Well, I just installed a new head, thermostat and water pump in my jeep a couple weeks ago.

I put in a 180 thermostat. However today was the hottest day its been since the install and my jeep was running at about 210 when sitting in traffic.

Is this normal with 180 thermostat? It seems a bit high for being such a low thermostat.

 

mine runs at 210 with a 195, but sitting in hot traffic could result in 210, thats normal operating temp anyway.

 

In hot weather, the size/condition of the radiator along with the rest of the cooling system components and driving conditions determines the temp at which the engine operates. The t-stat only controls the minimum operating temp, NOT the max temp.

 

X2

 

X3

 

Well its a new radiator. I haven't flushed the system in awhile. I'm also going to make sure that the fan is kicking on.

 

if the highest your running at is 210 you dont have a thing to worry about. just an hour ago i was running at 260!! and the radiator is one week old. but they sent me a bad one with a leak. thank god for warrenty. hopefully my head isnt warped. but ya your good i wouldnt worry about a thing

 

k well thats reassuring its just when I had 160 degree therm in my camaro it never got above 175-180. So it was a little alarming to see it at about 210 with a 180. I have a brand new head with a 5 year warrenty. So hopefully there is nothing wrong with my head.

 

wow that good! from where and how much?

 

I would suggest/recommend that you NOT flush the heater core, block and cylinder head through that new radiator. Disconnect the top rad hose at the t-stat housing and disconnect the bottom rad hose at the water pump. Stick a garden hose in the top rad hose and flush the rad. Disconnect the 3/4" heater hose at the t-stat housing and stick the garden hose in the 3/4" heater hose to flush the heater core. Stick the garden hose on the heater hose nipple of the t-stat housing (t-stat removed) to flush the cylinder head and block.

 

My guess would be that the Camaro rad had substantially more surface area than the XJ rad. Surface area, not rows, is key to a rads ability to remove heat. That's why most modern day vehicles have large surface area rads with only one row. As you found out though, even with a 160F t-stat, your rad wasn't big enough to run 160F in hot weather so the t-stat was only controlling minimum operating temp.

 

stock elec fan doesnt turn on till 217

 

At what temp should the electric fan kick on...I thought my fan wasnt working so I took it out and put jumper wires to it...worked but it aint kicked installed....runs about 210 degrees and the air blows cold

 

I got the head from cylinder-heads.com out of florida. It was 380 shipped.

 

My electric fan did not want to kick on at all even when the temp got up to 260! I played with for weeks until I found out that part of my computer had actually gone bad. One trip to the JY for a computer and its all good