Hey guys I've searched a bit but cant seem to come to a conclusion on what is wrong with my 96 XJ Country.

Basically she overheats, I was driving to work when I noticed the temp gauge heading up to 260, when I got out to check it out there was coolant everywhere. The only reason I can see is because earlier on accident I had broken off the coolant overflow reservoir cap. I had to rush to work so couldn't unscrew the reservoir to get to it and tried my luck heading to work then was going to do it after.

Tried to drive home when I noticed about a mile down the road my truck was up to 260 degrees again, got out, popped the hood and looked at it. Nothing seemed to be smoking, no sort of smells, looked just like i was idling at the usual 210 or so. Im not an expert but I figure if it is actually overheating there would be some sort of odor or smoke.

Side note- had the harmonic balancer and belt changed about 2 weeks ago for what its worth. Also got a check engine code about a month ago about a cooling issue that went away within a day.

The coolant overflow reservoir was also full so that leads me to believe that it isn't the water pump from what I have heard. And I've been told to check the thermostat but havent gotten to that part.

Any and all thought would be very appreciated. Truck is a DD.

 

how many miles? is the coolant nice and green?

It could a number of things, most common is faulty t-stat, radiator cap not holding the pressure in and allowing the water to boil, warn out clutch fan not moving enough air, air pockets in the system or even a plugged rad.

how fast does it overheat? like within 5 min or so? slowly creep up?

remember if its overheating and you keep driving, it will blow the head gaskets and maybe even mess up the head. Blasting the heat helps

 

166k Miles, coolant is nice and green. Now I drive it and I get about a mile down the road and shes at 260. Slowly the needle starts to go up and up and just wont stop. Would you suggest a radiator flush and a new t-stat to start?

 

Def a new t-stat. Start cheap then go up:

T-stat
T-stat housing
Coolant Temp Sensor (only if electric fan isnt coming on)
Flush
Coolant Temperature Sending Unit
Hoses
Fan Clutch
E-fan (if not turning on even after CTS change)
Radiator