OVERHEATING diagnosis procedure?

[NeXJ]

thanasi85 - so I went to my local pep boys - and surprise surprise - the people working the parts counter had no idea what a 'failsafe thermostat' was - such is the nature of my local pep boys - so I ended up getting a Stant Superstat... hope that will be the ticket.. thanks

If you want to check the water pump just do the following

1. See if water is coming out the weep hole.

2. Loosen the serpentine belt and remove it from the water pump pulley and give the pump pulley a wiggle and see if it had play in it and also give it a spin to make sure its spinning freely with no weird grinding noises.

But I would bet money its the T-Stat. Its real easy and quick to replace and should be the first place you start before looking at anything else. Go to AutoZone and get a failsafe thermostat.. its like $12 and you will never have to worry about it getting stuck closed.. I use them in all 5 of the XJ's we have with no issue.

 

[thanasi85]

Ya, AutoZone is the only place I have found the FailSafe T-Stat... Hopefully you get the new one in and that fixes the problem.

 

[ParadiseXJ]

eace:

 

[David_Bricker]

RockAuto carries the MotoRad Failsafe thrermostat, part number 7200195, in 195 degree temperature. $5.71.

I also run a Stant Superstat and have not had an issue with it.

David Bricker / SYR

 

[NeXJ]

update:
just found THIS in cylinder 1...!!

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1111382

 

[NeXJ]

So i put in the new 'stat and just decided after seeing that strange looking spark plug, to try to fire it up and just see what happens. torrents of coolant (presumably) coming out of the header downpipe now. NOT GOOD. Assuming that I've got a cylinder with a compromised wall, is there anything that can be done short of getting a whole new engine?

 

[NeXJ]

update - apparently the head is cracked in a minimum of four places and extensively. THAT SUCKS. Wonder what a replacement is gonna cost. EEK!!