radiator so I was just pulling off the hose on the lower driver side to drain it. I then was cycling the water through the heater core and that started to come out clear aswell.

jdogg4 said:

The whole system. Got one of those prestone kits that you hook up to the hose to flush with fresh water and all. ran that tell the water was cycling as clear as it could get because I can't get to the drain on the passanger side of the radiator so I was just pulling off the hose on the lower driver side to drain it. I then was cycling the water through the heater core and that started to come out clear aswell.

Click to expand...

The water will follow the path of least resistance.
Hooking up a prestone type kit will not do much for a clogged heater core.

You need to disconnect the hoses to the heater core where they connect at the firewall.
Hook up your garden hose to one side and flush the core that way.


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That was going to be the next option.

Has anyone ever just ran water and that cleaner stuff for like a day or so. I read the label twice and it never said how long one can leave that stuff in the rad. I thought about just doing that and driving around for like a day with it. I was thinking go home tonight drain it fill the cleaner and then top off with water. Drive to and from work for a day or so then flush and do up some new antifreeze. Or do you think that stuff is too strong and will do more damage than good.
It's parked inside at night so I don't see it freezing up with the night temps.

The stuff will freeze.

This past summer I ran some of the Prestone brand system cleaner. IIRC the DIRECTIONS said to run the cleaner at least 6 hours before draining, and that the six hours of run-time could be accumulated over days. I have used this product over the years in several different vehicles, always been happy with it.

FWIW, leave the hoses attached to the heater core, find another way to flush and reverse flush the core. The more you horse around with the copper tubes, the more opportunity for that Murphy dude to ruin your day with a broken solder joint. don't ask how I know this...I just know.

The prestone stuff does work great! I did the whole 6 hour thing in my old s10 when it was having overheating issues and never had the problem again!

OK so just add it to the mix I got in there currently and then flush Ok I got ya.
So I was looking at the hoses and thought about disconnecting the lines away from the heater core. Like you Hypoid said I don't want to mess with murphy he's a PITA at times and thats something I don't need right now in this weather.

I flush with clean water before switching chemicals; throwback from my darkroom days.

I also make the effort to keep the work area clean; run a lot of water to knock down the PPMs of any chemical. Our vet told me if a cat or dog steps in anti freeze, what they lick off one paw is enough to guarantee a slow painful death.

Good luck!

if your wanting to leave cleaner in the system for a while, try adding vinegar to the coolant instead of water. its a lot more gentle than the prestone stuff, but it works pretty good. the prior owner of my 95 didnt know what a coolant flush was and im working on getting the muddy coolant out over time. this is the third time this year that ive done the 50/50 solution of coolant and vinegar. ive had it in there a couple of weeks. i have not had any problems so far.

hth,
stewie

The last two times I flushed the system it’s been cold so I do it all in the garage. I have these wide 6 to 8” deep catch pans that fit under the jeep pretty well and catch at least 90 to 95% of the coolant, slug, water, anti freeze that comes out of the jeep. Before I put those under I do a ring of dry absorb under and around the front of the jeep, so any overfill is caught up in that. Nothing ever makes it to my driveway or the gutter in the street. I have a lab and don’t want her slurping that stuff up. Greeley has a hazmat center so I can just sweep up the affected dry absorb into a bucket and take it there along with the coolant. I just have to label what all is in it for them. They take batteries and oil coolant stuff like that. HAZMAT stuff. After that It’s just a matter of a quick mob job with some pinesole and It’s good to go. Everything is contained to the garage and the dog doesn’t get to hang out in there with all my welding and cutting stuff and what not.

OK so last night I cleaned out the over flow tank and it was nasty again with crud build it. I took that cap off to the prestone flush kit I put on then ran a hose into a bucket. I then took another hose from the wash room hot water tap. I cycled 3 5gallon bucks of water through this thing last night tell it was coming out a bit cleaner looking. Like a lot cleaner looking. I ran out of buckets at that point so I called it quits tell I can take those to the collection place this weekend. I put in fresh 50-70% mix and that cleaner stuff then topped off the over flow jug to the full mark. I then capped everything off and drove around for 30 min last night. I let it cool down over night and checked it this morning. It was a bit dirty brown rusty color again, but not like it was before.
When I was cycling it last night it got me to thinking when I noticed if I turned it to just the face or floor vent it was blowing really warm air through the system just fine. But then when I turn it to Def. it was much cooler air. Then if I turn it to the def and floor setting it was a bit warmer. Could I have a vacuum issue of some sort that wouldn’t allow hot water to the upper window defrost, but still get warm air to the rest of the jeep?