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I'm new to Jeeps and just bought a 2000 XJ Sport with 170k. I've been a BMW guy my whole life, I bought an E36 when I was 16 and it's been my daily and project car ever since. I just graduated college and I'm about to move to Pittsburgh, so it was time to retire the BMW as my daily. Something about boxy 90's design and inline 6's has me coming back for more!
I think it's in great shape considering it's age, mileage, and price that I paid. I half-expected these to drive like farm equipment but I was pleasantly surprised. The shocks are original and desperately need replaced, but other than that it seems quite mechanically sound. The paint is kind of beat, the interior is nice with the exception of the front seats and headliner, and - the best part about it - there's no rust underneath. The engine warms up fine but the heat is pretty weak. I bought this to be a reliable and comfortable winter daily and I don't want it to turn into a money pit. The following list is made up of things I plan on doing to it. Please feel free to give me some suggestions!
235 Nexen All-Terrains (already bought & mounted)
Eibach OE replacement shocks (already bought, not yet installed - good call?)
Remote Start
LED headlights
Fix the heat
Address the headliner (maybe)
Replace the front seats (maybe)
And keep it running!
Thanks for looking and I'm excited to be a member here!
Welcome to the forum. Nice looking Jeep you have there. Looks like you're off to a good start as long as you keep up with regular maintenance these things will run forever. With that said do a little reading on the 0331 head. Some have no issues, some do as long as you keep a good eye on it you should be good.
Flush your heater core and it should help with your heating issue. Tons of info out there on how to do it properly.
So I flushed it through both the inlet and the outlet using a garden hose. The flow rate seemed fine and the water came out perfectly clean on both ends. I'm going to check for vacuum leaks tomorrow... Any other suggestions?
Besides the heater core check your thermostat and see if it looks old, or even better check to see if your thermostat is actually opening up and closing, if it's staying open then you won't have crap for heat. Prior knowledge that I learned the hard way. And that Jeep is very nice! 👍
Besides the heater core check your thermostat and see if it looks old, or even better check to see if your thermostat is actually opening up and closing, if it's staying open then you won't have crap for heat. Prior knowledge that I learned the hard way. And that Jeep is very nice! 👍
Thanks for the tip! Today, I replaced the thermostat and the housing, both heater core hoses, and I flushed the core with CLR. Some brown gunk came out and I was feeling hopeful. The water pump looks new; I believe the PO addressed that recently. Anyway, the heat is still sub-par. It might have been blowing a bit warmer than it was, but it still isn't hot. I don't really know what to do now; replacing the core sounds like a miserable job and paying someone else to do it.... not an option!
I'm scratching my head at that rn, even after it's been like 10 minutes is it still not hot?
Yeah, me too. I drove it for at least a half hour and it was definitely blowing warm but not HOT. I worry that it won't suffice once the temperatures drop well below freezing.
Ah yes, I forgot to mention that I checked this as well. This was actually the first thing that I looked at. The gearing inside there is good, nothing binds up. And the door itself can be rotated to full lock in either direction by hand, so I ruled that system out as an issue. Good link though!
The heater control panel is working fine too? After a half hour that thing should be making cookies from how hot it is. When you flushed the heater core you used air or CLR? I haven't heard of using CLR before for that, and a bit of mud colored sludge came out?
The heater control panel is working fine too? After a half hour that thing should be making cookies from how hot it is. When you flushed the heater core you used air or CLR? I haven't heard of using CLR before for that, and a bit of mud colored sludge came out?
Yeah, the control panel is fine. I flushed the heater core with water through both the inlet and outlet, and clean water came out the other end each time. I then used CLR and let it sit inside of the core for about 10 minutes (did this twice, once through the inlet and once through the outlet) and blew it out with water into a milk jug. Various brown flakes drained out after doing this and I used water to rinse the core from both ways until I was confident that the chemicals were rinsed out. I never used air, because everything I've read has advised against pressurizing the core and recommended using a solvent such as CLR...
I'm absolutely baffled, the only thing I can think of now is actual blower motor being bad or a heat leak somewhere
Me too! The blower motor is real strong and both heater core hoses are quite hot. The inlet is usually a bit hotter, but the outlet is hot enough to convince me that there should be heat. The only other thing that I can think of as a potential player in this issue is the AC. When I turn on the condenser, I never really get COLD air. In this 30-40 degree weather, it just feels as if the car is blowing atmospheric air as opposed to actual air conditioned air. I'm not sure if the AC and the heat are related at all in these cars, but if they are, maybe there is something else going on here.
That tidbit about the AC may have just answered the question, I have seen someone take the AC compressor and reroute the heater into it so it has heat. Not good heat but heat, it will also cause it to not feel cold, that and the substance you got out of the heater core may be radiator sealant, which is not good as it can gum up the cooling and heating system.
12-19-2016, 04:08 PM
Just picked up an XJ!
