I changed my water pump today and did a system flush too. I had a hard time burping the air out, once the t-stat opened I added a half a gallon more of coolant. The question I have is why does my temp gauge move all over now? It used to heat up to 200 real fast and stay there, in the summer it would go from 200-220 then the fan would kick in and back to 200. Now it takes a little longer to get to 200 then crashes to 160s then slams back to 200 over and over again. Is this what other people experience or is there air pockets moving around still? P.S. my old water pump looked as if it were missing impellers.

 

It is likely going to take at least 3 complete heat up / cool down cycles to self-burp your system.

What brand thermostat did you install? There are a lot of crap stats available.

I buy my stat directly from Jeep and also like the Stant SuperStat.

195 degree only.

 

I would bet you still have air in the system, when I changed mine it took quite a while to get burped. Coach

 

I agree it does take a few times to burp the coolant system. Especially if its the closed system. I finally upgraded to an open system in my 87 mj from a closed system It seems to run better now.

 

super stat 195 installed. Does anyone else not dig the power steering pump belt tensioner?

 

That belt tensioner is a down right pain in th @$$ to access.

As far as the temp issue, Just keep checking for leaks to make sure coolant loss isn't an issue(highly doubt it is but good to start with basics). Over the next few drives check the coolant level and add when low. If the problem keeps happening, you may need a new temp sensor.