Strider

Let me start this post off by saying I know virtually nothing about cars. I know I should have to forfeit my man card, but sadly, it's true.

I currently own a 93 Jeep Grand Cherokee that I bought back in 2009 after getting into a wreck in my Chevy Cavalier, totaling it. I needed a car desperately, and a friend/coworker of mine that had a history of being honest with me had the Jeep for sale. She told me that her husband had completely rebuilt the engine, and that I was to ignore what the odometer said, and that the transmission had just been taken care of, too.

After some dealings with her and her husband that I'll not get into here, the long and short of things is that I really have no idea what has or hasn't been done to the engine or transmission. It was just a bad situation when I needed the car, and my only option was find a car in 24 hours, or lose my job. I just had the brakes done at Pep Boys, and they are good as new.

Ugh, all this is going to make me sound REALLY STUPID, but I have to get it out there for the sake of completeness:

I don't drive it that often except for to and from work, which is a 15 minute drive one way. Once in a while, I will drive it for a random errand, but it's few and far between. That said, I don't usually change my oil until the odometer reads what the sticker the mechanic gives me says. The odometer had not reached the number on the sticker yet (yes, it still works correctly), and the car was MASSIVELY overheating after just a few minutes on the road recently. On a whim, I decided to check the oil, and found it was completely BONE DRY. What the heck? This all happened literally very suddenly and seemingly out of nowhere, and I've since put new oil in, and it's still there, so I don't think I have an oil leak. Still scratching my head about that one.

Anyway, problem was not solved. Car still massively overheats. My dad and another friend of mine told me to check the thermostat, but yet a third friend told me that if the temperature gauge is working, which is how I know she's overheating, then it isn't the thermostat.

I put water in it like it's going out of style just to get to and from work, and even then, it still overheats, way past the red zone (over 260 for this Jeep). Oddly enough, it won't overheat on my way to work, according to the temperature gauge anyway, just on my way home. When I park it, it leaks out the water I put in it like a sieve. My friend who told me it likely wasn't the thermostat was saying it could either be my water pump, or that there was a leak somewhere.

Again, I have no idea what I'm doing. I need help, as this is my only mode of transportation right now, and I don't know what I'd do if it broke down all of the sudden. I have to drive it again tomorrow to and from work, but then I have another 2 days where I don't have to drive it. I'm off those days, and I have a little extra money saved, so I can perform repairs if I need to, provided someone tells me how to do it.

I can't afford to take this to a mechanic and pay their cost for labor and parts, plus pretty much any large amount of money is worth more than the car is valued in the Kelly Blue Book, so I am very hesitant to spend several hundred dollars on a mechanic, especially if I can be talked through doing it myself for less than half the cost. I didn't want to get the brakes done when I did them, but I kind of had to. Anyway, thoughts, opinions (besides those chastising me for not knowing squat about cars)? You're one of my few remaining hopes, Jeep guys.

Thexjfiles

Have you considered flushing the radiator and changing the thermostat??

Strider

My dad and my friend suggested changing the thermostat. Friend #2 told me that if the temperature gauge is working, then my problem isn't the thermostat. Is there any truth to that? My dad is a total car person, he knows way, way more about cars than I do. I am not sure what the extent of friend #1 and #2's car knowledge is. I have not, as yet, considered flushing the radiator. Is that something I can do myself? If so, how?

ol"blue

Welcome to CF. Don't just throw parts at it until you know what's wrong with it. Which engine do you have? It could be getting hot because of low coolant, a bad water pump, a bad thermostat, a cracked head, or a bad headgasket.
It could be leaking because of a bad hose, loose clamps, a water pump weep hole, a cracked cylinder head, or a bad headgasket. If the leak isn't obvious, you can rent a coolant system pressure tester at the auto parts store. it attaches to the radiator. You then pump it up to the pressure shown on your radiator cap, and look for where the coolant is leaking from. Watch the gauge to see how long it holds pressure, if it does. If you can't see any external leaks, it must be inside the engine. Or it could also be the heater core, but that's inside the vehicle.
Here are some links to repair a few of the items listed above, if you find something that needs to be fixed.
To check for a bad headgasket, you can check the engines compression: How to:
Water pump, thermostat replacement: http://go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoWaterpump.htm
Freeze plug replacement: http://go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoWelshPlugs1.htm