So, the 99 XJ has been overheating most days.. Tonight my son makes it home and I pop the hood and can smell burnt coolant, and hear a sizzle sound up near the battery side. Looks like I have a leak. Suppose at this point I should be replacing the rad.. Any thing else I should go ahead and replace?

 

T stat, water pump, hoses, do a flush. Check fans make sure they are workin right. That should get ya goin in right direction. I just did all this to mine. Wasnt hard.

 

The coolant? (replace with 50/50 mix). Myself I'm not big on replacing stuff that's still good. The radiator swap is not that hard. Check your hoses for soft spots/condition. Changing the belt might be a thought if it's time. If you do have the belt off feel everything that goes around for play/roughness....

 

turns out I'm too tired to be posting online. nevermind me

 

Always a good time to review all cooling system components while you're digging in to replace the radiator.

I agree that a new water pump, quality 195 degree thermostat (I buy mine from Jeep and also like the Stant SuperStat), fan clutch, radiator cap, hoses, are all good candidates.

The total cost of a cooling system rebuild is reasonable if you do the work yourself, and it is about the best money you can spend on your XJ. Gotta keep that girl cool.

 

Cool, I'll start looking into those items

 

Not to disagree. Guess I'm lucky, maybe looking for trouble. I may have changed the pump? 10 years ago? Everything is, and has been fine under some somewhat tough conditions. (262K). I did wear out the electric fan, 7 or 8 years ago. by the way, I've heard rockauto mentioned a few times. Have fun! D.

 

So I ran a bottle of rad flush through it, then water, then 50/50 mix along with a bottle of stuff to stop leaks etc.. Still having issues. It pumps water back into the plastic bottle when it gets to the point that the buzzer goes off.

Anyone ever try water wetter? Could I have a bad t stat?

 

Yep that and the cap.could be bad not sealing ,that's what mine did ,changed cap and stat ,and was good to go

 

I don't get how the cap would be an issue...

 

I didn't either. But if you have a regular radiator cap. They say the seal goes bad and causes it to back up into resavoir . I bought a new cap and sure enough fixed it. I run 180 on.road and highest ever on trails 210 now

 

What t stat? 180? 195?

 

I'm runin 195

 

Alright, gonna replace those two things and see what happens..

 

Even though mine is a closed cooling system I replaced my overflow resivor (which acts as my rad cap) and it fixed my overheating.