redman52

Hey yall, so I've been having trouble with my 96 cherokee overheating when idling. Driving even 25 it won't get hot. And it can idle for a little while before it overheats. I had read somewhere to check fan clutch. Let vehicle warm up to normal driving temp and shut it off, the fan is only supposed to spin a few times than stop. Well, my fan spun AFTER shutoff for a good 6-7seconds... bad fan clutch??

tech

Yup I would say it is bad , also check the e-fan make sure it works .

bluejeep2001

When you shut off the engine , the clutchfan should be not turning by the time you stick your head out the door..less than 1 second.... If you unplug the coolant temp sensor on the thermostat housing the elec fan should turn on within a second or so...engine running.. this confirms all the vehicle electronics are good...does not confirm the temp sensor itself is accurate

IJM

The best way to test if your fan clutch is working, and really the only way to test that it's actually pulling air, is to drive it for a bit to get it good and hot in the summer weather, let it idle for a bit in D if an auto to let the temp creep up above 210, then pop the hood and rev the engine a bit from under the hood and listen to what happens with the mechanical fan. Under those conditions the fan should make a very noticeable roaring sound and move lots of air. If it remains quiet at 2k rpm and above, your clutch isn't engaging and needs to be replaced.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

treemonkee

Did you check to make sure it is full of coolant? My jeep was acting like that and I swore it had enough coolant and the issue was something else so I brought it to my mechanic. He called an hour later and said it's fixed, he just added coolant.

edrrt

Yes your Fan Clutch is bad.

But that does not mean everything else isn't either. These cars will keep going with almost everything not working then the radiator explodes or boils over at the worst time.

#1) Do the fan clutch. Get a OEM one if you can. It takes 30min. Note it will be very snug pressing into the pulley. A small wrench on the nuts and tapping the wrench with a hammer will break them loose. Lots of ways to test them. Most after market ones are crap sadly. The Hayden from Napa if you can't find OEM cheap.

#2) Verify you're Efan is turning on when hot. If not unplug it from the thermostat housing, if it does not come on replace it. If it does then replace your sensor. Or just do both cuz they are old and why risk it.

3) Test your thermostat in boiling water for fun and then replace your thermostat anyway. Get a 195, Mopar if you can. It's a cheap part, it's easy to do. 10 bucks for a T-stat and gasket. They fail and the car runs for years like that. You can can check it in boiling water. I'm shocked how often they don't open. Any time you have an over heating issue just do it. So simple and yet so many issues can happen. If you can't find OEM, non- failsafe AM one with one way vent hole is ok. Verify it opens in boiling water BEFORE you install any thermostat.

4) Replace your radiator cap. An oem one is 10 bucks. This little part can mess up everything and leave you stranded. You rad can blow up or boil over. If you are having any issue just swap it.

4) The radiator. Usually they work or they leak. The plastic is old. The Spectra one for 80 bucks on Amazon is great. Really. It looks identical to OEM. It's an hour to swap it. If you are taking stuff appart anyway consider it.

5) Check your lower rad hose if you are draining coolant it's a good time to consider swapping it, you can swap the spring. The OEM ones were very thick and hardy. Better than the gates replacements imo.

6) Check your coolant looks good and you aren't loosing any with boil overs or leaks.

7) flush your heater core if removing the hoses.

8) the water pump. If it's oem, and isn't leaking or making baring noise, and you have no corrosion issues from poor coolant, it's prob great. They were very good. The fins are thick. Every time I swapped a good one 'while I was there' because it had 250k miles on it, I regretted it cuz I never found anything wrong. Do not buy aftermarket. OEM is $100. The AM ones are different. Buy oem if you only want to do it once.

I just did all of the above. My Jeep doesn't get over 200 anymore. Even if it's 110 with the AC blasting and crawling up mountains. The needle lives left of center now.

Thermostat, clutch fan, verify Efan comes on are the priorities.