when i first bought this jeep back in 2010, i drove it from oklahoma to conroe texas, went mudding in the 100 degree heat and never experienced overheating, i noticed the past couple months it would overheat real easy, i changed the thermostat and water pump and it still did it, i took out the thermostat and it wont overheat for awhile unless i'm bogging down in sand or mud. so what would yall do? i thought about going with a newer setup where i can fill the water at the radiator like my 97. would this work out better for me? its weird how my 87 wont go above 200 even bogging it down for long periods of time and it has the old system, or do i just need a new radiator? all fan shrouds are in place everything is clean

 

Mine did this also i upgraded issue went away. I cut old rad open to find a chunk of crap in bottom of radiator that would move around and hinder the flow.Are both cooling fans working properly .

 

they seem to be working fine, fan clutch is new and the electric fan blows alot of air when it comes on around 200, its gotta be the radiator

 

Up grade then if your gonna buy a rad i used a 92 if i remember it has the hole to use existing fan switch i mounted my over flo bottle where pressure tank was .

 

Also upgradeing to 97 up cooling fan will help blows much stronger than old 5 blade

 

Have you verified temp with an IR temp gun?
Flush it a several times both ways. Make sure you have a mechanical fan shroud otherwise your pushing hot air in a circle rather the pulling cool air through the rad. Replace t-stat with a...dare I say it... dealership t-stat, yes it's between $22 and $35 but it WILL work and last much longer then an aftermarket one, there are people who have bought aftermarket ones that fail to open or close straight out of the box. Make sure you pressure/reserve bottle has no cracks in it a new one is $80ish, if the bottle checks out get a Volvo pressure cap part number 703-1395 $7.99 at orileys.
I was having issues getting too hot i replaced the pressure cap first and that fixed my problem, I then replaced the t-stat with mopar (dealership) one and got a fan shroud just to be on the safe side my jeep NEVER passes 210*

 

None of this will affect a plugged radiator been here done this ....I never see any thing past 195 now...jm2cw

 

True but he doesn't say it plugged and a flush in both directions should give an idea if its plugged or not, and possibly knock a plug loose.

 

Ah and I just saw your shrouds are in place so scratch that note.

 

Metlic53 how olds the radiator ?

 

As far as I know it's the factory radiator.

 

I think what he is trying to say is, a 23 year old radiator will have lots of sediment build-up and more then likely be extremely constricted in one or more locations if not fully clogged, so it should be replaced.
I agree with this buuuuttt....to the best of my knowledge my radiator is still the 23 year old stock one from 90' and it works just fine with all the stuff I mentioned above.
If you do decide to go with what I suggested you will have a better system then I do because, and again this is to the best of my knowledge, I still have the original water pump.

Hope this helps you metlic53

Freegdr I'm not saying your wrong at all, only that I just went through this last month with my 90' and a new Volvo pressure cap, mopar t-stat, new hoses, and fresh coolant fixed my issues and keeps my jeep at operating temp at its hottest. This is just my personal experience I'm sharing.