space_monkey
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- texas
Hello! Long time lurker, first time poster.
My 2001 XJ 4.0 keeps overheating and I've exhausted my understanding of the cooling system to understand what the heck is going on.
Basically it runs slightly hot, all the time. Like, 3-4 millimeters past the halfway (210) mark. Not really sure what that temp would be, 230 maybe?
It will stay at that temp on the highway, but often, when idling, the temp will shoot up into the red. If i start moving again quickly (within 5 seconds or so), the temp goes back down immediately and will stay that way for awhile.
In troubleshooting this, I found a lot of spray around the new radiator cap when it did overheat, so I replaced it with the stant model per the forum posts. I thought this fixed it, as I was able to idle it after warming up for well over 15 minutes, and drove it around with plenty of stops with no issues. That was 2 weeks ago.
Last night after about an hour of highway driving, I pulled over to get more gas, and while idling (no more than 7 seconds) the temp shot up again (like whaaat?).
I found that as long as I'm moving, the temp will stay fine (if a bit hotter than normal). Here is the full sordid history of my cooling if it helps.
About 2 years ago I'm heading out on a long (7 hour) trip. XJ is packed up and we stop to get tacos. Overheats in line for the first time. In my infinite wisdom I quickly stop at the auto store and top off the radiator fluid in hopes that is the problem, except, I put in concentrated (non-diluted) fluid.. OOPS
6 months later, the radiator springs a leak, spraying fluid out the front of it. I replace the radiator, thermostat, flush the system, and all is well.
Fast forward to present time. Fluid is now sorta brownish (but still mostly green). Thinking it could be the fan clutches, I replaced those. Not much better. Thinking my thermostat might be stuck, I removed it. Still the same problem.
What do I do next? Since the fill portion of my radiator is sticking out the side I can't see if water is flowing or not, but considering I can drive 3 hours straight (without stopping) I figure the water pump must be working.
The next thing I plan to do is flush and replace all the hoses, which doesn't make any sense, but I'd rather not change the water pump "just because."
Thanks!:thumbup:
My 2001 XJ 4.0 keeps overheating and I've exhausted my understanding of the cooling system to understand what the heck is going on.
Basically it runs slightly hot, all the time. Like, 3-4 millimeters past the halfway (210) mark. Not really sure what that temp would be, 230 maybe?
It will stay at that temp on the highway, but often, when idling, the temp will shoot up into the red. If i start moving again quickly (within 5 seconds or so), the temp goes back down immediately and will stay that way for awhile.
In troubleshooting this, I found a lot of spray around the new radiator cap when it did overheat, so I replaced it with the stant model per the forum posts. I thought this fixed it, as I was able to idle it after warming up for well over 15 minutes, and drove it around with plenty of stops with no issues. That was 2 weeks ago.
Last night after about an hour of highway driving, I pulled over to get more gas, and while idling (no more than 7 seconds) the temp shot up again (like whaaat?).
I found that as long as I'm moving, the temp will stay fine (if a bit hotter than normal). Here is the full sordid history of my cooling if it helps.
About 2 years ago I'm heading out on a long (7 hour) trip. XJ is packed up and we stop to get tacos. Overheats in line for the first time. In my infinite wisdom I quickly stop at the auto store and top off the radiator fluid in hopes that is the problem, except, I put in concentrated (non-diluted) fluid.. OOPS
6 months later, the radiator springs a leak, spraying fluid out the front of it. I replace the radiator, thermostat, flush the system, and all is well.
Fast forward to present time. Fluid is now sorta brownish (but still mostly green). Thinking it could be the fan clutches, I replaced those. Not much better. Thinking my thermostat might be stuck, I removed it. Still the same problem.
What do I do next? Since the fill portion of my radiator is sticking out the side I can't see if water is flowing or not, but considering I can drive 3 hours straight (without stopping) I figure the water pump must be working.
The next thing I plan to do is flush and replace all the hoses, which doesn't make any sense, but I'd rather not change the water pump "just because."
Thanks!:thumbup: