alright so yesterday me and my dad went and bought my first car. its a black 1999 cherokee classic 4x4 fully loaded. its got a flowmaster exhaust system all the way through and a 3 inch lift. it has 170000 miles but the top half is rebuilt and the tranny was flushed about 70000 miles ago. its got a new radiator. thats all basically. it does have an overheating problem. it runs at about 210. then randomly when we were driving it home yesterday it jumpe right to 260 and was pegged. stalled once but started right back up. came home and opened the hood. it was steaming pretty good but not too bad. oil was boiling. other than that thats all. its a great jeep and im in love with it. im thinking of maybe a bigger lift and some 31s or 32s. the only thing is i know pretty much nothing about jeeps or lift kits. so this is where i need help. my dad was a jeep mechanic for quite a long time so he'll help me in the engine department.

sorry for such a long description.
some pics...



please give me tips or any suggestions on what youd ad/take off
thanks!

 

Congrats on the new truck. Wish I could see it.

 

do pictures not work?

 

They work for me.

 

come on people help me!

 

My Jeep did the exact same thing.. I didn't get it to the shop early enough and now I have to spend $3,000 for a re-manufactured engine because two piston were eating at the cylinder walls and the head was badly cracked.

If you are VERY lucky and get it to the shop (have it towed) they maybe able to get it fixed.

170,000 is a lot of miles for these engines they are good for about 200,000.

It looks great though.

Good luck and best wishes.

 

thanks for the input. my dads a mechanic and hes been waiting to be able to look at it but with all this rain im having where i live theres no chance. its been pouring every day! but yeah thats one thing im gonna be sure to look at. the guy did have the top off. and im wondering why cause i doubt hed randomly just rebuild the top half. so he might have screwed something up when he did that. i might have gotten into something thats way over my head. hopefully not. but yeah any other suggestions from anyone else is helpful!

 

170K really isn't that much for a 4.0, if it is a 4.0 that is, I didn't catch where you said what type of engine it was. But I've seen 4.0s on 300k and they run as strong as an ox. It's all about engine maintenance.

 

Welcome, I know you said your dad will help you with the engine, but when I got mine, I also had an overheating issue. it turned out to be my water pump. also, running at 210 is normal for the jeep. The ramdomly jumping to 260 could be an air bubble in the cooling system. check to make sure that your coolent is at the right level.

 

yeah sorry i forgot to write in its a 4.0. i know these things go way farther than 200000 thats why it didnt scare me as much

 

check your thermostat also. They tend to stick and that can keep it closed and not let the coolant through!! Also could be water pump....

 

my dad actually thinks that its the water pump. so i think were gonna get that

 

One way to tell if the water pump is bad is to check to see if it is dripping from the weep hole. It is hard to see directly but if you see a small amount of dripping under the car that could be it. Maybe the thermostat needs replacing. you also might get your radiator pressure tested.

 

thanks for all the help guys. now i have a big list of stuff to check for ill be sure to let you all know what happens when i figure it out. if anyone has any other suggestions let me know

 

I had the same problem with mine. It was running around 220* normally, but if I was running the AC after awhile it would suddenly jump up to 250* and I'd have to shut her down. One thing to check is see if the electric fan is running constantly. It shouldn't be. It should only come on when the AC comes on or when the engine temp gets to a certain level. If the electric fan is on constantly (turn off AC and turn truck on, see if electric fan is running) then the service manual suggests that it could be a bad coolant sensor. This is located on the top right side of the thermostat housing and is quick to replace.

I just upgraded the whole system and my problem went away and now the electric fan only runs when it's supposed to, but I think my real problem may have just been the coolant sensor. Now it runs in the 208* to 212* range all the time. Worth checking out if you're going to replace the thermostat and water pump anyway.