Crawler374

I am absolutely sick and tired of doing nothing but working on my 88. Its always been problem after problem...from vacuum leaks, to overheating, to gas links....the list goes on and on and on....I had school this morning, and what a suprise, the jeep fails me AGAIN. 2nd day back after the holidays and im already absent.


I have fixed most of the problems with the jeep, but the main is that now the jeep will not start after it over heating up to 230* yesterday. (thermostat stuck and found a coolant leak.) I have tried everything to get the jeep running again. So far it only started and ran just fine until i started backing out my driveway, which died at about 45sec into driving. The engine cranks fine, im getting spark, i got gas, and i have oxygen(just cleaned the filter). When i turn the key over, the engine cranks and tries to start only when i have the pedal to the floor, but only kicks and jumps slightly. Yes it is fuel injected 4.0.

Anyone have similar problems? maybe diagnostics to try?

89cherokeeL

just had the same issue with my 89, swap out your coolant system from the closed renix system to the open system out of a newer (91-96ish) they have the open cooling system, get the radiator and the overflow bottle , also check your head gasket , mine was bad. hope this helps

whitekee99

just got my cherokee last week. my jeep was running at about 210 so we tried adding coolant cause the level dropped. put in a new radiator, water pump, thermostat and heater core line because it was rusted. saw on a couple threads that people who had hot running engines found that changing the water pump worked so we tried that while everything out.
just started it up and its still running hot though. spent the whole day doing this **** so far and were still going at it... any ideas?

ps all parts from napa &advanced autozone. still running at about 208-210

... mines a later model- 99, but still having the similar problems. saw in a thread that the water pump may have something to do with it. just a suggestion however ive already changed mine and nothings changed. still waiting for the engine to cool down to throw more coolant in it again and see if its better.

Jdherko2588

Like 89cherokee had post earlier, its is most likely a cooling problem. My friend had a similar problem. Did you try swapping out the coolant temp sensor? The purpose of some of these sensors is to signal a fuel sensor to shut off the fuel to the engine if it believes the engine is to hot. Try swapping out the Collent temp sensor this should be located on the Front on the block.

auburn4193

210 deg. is normal operating temp. for the 4.0 engines. If it starts to go past 210 the e-fan will kick in and bring it back down.

Rmart30

X2........ my 2 early 90 models run 195ish at hiway speeds, 205-210 any other speed slower than that.
My 2001 and the GFs 2000 both stay at 210 year round regardless of weather or driving hiway or crawling off road.

McRay

I have 1996 and 2001 Jeep Cherokee and both run about 195 to 210 - the engine computer is program to run at that temp - cooling system down to lower temp like 160 to 180 Jeep will not run right or that what I have experience.

djb383

I wouldn't think the computer could/would have any control as to how hot or cool the engine coolant runs. The radiator and it's condition, the water pump and t-stat and their condition along with coolant flow, coolant-to-water percentage, driving conditions, engine load and ambient temp, for the most part, determine how hot/cool the coolant runs. Most factory temp gauges are a joke........being only one notch above an idiot light. On the factory gauge, how do you know where 195F is? I keep seeing posts saying the XJ runs 210F summer or winter. Folks, there's not a water cooled engine any where that operates at a steady/constant temp under day-to-day driving conditions but the factory gauge says it does. The t-stat IS NOT a water tight valve when closed, therefore some coolant seeps by and passes through the rad to be cooled. This time of year, a 195F t-stat seldom opens and when it does, it opens very little and for a very short period of time, presuming the cooling system as a whole, is in peak operating condition. When it's cold outside, a properly maintained and well functioning engine IS NOT going to run at 210F with a 195F t-stat under normal driving conditions, even though that's what the factory gauge says. An aftermarket gauge or scan tool will verify this. Also, today's modern engines go into "closed loop" operation, run flawlessly and return good economy/mpg's at coolant temps well below 195F. Sorry for hijacking the thread.

Crawler374

So what steps do you guys think i should try to diagnose? For the heat problems i found that i had a coolant leak and i had next to none coolant, the T-stat was bad, and the electric fan that was ghetto rigged by the previous owner was not working, so all adding up, it over heated real bad. luckily i had the original mechanical fan... But with an engine that over heats to the point its steaming, what would be damaged? Gaskets?

89cherokeeL

possibly head gasket, change your t stat, check your rad, change it for the newer style if you can, change your cooling hoses, hard wire your fan to a switch in the cab if you want alot of people do and dont drive it hahaha