I just bought a 96 Cherokee country with 135000 miles. It runs great, but when I first start it, & on acceleration it squeaks, I've found that it only does this with the a/c on. Also after 15-20 minutes of driving the temp gauge starts to redline, again, only with the a/c on. I put in a quality 195* stat, but when I drained the "coolant" I found it was just black, muddy water, (no oil, no glycol). I flushed the system, & put in fresh 50/50, that helped, but it still overheats with the a/c on no matter what my speed. The a/c works great, uses R-134. I'm wondering if anyone can tell me if it's a clogged radiator, bad water pump, or fan clutch, my thought is the clutch, that's the area of the squeak. I have the same resistance on the fan at all temps. Thanks in advance for the help.

 

Check your belt and see if it looks shiney or glazed, if it does then its slipping, like crazy, and may not be turning your water pump efficiently, or when your A/C kicks on the compressor is going bad and is causing the belt to slip and still slowing the water pump. If when the a/c is on you hear a grinding or knocking sound from the compressor its usually a good sign its about the kick it.

 

BTW a cherokee is an XJ so you can post these types of questions in the XJ/MJ Tech forum or in the Cherokee Chat Forum

 

Thanks guys. I ended up just replacing the entire cooling system, it was all going out, so I figured, just do it right. New water pump, thermostat, radiator, hoses, clutch fan, & heater core, the temp holds steady around 200* now. Now I need to flush the trans, the overheating made the fluid brown.

 

damn, you went all out lol, glad to hear you got her running right