When you put everything back together did you hook up the fan and does it come on being a v8 it should be electric. Also are you sure you got all the air out. I always turn on the heat so the coolant cycles thro the heater core too. I just did my water pump last week and it took a bit to get all the air out.

 

If the tanks on the old radiator were slpit and buldging, you may very well have a blown head gasket or a cracked head.

 

I did get everything hooked back up and the fan does come back on, as for air i did have the heat on and let it run for a while so that it cycled through and seemed to be fine. Now as far as the old radiator being split and bulging it was coming apart at the seams so I'm not sure if that would be cracked head or blown head gasket. I let it run tonight when I got off work and it seems like to me there is a vacuum leak some where because the coolant return line never got warm at all

 

Coolant return line? You mean the upper radiator hose?

 

yes coolant return line, the upper radiator hose gets plenty hot... hot enough I don't wanna touch it for long

 

You might want to check the waterpump. Plastic impellers have a nasty habit of exploding. This is a problem on the 4.0 I6 but since this is a V8 I don't know, but I suspect it may be the pump because of the split tanks on the old rad. You can check the flow by watching with the rad cap off and waiting 'til the thermostat opens, IF it opens. Don't assume you've got a blown head gasket until you check for blockage or lack of coolant flow. Also check the lower rad hose- it might be collapsing internally.

Keep on Jeepin'

 

From what I could see last night for the letting the Jeep run for about 10-15 min is that the amount of coolant visable with the radiator cap off never changed and from my understanding it should have moved some. I will check the lower hose tonight as well as the water pump. My plan for now is to drain all coolant out of the block and fill with more to see if that solves any issues. The lack of coolant flow is what makes me think I have a blown head gasket

 

If the coolant wasn't moving, that would be a sign the pump is bot working. Impellors can break apart and also corrode away to the point they don't move coolant anymore.

 

Remove the thermostate, take loose the upper hose to the radiator and point it out of the enigen, start the enigne, if the water dont flush out of the hose the pump is bad, it should be a good flow of water if the pump is okey. remember to stop the engine before the radiator is empty.

To check for blown head gasket, buy a test kit to meassure the air from the radiator, its a cheap testkit. Remove some water so there is air in top of the radiator, let the engine heat up, put the testkit on the radiator and it will change color if there is any trace of co2 in the water.

 

If the pump is old, and the old coolant looked kind of rusty, I would bet the water pump empellor has rotted off and not moving any water.

 

Thanks for all the help guys I will try those suggestions tonight when I get home from work and let you know what happens! Hope this is an easy fix and not a new motor!

 

Haven't had a chance to tackle anything on the Jeep yet... hopefully tonight

 

Pull the thermostat out totally and put everything back together then see what happens. I've had 3 safety thermostats go bad on me in 6 months.

 

Pulled the tstat this morning and it is stuck closed, hoping that a new one will solve my issue I will keep everyone updated

 

Ah-hah! Stuck thermo! Simple, isn't it? Remember this. If the head gasket was blown, you would be getting pressure in the rad BEFORE it gets hot. I had a blown gasket on my Chevy that spewed antifreeze out the overflow that was still cold! To check the stat, put it in a pan of water on the stove and watch as it heats up. Just don't use your wife's best pan, she'll get pissed!

Been there, done that.