OVERHEATING! Need expert help!
You're XJ sounds just like mine when I had a bad head gasket.... With your engine COLD take your radiator cap off, and start the engine, and watch the coolant. See if it bubbles/surges. if so, you may have a bad head gasket. Check your oil, look for any milky film on the cap/dipstick. If you have bubbles/surging, you have a hole in your head gasket. nothing big enough to cause immediate overheating, but pressure builds up in the coolant bottle after longer higher RPM drives, and then you overheat.
I did exactly what everybody recommends against, and used fiberlock to fix it. I did not flush my system after a confirmed leak, so it plugged my radiator, but I've put 5K miles on it with no issues whatsoever with overheating. so I'm calling it fixed. BUT I confirmed I had a head gasket leak with a pressure test of the cooling system. and I could idle in my driveway for 40 minutes + with no issues. it was only after I tried to actually drive it that it would over heat.
I did exactly what everybody recommends against, and used fiberlock to fix it. I did not flush my system after a confirmed leak, so it plugged my radiator, but I've put 5K miles on it with no issues whatsoever with overheating. so I'm calling it fixed. BUT I confirmed I had a head gasket leak with a pressure test of the cooling system. and I could idle in my driveway for 40 minutes + with no issues. it was only after I tried to actually drive it that it would over heat.
flushed it last night and Temps are back to normal but bottle still extends quite a bit. I'm probably going to do an exhaust gas test on the coolant system. To see if I have any gases in the coolant.
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 734
Likes: 2
From: Connecticut
Year: 1995
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
Well I just flushed the system w the Prestone setup. Filled it, burped it and let it idle for about 25 mins. It got up around 210/212 and never went above. The real test will be driving home and seeing how it does. What baffles me is that my coolant level in overflow always increases to the point of over expansion.
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