my coolant is not flowing right... i ran a hose through the radiator and its fine. although the top row of the radiator gets blazing hot and the bottom area stays cold. the main pump going into the radiator is scortching hot and swollen and pressured. i took the thermostat out to make sure it wasnt closed up. there is no leaks. i am hoping its not the head gasket. i bypassed the heater core so its not that either.

opinions?

 

Im a little fuzzy on what your problem is. Is it just that the radiator gets hot? The top of the radiator is where the hot coolant returns from the engine, it is cooled through the fins, and leaves the radiator at the bottom.

 

"Running a hose through your radiator" only tells you that your radiator tank isn't plugged. You can't run a hose through the cooling fin area which is what gets corroded and plugged up most of the time. The fact that the top gets hot but, you don't feel the bottom part even getting warm, tells me that you have just that. A plugged up radiator. The OEM radiator used in the 4.0 application of our XJs is a plastic POS. Getting a new OEM radiator will most likely fix your problem but, I highly recommend it if you have the cash to get an aftermarket 3 core radiator.

 

the coolant tank will be sucked dry but at times fill back up... before i go and buy a new radiator how can i make sure its not the head gasket

 

Do a compression/leak down test of all cylinders. Remove the radiator cap and watch for bubbles in the radiator each time to pressurize a cylinder. if your compression is good and you get no bubbles, it's pretty safe to say that your head gasket is fine.

 

so take off the radiator cap and rev while running and if theres bubbles that shows bad head gasket?

 

okay idk if the radiator is bad but its a new radiator... the top radiator hose gets extremely hot and rock hard pressured and the bottom radiator hose isnt hot at all... idk if its circulating i ran a hose through the radiator and it passed fine. the coolant tank is empty but when i turn the car off it all spits back into the tank what can this be?

 

sounds like the tstat is stuck closed

 

i took the thermostat out completely to make sure it wasnt that and its still doing it??

 

ding ding ding, we have a winner!

 

If you have no t-stat and it is getting a bunch of coolant spitting into the pressure tank after the engine is off it may be air locked. There is actually pressure on the tank when running but it is steam pressure. Was it bled properly when the radiator was replaced?

Try re-bleeding it the proper way and see if that helps.

 

how do i bleed it? its a 98 cherokee so i believe theres no bleed valve am i right?

 

ive been told there is no bleed valve on the 98 cherokee am i right? im not sure if theres air in the coolant system anywhere how to i bleed it just in case?

 

open rad. cap let run and top off as needed

 

ive been to 2 mechanics so far and im wasting money... the top radiator hose gets blazing hot and the bottom hose is cold... the coolant tank empties into the resovior somewhere when cars on then fills up when turned off... i have a new radiator and a new water pump.. im running it without the thermostat.. i ran a hose through the radiator to see if clogged it flowed fine... the heater core is bypassed... no leaks??? its driving me nuts, after 20 mins of driving the top hose is rock hard and scorching.. and its overheating

someone please give me some ideas before i have to go out and waste all my money