So I'm going into the red as of recently, since it's been hotter out. I have a leak, which is causing me to go into the red and overheat. I keep adding water or coolant in my overfill, but as you can imagine, that's only a temporary fix. When I added the coolant last week, it kept me in the 160 area, opposed to the 212 area it usually stays at. If I didn't replace my t-stat recently, I'd think it was acting up since it was running quite cool. Think it might just be replacing the hoses?

Here's what I'm dealing with:

You can see the steam:


Might have found the leak location:



Oh, and when I address this issue this weekend, I'll be replacing the belt too.

Thoughts?

 

That looks awful! Those clamps on the hoses are really digging in. Are you not able to see where the leak is coming from just by looking at it? looks like coolant has been spraying over everything for a long time.

If it isn't that, it looks like the only other thing causing the leak would be a bad gasket on the housing.

 

I know, tell me about it, heh. I'm almost positive the leak is coming out of the skinnier hose you see in the second picture. Since it's puddling right there. You think new hoses/clamps and not having them on as tight would be the fix?



Thanks

 

Where's the fan shroud....gotta have one. Those pics look like the poor old XJ has really been rode hard and put away wet........over and over and over and over and over again. Time for a whole bunch of TLC.

 

both of the hoses pictued above look swolen. I'd replace all the hoses to be sure. Also 160 is no good, eitehr you have no thermostat or the thermostat is stuck open. This will keep it cool longer but when it heats up it will stay hot longer too.

 

Shroud has been off since I got it. Picking one up this weekend actually. I have an electric fan that keeps me cool, but now that it's hotter, the shroud will help.

Well the t-stat works, it shows different temps. It's just when I added the coolant last week, instead of normally being at 212, it was at the line between the left (I think it's 100) and the middle 212 area. But then today it was going all the way over to the red on the right. Is it working properly? It's a 180 stat too.

 

you can replace the heater hose and clamps for less than $10, do you have a switch for your efan to turn on before it normally would? relying on that to keep the engine cool under normal conditions means it is getting hotter than it should.

I think I see a heater control valve in the pic, not sure. If you have one get rid of it, plug the vac. line and just 2 separate hoses from your heater core to the tstat housing and pump. That way you don't have to buy preformed hoses.

The tstat opens when the engine gets to 180 to allow coolant flow, I am not sure what you mean when you say it is working by showing different temps. Why did you decide to run a 180 instead of the normal 195?

 

I turn it on when I'm driving around town, so usually if it's off, I'm on the highway.

Is there a tutorial for this so I can read up on it before I do it? Sounds like it'll help a bit!

I was under the impression that if you're in a warm climate/crawling a lot, it'll help to have a 180, then in the winter go to the 195. Could the t stat not be working properly? I figured since it was showing different temperatures, that i was working, opposed to remaining in one temperature positions throughout the entire ride.


Thanks

 

Needle swinging from say 1/4 mark (+/-155F) to the red (241F+) is far from normal. T-stat does 1 thing.....control minimum temp. The other cooling system components, their condition, along with ambient temp and driving conditions determine max coolant temp. "Normal" is the gauge needle pointing to the middle most of the time.

 

The heater control valve eliminate has a few writeups floating around. really all you are doing is running 5/8 heater hose bought by the foot, from the top of the heater core to the water pump, and from the bottom of the core up to the tstat housing. tear out all the mess of hoses in between that and never look back lol.

I am confused by your reply, but I assume you are saying yes you do have a toggle switch for an electric fan? Also the gauge should reflect the temp of the coolant in the engine. If it takes forever to get warmed up but continues to get hotter and not maintain operating temp it may be stuck open allowing coolant to flow as soon as your engine is on. Did I go in the correct direction with that answer? I am not thinking properly tonight lol.

 

Ah, I understand now. Was there anything that needed to be done to the t-stat before installation? I took it out of the package, then placed it where it goes. I also did a new gasket on as well.

Oh ok, thanks. I'll look around for them! And yes, I have a switch for my fan. So would my solution be new hoses, and the heater control thing as well?


Thanks

 

As long as the tstat seated right and didn't go in backwards somehow, then the leak is probably from the hoses. It isn't leaking from the housing right? clean up the area around the hoses and watch for the leak...see what happens and work from there.

 

Will do! Since I feel bad that the engine area is in this condition, what else do I need to do to clean it up? Any ideas? Like I mentioned earlier, I plan on getting a new belt too.


Thanks

 

Quick question, semi related. Since I'm having issues keeping my snorkel tube connected, I'm running my previous cone-shaped filter in my air box, with the top off. And the filter itself is missing the silver cap, so you can see the inside of the filter. With the top part of the box off and the cap missing, am I pulling in too much air? And if so, is that causing any difference, good or bad?


Thanks

 

It can't pull in too much air but if the cap is missing it could be pulling in too much dirt.....dirt is not good.