Cooling system woes
 

You all are probably sick of me and my cooling system troubles but I'm just stumped. 4 months ago had a new rad and thermostat installed and the whole system flushed, I just replaced replaced the water pump, therm, lower and upper hoses and thermostat two weeks ago. I drove it for about an hour on a hot day in traffic and it spewed from underneath the cap and the temp gauge jumped to 260. So I flushed it 3 more times and bought a new cap. Just did it again and I'm currently sitting on the side of the road waiting for it to cool. WTF am I missing?

I would rent/buy a block test kit. It tests your cooling system for exhaust fumes. It's possible you have a bad head gasket, cracked head, or block. Never hurts to spend the $15 to test it before throwing more parts at it.

Elec fan working? Mech fan clutch good? Good fan shrouds in place? If you have an a/c condensor is it clogged blocking air flow?

I should do that, that's a good idea. I'll try that this weekend. Thanks!

What year possible 0331 head issue....

I had my doubts on the elec fan working originally but went in a different direction once reading that it only kicks on slightly above 210. How can i test to see if is coming at the correct temperature? The fan shrouds are pretty good I feel, the elec shroud is missing one of the extended pieces so that it slips into the slots on the metal below it. It still screws in fine and doesn't interfere with anything or wiggle around.

The temp gauge jumped from 210 to 260 in about 3 seconds while the "check gauges" light simultaneously came on. I'm wondering if I also have a temp sensor or thermostat problem along with whatever is making it overflow. I'll check the fan clutch. If the ac condenser is clogged, can I flush it or should I just replace it?

Deff check for proper fan function just because you moving don't mean you getting enough air ....

2001 with 190k :( I think I might be moving from the denial stage to the anger stage of grieving over this jeep. Each time I do something and it doesn't fix the problem, I lean more and more towards the 0331

You probably need a new cylinder head :(

If it's overheating at low speed, replace your mechanical fan clutch. It's a wear part that's universally neglected.

agree with the fan cluch: you overheat in slow traffic, the fan then needs to cause the air flow acrossthe radiator.
did you bleed the system from air thoroughly? air trapped can do cause weird overheating gremlins. Then run it on idle and see if air keeps bubbling up in your reservoir bottle. If that keeps bubbling, you are looking at more costly repeair relating to airleak into your cooling, l!ikethe head issues. just to check: your coolant is nice and green and 50/50 mix?

Pressure check system if heads bad youll know ....

No, I am running distiller water and peak radiator flush to clean the system. I had an astronomical amount of rust in it. This was the 2nd time I had flushed and refilled with a cleaner and when I looked on the cap just last night, it was actually pretty clean so I will switch this weekend to 50/50 and watch it to see if it turns brown. I let the engine idle/ rev to 2-3000rpm with the cap off for about 15 or 20 minutes, Heat on high while I was adding the water and flush cleaner (per the cleaner bottles instructions). Let it heat up almost to 210 twice an then put the cap on.