2000 cherokee overheats badly when A/C is on. My sister in law says when it is drawing outside air in. Not sure if it does it when in circulating inside air position. She was told it is the condensor motor. Could this be right?

Thanks for any replies,
Kevin

 

Check your fan shroud, then that the electric fan is kicking on the way it's supposed too.

Additionally, when was the last time the coolant was clean/serviced, etc? Big thing being that the cooling system is at peak capacity. There is also thermostat and sensors that could be mucking up. Good luck

 

Also check the fan clutch.

 

Do you have any unexplained antifreeze/coolant loss?

Also, condensers don't have motors.

 

What are temp gauge readings with A/C off? With A/C on?

Air in the cabin regardless of how it got in or whether it is recirculating, has nothing to do with the Jeep overheating. From your post it sounds as if something is going on besides the engine overheating.

 

It sounds to me like engine overheating IS the issue.

Look at the year model Jeep he has.

 

Thanks for the help! I will look at it today.

 

i would look at both fans. the elec fan should come on immediately with the a/c and defrost settings. basically you should be able to spin the clutch fan on a cold motor, and encounter resistance to spinning it on a hot motor. drive it around to achieve operating temp, shut it off, then see how easily you can move the blades.

edit: clutch fan passenger side, elec fan driver's side

of course the cooling systems on these things are always suspect, but I'd start with the simple stuff first.

 

The efan will not turn on immediately on '00 up XJs, when the compressor engages, like '99 down do.

 

You are correct.
From FSM
Electric cooling fan 4.0L: With or without A/C
request the electric fan will come on only when the
coolant temperature is at least 106° C (223° F), and
will remain on until the coolant temperature drops to
103° C (217° F) or below. Regardless of coolant temperature,
When air conditioning system pressures
reach 2068.5 6 138 kPa (300 6 20 psi) the electric
fan will engage and continue to run until the A/C
system pressure drops to 1620.3 kPa (235 psi) minimum,
then the electric fan will shut off.

 

Some people think their XJ is seriously overheating when the gauge goes from 195* to 210*.
\
I guess I'm just lazy but I would like to know what the Jeep is actually doing before I try to give advice.

 

Yeah, he never did give us actual readings, did he?

 

The gauge would read 210 and jump to 260 with ac on. Would fall back with ac off. Clutch fan cold would spin maybe 5 inches. Hot would have more resistance. Coolant level full.

Needing to get back to run this by you guys, I decided to try and fix something easy. She was complaining about loose battery connections so I replaced the battery terminals and cut back the wires to get into fresh copper. On removal, one of the 2 ground wires fell out of its terminal. Put on new terms and test drove. She says no longer overheating. Thoughts?

 

As I said in my first post........