loganzillmer

I am starting this thread because it has become difficult for the gurus to keep up with my questions in the Ask a Question thread. I am going to lay it all out as clearly as I can. I'm hoping I am paranoid as this is the first XJ I have owned and am not intimate with the particulars of how they normally run. Any help is appreciated.

I have a 2001 XJ and have owned it for about 3 months.

I took the XJ on a 100mile drive over Mem. Day. On the way home I got the "hey I'm getting too hot" alert after pulling off the freeway. No smoke. Did not die. But it was mad at me.

I then overhauled the cooling system:
- Thermostat (195 deg Mopar) + Thermo housing
- Water pump
- Fan clutch
- Upper and lower rad hoses
- New rad cap with that special little flip tab thingy
- Flushed the system a couple times. Once before the new parts were on (without running the engine, and once with all the new parts on, running the engine.)
- "burped" the system after everything was done.

The thermostat was definitely donezo, and the fan clutch was pretty spent too. The water pump seemed OK, but I figured while I was in there I'd do that too.

Since the overhaul, it has not yelled at me or overheated, but it does seem to run hot. The hard thing is that it just started getting hot here in Michigan, so that may be part of it as well. The first time I drove it, I checked the coolant and it was a tad below the fill mark, so I put more in. Same with the second time I drove it. Then the third time I drove it, after I parked, I popped the hood and the coolant was nearly overflowing. I burped the system again, and it hasn't done that since.

Here is roughly how it runs now:
After warm, it resides right at 210, giver or take a half tick, (it does take longer now to get to 210, and if I avoid the freeway, it actually stays a bit under for the entire drive). If I am on the freeway for 10-15 mins and then come to a stop and idle, it goes almost to the next tick mark after 210 and the e-fan comes on. From then until I shut it off, it will waver between 210 and halfway to the next tick. When I get out, I smell hot coolant, and it seems to put out a lot of heat.

I may be totally paranoid, and it may be because it's been really hot and muggy here, but I was under the assumption that the e-fan shouldn't be put to work so much. If I let it idle after warm, the e-fan will come on. After those first two drives, I haven't noticed any coolant loss. I am planning on doing the radiator this summer as well to see if that helps.

Last thing: When I turn on the A/C or heat, I smell coolant.

Thanks.

RTorrez1

Fist thing you need to do is get rid of that radiator cap You don not want one with the manual pressure relief lever on it. Get the standard cap set at 16lbs. Also make sure that you are not getting any coolant in to your oil. Your 01 has a crappy 0331 head on it which tend to crack when over heated. With a little luck that isn't your problem.

loganzillmer

Good to know. Thanks. Any rason that cap is not good?

I do know about the 0331 head crack. So when I had the used car inspection done, I told them I had this concern, so they did all the necessary checks (aside from looking at the actual head), and it checked out fine. My oil is the correct color right now, and I haven't seen any milky buildup under my cap. I am hoping it's not a very small crack that is going to slowly build over time. But I guess there is only one way to be sure about that.

93gc40

210 on the gauge is NORMAL........ IF you are not loosing coolant the smell is probably from spillage and will burn off soon.

RTorrez1

Those cap won't release the pressure correctly if at all and will cause you to over heat. Just keep any eye on the coolant lever and make sure that the oil doesn't get milky. Unfortunately it can only take one overheat to cause the 0331 head to crack. Also is you do thing that you have cracked your head DO NOT putt any of those sealers it to the radiator it will only cause you more problems. 210 is the perfect operating temp. My 98 will only rise to about 114deg when the ambient temp goes over 110deg. and here in south Texas it does that a lot during the summer.

rgr4475

If you're smelling coolant in the cabin, I would be checking out the heater core. You sure there are no leaks coming from there?

loganzillmer

Not entirely sure what you mean here. Sorry. Thanks for the cap advice. I'll get the reg one on my lunch today.

That was my thought as well. I'm not sure where that would leak. Would it be in the cabin? I have not leaks of any kind on the ground.

RTorrez1

Some people like to put some engine block/head sealers in the engine when they develop a coolant leak.
As for the coolant smell it may be like may be like 93gc40 said, It can be from when it over heated and just be from any that was spilled out.

loganzillmer

Right on. None actually spilled out when it got hot. But I did spill some when I was replacing everything and doing flushes. I wouldn't be suprised if the coolant smell when I shut it off is that burning off, but I don't think thats what it is when I turn on the heat/ac.

What problems, other than smelling coolant, can a leaky heater core cause? I am going to replace it, but I know its a b*tch to do and I don't have much time to do it for like a month or so. Can any major harm come to the cooling system from it? Its not so bad that I am having noticeable coolant loss.

loganzillmer

Thank you.

RTorrez1

It can cause you to over heat if you loose enough coolant. Which I'm sure you know. It can cause your windshield to fog up. If it keeps leaking it can and will start to soak the carpet on the front passenger side floor. Which in turn can cause the floorboard to rust. If you do come to find that the heater core does have a leak you can always by pass it temporarily. By connecting the 2 hoses together. This will give you some time until you want to rip your dash apart.

loganzillmer

Great to know. Thank you. I am assuming I won't need my heater core in the summer?

RTorrez1

I figured that would help you since you said that you can't change it out fro about a month. I hope that some of this info will help you. Let us know how everything woks out.

loganzillmer

Strange update:

I just checked my coolant level about 10 mins ago on my lunch break just for the hell of it, and it was below the 'add' line. Haha. I can't figure it out! One day it's a tad low, the next the whole reservoir is full, and today it's below the add line. That is a lot of coolant. Might I have a blockage somewhere and it's just sitting there in the system, and then once hot, it comes back into the reservoir?
Just now I thought, '*****, its gotta be a cracked head", but I'm seeing nice oil color on the stick and nothing milky under the cap. The other day I also took the rad cap off, and had my friend rev the engine, it did not bubble out or anything (I was told this could also be a sign). So I sort of ruled cracked head out. Is it still possible this is the problem? Is there any way to be sure?

djb383

Coolant level in the bottle should up when the motor is hot, down when the motor is cold. Always check the level when the motor is cold. A proper functioning rad cap is critical to the coolant recovery system......it has 3 sealing surfaces and 2 valves.