megankalu

Hi all... My '97 Jeep Ch. has been overheating the last couple of weeks, but only when i'm in idle mode and not all the time, periodically, but more frequent as time has passed. I've owned this jeep from brand new and have taken good care of it over the years. A couple of weeks ago i took it in to one of those "quick oil change" places and they offered to do other things like clean my air filter, etc.. As soon as i drove off the lot I noticed "check gauges" light come on. I was in shock because this is the first time i've seen that light since i bought my jeep. So then i noticed my temperature needle was way up in the red area. Then i pulled over and shut my vehicle off. I waited a couple of minutes then i started it and it was fine, but now within the last couple of weeks it's happening more frequent and only when i'm in idle, like at my local Tim Horton's waiting for a coffee in the drive-through...lol. It happens at stop signs or red lights, but only if i'm idling there for over a couple of minutes. I took a road trip last week going 900 kilometres both ways and had no problems but now my vehicle shows overheating gauge more frequently. But when it reaches that overheating stage on the gauge and i shut the vehicle off, my engine doesn't steam or anything like that, like it did when my rad hose went last year. The engine feels hot, but that's it. I checked my rad and my antifreeze level is fine and same with my reservoir container. I want to nip this in the butt before it leaves me stranded on the road somewhere. Thanks in advance, megan

Zidane

Sounds like a fan is not working or the thermostat is stuck... Check you relays for your fan and when the jeep starts to get warm see if the fan starts. If not that means either you have a temperature sensor bad or a relay. If it is not the fan it could be a thermostat issue and will need to be replaced.

Zidane

Actually my jeep is doing the same thing and My fans are just bad. Its not overheating when you are driving it because it is getting the airflow to help cool it down. But when you stop there is no air flow so there is nothing to keep it cool. Like i said to me it seems like its the fans, relay for the fans, temp sensor, or the thermostat. Hope this all helps.

megankalu

Thank you to all who responded to my post. I will begin the grueling task of weening out the problem as your posts indicated. Thanks, very much appreciated. Cheers! Megan

XJcountry

Why don't you take it back to that shop and tell them what happened, they may have accidentally unplugged something.

sparrowhawk

Yep..If you reread yor post it all started with the oil change and you did not mention that you checked your oil level....either way I would go back to them and tell them what happened. DOCUMENTATION is the key if their at fault. Keep us posted as we can give you more pointers to the fact that 4.0 engines are notorious for overheating and cracked heads if the engine even slightly overheats. Goodluck