steve88

Well i just purchased a 1995 Cherokee sport 4dr 4x4 5spd from a friend and i knew it had a couple of small issues before i bought it,one being that once you get above 55mph and up to 75mph there is a terrible loud vibration noise and the people they had bought it off of had believed it to be tires,replaced all four tires and the problem still exists however if you slightly turn the wheel such as switching lanes the noise goes away but comes back as soon as your going straight again. the other problem is that the truck recently began to overheat,i thought it could have been the coolant being low so i went to top it off and it was full and the radiator cap was not even hot,in fact the coolant inside the radiator was cool (outside temp.) however the top and bottom hose's were ridiculously hot so i replaced the thermostat and it did not clear the problem...any idea's?

GrantMLS

Could be T-Stat or badly clogged radiator..

steve88

Well i had replaced the thermostat yesterday..i suppose it could have been a faulty one but what is the chances in that? And if it was just clogged wouldn't you still have hot coolant in the radiator due to heat transfer? it's like the thermostat is stuck shut not allowing the fluid to run thru the motor bc the upper and lower hoses were hot but the coolant in the radiator was not...

tkdtim

What happens if you run it without a T-stat in at all? Does it still overheat?

Is the jeep lifted with oversize tires? THe guy that owned mine got what he called the "70 mph death wobble" and had to have a hydrilic steering assist or somthing installed. Not sure what its called, it looks like a horizontal shock installed on the steering componenents.

steve88

I did not try to run it without the t-stat, and the truck is stock with stock tire size for now..it drives great and really runs amazing it just has that loud vibration noise while driving on the highway

tkdtim

I assume they ballanced the tiers when they mounted new ones. I'm running out of ideas, but im new here and sure that blue or some other veteren super hero will be here soon with lots of good ideas.

steve88

All the tires were mounted and balanced properly,and i appreciate you trying to help...im going to take it to get a alignment here within the next couple of days,maybe that will fix it or at least they could give me a idea of what is wrong

BlueXJ

Well NO Superhero here but it does sound like the typical "death wobble" which is caused by one or more of the following components being worn or loose:
TREs
Trackbar
Ball joints
Control arm bushings.
Unit bearings.


Just a side note that was mentioned above the steering damper (horizontal shock) should not be used in a death wobble case. It minimizes the symptoms of the DW but does not cure anything. It, in fact, covers the symptoms and causes them to be harder to find.

HTH

96 XJ Sport

X2 on the badly clogged radiator. If the top hose was hot, then the t-stat is opening. And the only thing between the top hose and the radiator cap is the radiator itself, so it almost has to be clogged up IMHO. Even if the water pump was doing nothing at all, I think you would have enough heat transfer that the radiator cap would at least be warm.

I would try the Prestone flush kit that has the t connector that you put in the heater hose and the hook up the garden hose to try to force it out. It's worth a try before replacing the radiator.

steve88

well thank you guys for the advice,i will try the flush kit today and start looking up around the front end to identify the problem

JeepersCreepers

If you can feel the radiator. If its clogged you should be able to feel a difference. Blue is right. Remove the top and bottom radiator hose and flush it out. Get all that crud out. Then do a system flush.

BlueXJ

If you have access to a hand held IR thermometer then you can almost see the differences in circulation. Many old school radiator shops will actually rod out your radiator if it has metal tanks but won't if it has plastic ones.
Sry that you are having the overheating but we will help you through it.

steve88

So the "death wobble" noise will go away while slightly turning and give off no vibration itself just a loud noise?

JeepersCreepers

If you have the money and you find out it is a clogged radiator, you might want to concider replacing. Ive had clogged radiators that I cant fully unclog. Just a suggestion. I know there expensive too. If not try to flush it out really good.