i sold my wrangler TJ and bought this 1996 xj today for cheaper than dirt.

-my temperature gauge in the dash isn't working.

-the passenger side fan isn't spinning with any force just rotating at about 1 rpm

-after i got home the radiator was boiling and pushing fluid into the overflow.


obviously this needs addressed asap. where do i start??
also i just recharged the cooling system

 

Back to basics.


Thermostat first.
fluid levels
leaks or rad cap
is water pump leaking?
City or highway driving? boiling in city, check fan. boiling on highway and all the above checked, Rad may be clogged or/and corroded.

Passenger side fan? you mean the engine driven fan?

 

I've had a few XJs, and after cooking the first one to the point I had to have the head shaved, here's what I would do:

Buy a good 3 row radiator. The factory ones are sucky when they get old. ESPECIALLY if anyone's ever dumped stop leak in it.

New upper hose, lower hose, and thermostat. May as well get you a sending unit for the gauge, too.

Fix the fan. Or replace it with a 12" skinny fit electric fan. Wire it to the ignition. Wire the other one to a toggle switch so you can turn it on in the summer and off in the winter (it won't take as long for the heater to get hot).

 

my temp gauge isn't working at all so my first question is does the temp gauge sensor have anything to do with the fan not running? (does the fan kick on at a certain temp?)

I'll start with the t state first thing tomorrow. but I feel like I have more than one issue going on.


also the jeep has 190k miles on it so I'm not looking to buy a bunch of upgraded mods like a 3 way radiator and an E fan set up. I just want it to run like it did from the factory.

 

Many cherokees came without an electric fan and have no problems.
if all the steps are good and it heats up in the city but not on the highway, I would look at the clutch fan. If you don't want to spend much money, you can remove it and put put it in "diagnostic" mode. that means always engaged. Its a little noisy but makes the electric fan totally useless in most driving conditions.

 

You should have two fans under there. An electric on the driver side and a clutch fan on the passenger side.

The electric fan on the driver side has a temperature sensor on it that causes it to switch on when the engine heats up. It cuts off when the engine cools down. It also cuts on when you run the A/C. The temp sensor that controls it can go bad, but has nothing to do with the gauge. If you just run a switch to it you can turn it on when it gets hot out, and turn it off when it gets cold out.

The clutch fan on the passenger side is belt driven. If that's the one you said is barely turning, then the belt is slipping on the pulley, the clutch is bad, or both.

You said you're going address the thermostat, so that will help some.

If you don't want to get a radiator, that's up to you; I'm telling you though, I have had at least one XJ for the last 14 years, and the cooling system is probably the only weak point I've had with them. Maybe it's the Lyme in the water here, maybe it's radiators are flawed. I'd pull it and replace all that stuff I mentioned and be done with it.

But it's your truck. Hopefully it's just a stuck thermostat.

 

96 still has two separate temp sensors. One is located at the rear driver's side of the head next to the valve cover. That one is for the gauge in the dash.
The other is in the thermostat housing, for the PCM which controls the electric fan. The e-fan should come on with your A/C, assuming you have that. Otherwise it doesn't turn on until the temp hits 220 or so. If it does not, first thing to check is the fuse.

I agree with the others, check or replace the thermostat, check the fan clutch, and you might consider pulling your water pump and having a look. You might find the impeller blades are almost gone.

 

well I noticed the temp sensor was unplugged and that fixed the gauge problem.

I changed the oil, transfer case, tranny, front and rear diff. today. tomorrow I'll be working on a coolant flush. about how many gallons will I need of coolant?it looks like the last a$$ hole who owned it used stop leak also.

today I did about 30 miles of city driving with no overheating and no boiling and this was after I reconnected the sensor.

 

This is the first thing that you need to fix. If you fan isn't spinning you will need to replace the fan clutch. You should be able to pick one up for around $30 if not less at any parts store. I would replace it as soon as possible or you could end up with a bigger problem then just a bad fan clutch.

 

Go to amsoil.com, select car/truck and select vehicle year brand...
It will tell you all the type of fluids you need, how much of it and even what torque specs for plugs.

I love synthetic..