first off it's a 95 Zj with 6 cylinder engine and automatic tranny. Thus far we have replaced:

radiator (some 3 core thing supposed to be better?)
water pump
fan clutch
hoses
added external pusher fan (it works)
temp sensor at back of engine is realatively new (couple months, maybe)

if we take the Jeep over about 35 it gets up to about 210 and stays there. The fan clutch does engage the fan but it does not stay on. Drove it to town the other day (15 mins @ 50mph-ish) then let it idle maybe 10 minutes (waiting for food at Sonic, LOL). Stayed at 210 with the pusher fan on, a little higher if turned off. Stopped at Wallyworld for 10 minutes and turned Jeep off to buy something (something by LucasOil...tranny cooling stuff? I dunno I was inside the truck) Added said stuff. Drove the 5 miles home and shut it off. I went to the front and i swear I heard something boiling, but boyfriend said i was crazy, cuz it had stopped by the time he came around. Popped hood, everything crazy hot to touch. I don't know what the temp gauge said, but I'm sure it was 210 or slightly higher.


Took it to very mechanical friend who determined the clutch fan is not working properly, even though it is less than a week old. Lost receipt but hoping to take back anyway. Also going to upgrade to Ford Taurus fan since it has higher RPMs than most others, according to local gurus in Jeep club.

I'll tell ya staright up, I'm not mechanical at all, but all of this stuff has been replaced and it's still running rather warm at highway speeds (according to him) with good airflow and the fan on. He seems to think it should be cooler. We are scheduled for a charity run at an offroad park on Saturday, but I'm a bit nervous it's not gonna do well.

So is there any way to trouble shoot to figure out where the problem is? Thus far we've entertained every idea from bad water pump or fan clutch (although both are new) to restricted airflow with no place for hot air to go. The rubber strips at both ends of the hood have been removed at this point but the litttle footy things are still there, so there is a bit of an air gap at the front at least.

Again, forgive my noobish ignorance but I'm desperate. Every day I have to put up with my boyfriend cussing this thing day and night, and if it blows up on the trails, he's gonna go off the deep end. If that happens one of us is gonna end up in jail 'cuz it's a 3 hour ride home and frankly I'm tired of it (his whining, not the Jeep). Oh yeah it's getting trailered anyway.

 

Did you try burping it?

 

burping what, the radiator?

Would a bad clutch fan attribute to all of the above results? If I replace it (again) and nothing changes, what would be next to check? What runs the clutch fan? I know that temperature gauges aren't always accurate and that Jeep engines run kinda hot normally. I would have attributed everything to that, other than the fact that I actually heard stuff rumbling and gurgling under the hood.

 

It sounds like you need to burp the system.If you have air pockets in the system it can cause overheating.Run the engine to temp. put a rag on the cap and turn the cap very slowly,just a little.Then retighten it.Repaet a few times to get the air out.Keep the rad filled through the overflow bottle.Do not open it all the way cause you may get burned.The clutch fan can overheat it if it's not working properly.

 

I don't see on your list where you replaced the radiator cap or the thermostat so I would start there first.

 

radiator cap was replaced in the last week or two. I think the thermostat is reasonably new as well.

My boyfriend is gonna take another thorough look at it in the morning and replace either the fan clutch or add a fan from a Taurus if he can find one. He already pulled the radiator again.