I was talkin to my buddy who has had the XJ(1997 4.0l) for about 4 years. I was askin stuff he has replaced and things that probably need replacing, so the thermo came up and he said there wasnt one... A year ago it was overheating so he took it out and hasnt had any issues since?? Is my XJ going to explode?? I'm in FL by the way so its not like its cool.. Any insite will be appreciated

 

you need to have the tstat in so it will run at designed temp. Engines actually enjoy running warmer.

 

It runs at 210 idling or driving. Where should it be running?

 

That sounds normal
Where at in florida are you?

 

Lutz, just north of Tampa. You?

 

In hotter environments it isn't as bad to run without a thermostat. When it is 90* outside you know the engine is going to heat up to operating temp pretty quickly. It is in the cooler parts of the year that you need the thermo, it controls the flow of coolant so that your engine will warm up quicker and stay at operating temps. If you did not have a thermostat your engine would never warm up completely and you will burn more fuel because your computer is running the fuel rich to make your engine warm up...which it never does.

 

Still the coldest it gets here is 40's and thats at night. This isnt my DD not even road legal, just a trail rig. I will end up replacing it eventually but I have bigger fish to fry as of now.

 

hey quazzimoto

im in plant city not far away at all

 

Ahh up here in northwest near ft walton beach / destin

 

Awsome, I wont be hittin the trails anytime soon but I will be sure to let you know once I'm up and running. Should be a few months.

You dont have any spare XJ parts do ya??

Never been there, we should set up a FL meet sometime and all go wheelin together.

 

A thermostat is good for both cold and hot climates. In cold weather, it'll help you reach operating temperature faster. In warmer weather it will hold coolant in the radiator in longer stretches to help the radiator do its job of cooling. You don't HAVE to have one, but your coolant system is engineered to use it.

 

I have been running a 180* thermostat for about 6 months now and my xj runs about 190* average and when in traffic or offroad it goes around 210 to 220. Now that winter is coming i will have to see if it runs to cool may have to go back to a 195*.

 

actually i do have a good amount of spare parts left i scraped alot of front end parts but still have rear 8.25 axle,4.0 motor,wiring harness and other things
P.M. ill give ya my number and see what ya need

 

normal operating temperature from the manual is 210 degrees my thermo stopped functioning so i had a new one installed beside the light control. WORKS GREAT and i would definetly consider one b/c if your radiator starts leaking like my old toyota pickup then trust me you will need one or it WILL blow up nj