I was driving the Jeep today and was watching the temp gage as it's a pretty warm day out here. I wanted to see if it would WANT to overheat (of course I would never LET IT).

I had the AC running on purpose (even though it needs to be charged) and saw that the gage was ever so sloooooooowly going up during mild stop and go traffic. It peaked around the 210 mark and then of course when I moved forward would start to go down.

So when we got home, I sat there in the parking lot with the truck running and AC still on to see where it would peak before I knew to shut everything off....this is where it got weird....

It went about a needles width over 210 (biting of the lip ensued ) for about a minute then it started to SLOOOWLY drop back down just below 210 (jaw drop with the looks of )

What caused that to happen (going up and then down while idle), is it something to worry about, if so how do I know what to look at for the potential problem?

Thanks!

 

Jeeps like running at 210, so if you're barely running over, you're probably ok. If you're consistently running 215-220, then you might be dealing with overheating issues and need to troubleshoot

EDIT: btw, if you're running your AC unit, you're also engaging the electric fan, which should be blowing more air over your engine. If you really want to test how how you're getting, let it get to temperature without movement (so you're not blowing air over your engine by motion) and don't use the AC (so your elec. fan doesn't engage ... at least until you get it up to 215* I think, when it should kick on).

Then see where you sit temp wise

 

Very good, if the weather is nice and hot again tomorrow I will sit there and try out what you suggest. I hope to hell it doesn't over heat. I will cry if it does cause we can't afford to pay for needed repairs right now. Ugh.

 

Kristel...

Sounds like it is doing just fine. 190-210 is pretty much right on. I do get a bit nervous myself though it mine gets to 210. Which it does in stop and go traffic, but I however do not have an electric fan. Luckily I try not to sit in traffic too much. Traffic here in OKC isnt much compared to large cities and I tend to travel mostly outter roads anyways. If you see it consistantly getting above 210 you need to look into it.

 

What do you consider hot?

It was like 103* here today with humidity.

 

Around 90ish or above with super humidity. (although today was only around 85 or so)

And to clarify why I'm so concerned...
We are supposed to be moving to TX (Stafford/Houston) next summer and know its gonna be a long HOT ride. Makes me nervous since we will have cats in the truck with us too. Ugh.

 

If it gets hot, don't freak out. Come back here and we can probably offer some cheap ideas for making it better

And if it does get hot... let it run with either the AC or the defrost on when you drive it... it'll keep the electric fan engaged the whole time and will help keep the engine cooler overall, and buys you time to get some money together to fix it. I've been doing that on my old CHerokee while I was getting parts together for my cooling system fix :P

 

Sounds ok to me also...you could do some preventive maintenance if you wanted. Do a coolant flush, hoses, thermo stat. Also check your fan clutch. When the car is warm shut it down and try to move the fan with your hand it should be pretty hard to move.

BTW I consider that rediculas. It was 85-90 in Jersey today and I was complaining.

 

I'm in Jersey too. Wasn't the weather weird? Sun, no sun, sun, no sun...yet it stayed as hot as it did and the humidity was not helping.

 

Yes! I feel like I'm in the rain forest.

 

Just an update...

We drove around for a bit today and it was pretty muggy out and the temp did not go over 210...in fact it barely hit that high if at all.

So that was a sigh of relief for now. I'll still keep my eye on it though.

 

good to hear!