shelby5041

hi

i have a 1997 jeep cherokee 125k miles on it

never overheated since i had it past 7 years.....drove it home recently on highway and the temp gauge maxed out....

pulled over and babied it home....kept overheating and radiator cap vented fluid...no leaks...

took to 2 diff shops and none of the shops could 100% pinpoint the issue

they were just guessing ...im not going to pay a shop $$$ on a guess lol....since radiator fluid looked so bad i did end up doing a coolant flush but that did not help.....ended u being a waste......i cant lie....i never paid attention to the radiator fluid since i bought the car 7 years ago....yes not good....oh well....fluid was brown brown brown ....it was bad and have not had heat for past 2 yrs...

so i took vehicle home and decided to do some research and decide what to do

anyways i ended up getting a new radiator and water pump online for a real good price and hired a guy to install both....hoping either was bad and would correct the issue

bam!!!!!!!!!

water pump was trash....the metal fins were no more see photo...and the radiator was missing many fins and filled with brown gunk.......

once new water pump and radiator were installed i now have some heat....not hot but good enough...heater core is prob in bad shape but thats another issue at a later date maybe

i have attached photos of old radiator and water pump and the horrible looking fluid that was flushed out....even after i had it flushed just 2 a couple weeks prior

i believe the main issue was water pump....even though radiator was bad also but water pump was prob what caused to overheat since it coudlnt circulate fluid

shelby5041

note im pretty sure radiator and water pump were the original factory installed parts....

here are some more pics

shelby5041

as you can see radiator was also pretty bad...

look at what came out after flushing the 2nd time

i had it flushed out 2 weeks prior to this and never drove the car....so i dont think they did a good job

this is what it looked like after flushing out when repalcing the radiator the other day

yes the cooling system was neglected by me.....but at least i discoverd the issue

lot of people kept ssaying blown head gasket....but there were no common symptoms ....so i took a change with the new radiator and pump....

shelby5041

im very happy....since i dont have to trash the vehicle...i can now drive it during winters...its great.......

and it didnt cost me much...radiator and water pump after 25% discount was only 110.00 shipped free at pep boys

and it only cost me 115.00 to have them both installed

so not bad for just over $200.00 and now fixed

even though the 1st flush cost me money i called credit card company and disputed the charge...they coudlnt have flushed it very well...you see how brown it is....no way in hell the did

Bugout4x4

Looks like you got it together on your own man Acknowledgement is in order here.

DEN1956

well done in finding the problem...seek and you shall find...;-).

Fred/N0AZZ

This is self inflected I guess you know by not maintaining the coolant and system properly. After 7 yrs. all the lubricant, anti-rust, antifreeze were long gone. Allowing the water pump to fail, rust to build up everywhere in the system causing flow problems.


The heater core needs to be cleaned by someone who knows how to do it to get it the cleanest and I can tell you that you need to change and flush everything again to clean the block more. When you do replace both the upper and lower radiator hose's and check the fan clutch.


BTW you need to service the cooling system at least every 2-3 yrs. antifreeze is cheap and its nice to have a properly serviced cooling setup on the 4.0 in our XJ's.

studmuffin

Keep an eye on your heater core and find out if it's leaking or not. If it is leaking bypass it. The previous owner of my jeep had a leaking heater core and he never did anything about it as a result I have some rust on the passenger floorboards.

68Datsun510

Good lord, thats a 97!? Wow, whats more shocking is that none of the shops could identify a potential issue..........

shelby5041

drove fine for 2 weeks.......

bad day today though

hi just parked my 1997 cherokee when i got to work and got out of car and noticed a lot of coolant on ground....prob over 1 gallon......didnt have time to look at since i was late to work

would like any input on cause

some info


just had radiator.....radiator cap...thermostat ....and water pump replaced 2 weeks ago and car drove fine since then but last 2 days have noticed temp guage about 10-15 degrees hotter than it has been ....normally about 210....last 3 days its been 210 to 225 ...

anyways i got up and drove it to store about 25 mile drive...all was ok...but was still about 220 or so temp.......then proceeded to drive to work about 20 miles....i noticed temp going up a little to about 225 to 230...as i got to my work entrance i noticed guage was now at about 235.......i then parked the car and i noticed a lot of radiator fluid immediatley under my car..about 1 gallon or so.....i didnt have time to open hood...running late ....im at work now....

any input what i should look for when i get out to my car tonite?.....

thanks

shelby5041

hi just parked my 1997 cherokee when i got to work and got out of car and noticed a lot of coolant on ground....prob over 1 gallon......didnt have time to look at since i was late to work

would like any input on cause

some info


just had radiator.....radiator cap...thermostat ....and water pump replaced 2 weeks ago and car drove fine since then but last 2 days have noticed temp guage about 10-15 degrees hotter than it has been ....normally about 210....last 3 days its been 210 to 225 ...

anyways i got up and drove it to store about 25 mile drive...all was ok...but was still about 220 or so temp.......then proceeded to drive to work about 20 miles....i noticed temp going up a little to about 225 to 230...as i got to my work entrance i noticed guage was now at about 235.......i then parked the car and i noticed a lot of radiator fluid immediatley under my car..about 1 gallon or so.....i didnt have time to open hood...running late ....im at work now....

any input what i should look for when i get out to my car tonite?.....

thanks

shelby5041

and even after haveing the cooling system flushed 2 times and have driven car only about 300 miles since the flushes.... the coolant is still rusty/clay color not green at all.....looks horrible

shelby5041

having

kgm

I had to flush my cooling system ~8 times before it remained green and clear over time.

quneur

First, I would check where the coolant is leaking. It could be a blown radiator hose, connection or heater hose.

Second, check all freeze plugs (in back of the engine block and under the manifolds).

Third, if all checks out, get a coolant test kit. a) pressure test kit to see where its leaking and/or b) coolant combustion kit to see if cylinder head/gasket is okay.