I am in the process of redoing my entire cooling system to try and keep temps from climbing too high when sitting in traffic. Its been ~95*F out lately, with lots of sunshine and the Jeep has been getting damn warm.

Anyways, I just re-did basically everything but the radiator in an effort to see if I can get the temps lower, and because everything looked to be original anyways.

Flushed the entire system 5 times before I started replacing parts. New water pump, Stant thermostat, Felpro gaskets, Dayco upper + lower hoses, heater hoses, fan clutch, radiator cap. Only thing I left out was the radiator and the hose clamps.


Everything has been working great, but temps still creep up after an hour of sitting in traffic. I dont want to cut holes in my hood because I have been known to push a bow wake when mudding ( ), so I am wondering what else I can do to get the temps down more.

Anyways, today I noticed that my electric fan was only turning on when the car was cool and I turned the AC on. It would only stay running for 2-3 minutes before it slowly spun down (it looked like it was still getting power at that point). The relay in the fuse box felt warm, so I replaced it with a brand new one with no improvement.

Any ideas on debugging this?? The fuse inside the cabin is also good (replaced just for testing), engine fuses are good as well. Is the fan itself going bad?

 

This is what happens after essentially 1 hour of idling and very slow speed driving;



I am going to put a better radiator in it, but the one I have is in pretty good shape and not too much muck came out when I backflushed it. I am a cheap ***, and I figure i should get the e-fan working and go from there.

 

Did you replace the relay? Or the fan?

When you flushed it, did you use any chemical to get the gunk out? Or just plain water?

I like to use Amway SA-8 laundry detergent for a rad flush. It is harmless to your system and does a great job of cleaning things out. Check their site online and you can probably find a dealer near you.

 

Of all the various cooling system components, the radiator is the only component who's sole function is to dissipate heat.

No amount of flushing, even with chemicals, will unplug tubes in the rad that r plugged solid. The rad must be disassembled by a rad shop (tanks separated from the core) and the core "rodded" out. The XJ rad is very small and just a few plugged tubes/rows will greatly effect cooling performance. Again, flushing ain't going to unplug solid plugged tubes/rows. A new rad runs +/-$110 at most local auto parts stores.

Does the efan turn off when the a/c compressor disengages? If yes, that's normal and means coolant temp is below 218F. If the efan remains on and the compressor is disengaged, then coolant temp is at or above 218F. Mathematically, your pic shows 222.5F.....a little toasty.