pickles

For 4 years now i've had an issue with my jeep running hot all the time, even on the highway (little over 210). Water pump was new when i bought the jeep 4 years ago And this year i changed the radiator and thermostat. Didn't help Its really annoying because I have to be very careful and watch the temp gauge all the time when I go wheeling, sometimes even rolling down my windows and cranking the heat on to help cool it down because its in the red or very close to it..

Any ideas what I should do?

VTJeep

First and foremost, temp gun to verify thermo temp, or, put into water with thermostat and heat until it functions.
Have you done any maintenance on system- flush, check pulley bearings, etc?

pickles

All the bearings and such seem fine when I checked it last month. I may try a flush today and see what happens. The a/c condenser in front of the rad seems a bit dirty, I can still see light through it with a flashlight on the other side of it but there are certain spots i cant. I'd almost like to remove the condenser all together but im not sure if I can do that if there is still a little bit of refrigerant in the system.

djb383

New fan clutch? Fan shrouds intact/in place?

VTJeep

Haha- always an odd one, but new rad cap!
Also, maybe a B&M (or similar) tranny cooler. Anything you can do to reduce strain on existing cooling system is good. Look into some of the hood vent mods. There's a real clean one I have the link to I think.. 1 sec..
Here we go
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f59/i-...-vents-130709/

LYKOS

I JUST went through this scenario with mine.

Bottom line, and I think most will agree, that before yous start modifying your system you need to make sure the system is in good working order. That means, radiator cap, thermostat, water pump, viscous clutch on the fan, and radiator.

Get it flushed and keep a check on the temp and of the fluid. If the temp keeps rising and the fluid turns murky quickly you might need to go ahead and replace the radiator. Once they get all clogged up it's almost impossible to get them cleaned out again.

FWIW on the whole high dollar radiator vs. stock replacement radiator thing. I look at it like this. Until these Jeeps got OLD (and poorly maintained) no one had a problem with overheating. So stock is fine for most people.


Also, if you're overheating your rig you need to keep a close watch on your transmission fluid. Your tranny is cooled through the radiator so if you overheat you're cooking your tranny fluid at the same time.

Ask me how I know this.

pickles

I had to sacrifice my "mediocre working" A/C, but its fixed!! The condenser was completely plugged with junk, i tried to wash it out but it didn't wanna clean out very well so I decided to just remove it completely.

She runs nice and cool now

djb383

Wonder if the dirty condenser was the reason for mediocre a/c?

pickles

I think it was low on referigerant, but being r12 i would have had to convert it all over to 134a to get it filled again. I prefer to have the windows down anyways so i dont care too much about it