Jeep Cherokee XJ Running Hot

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Nick1994

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My Cherokee has been running hot lately. I just put in a new OEM thermostat as a preventative measure and with this heat (118 today) it is running hot. I don't drive it often so I'm not sure if it is related to the new thermostat or not, it was getting a bit warm before but I haven't driven it in this kind of heat lately. Driving down the road it's usually at about 215, but once it does some idling and stop and go it goes up to about 230. No air bubbles in cooling system, we used a burping funnel. Over the last few years the entire cooling system has been replaced. Radiator, heater valve, all hoses, water pump, thermostat, Napa fan clutch (engages good). Electric fan now also has a manual fan switch and in this heat I leave it on.

My Jeep didn't originally come with a real thermometer on the dash, just a light up dummy light. My mechanic installed a real gauge and it's worked great, shows the actual temperature. Only issues I had in the summer was driving in the sand with higher RPMs.

I'm afraid to drive it much at 230 degrees for fear i could cause damage. Any other ideas?
 
I meant to say in the post above that the only issues were actually in the winter, when driving in the sand it got to 230.

Maybe I should put in a lower thermostat? Like 180 instead of 195? I'd like to not bandaid it though.

Radiator and overflow are full. Coolant is 50/50 mix
 
Those xj's always run hot! The radiator is undersized and barely adequate. Throw in a little corrosion and plugged tubes and they overheat.
The ones with a temperature gauge use a dummy gauge,if it showed actual temps all sorts of people would be scared.

What style of radiator is in it? Metal or plastic?
 
Those xj's always run hot! The radiator is undersized and barely adequate. Throw in a little corrosion and plugged tubes and they overheat.
The ones with a temperature gauge use a dummy gauge,if it showed actual temps all sorts of people would be scared.

What style of radiator is in it? Metal or plastic?
 
It's got the O'Reillys $109 radiator.

Everything is new in the cooling system.

I've hosed off the condenser before, A/C works perfect, blows ice cold even while running hot.

My mechanic has a customer also with a 96' Cherokee with the 4.0L, also has a newer radiator. It reads at 195 with the same aftermarket gauge hooked up to the same spot, he checked it 30 minutes ago on that Jeep.
 
Buddy threw parts at his left and right until I donated my old clutch fan. His got hot in idling and low speed operation. I have a 4 cylinder fan, moves a LOT of air. Like 30 bucks at napa. AW4 produces quite a bit of heat, so additional cooling to it might be helpful.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
It's got the O'Reillys $109 radiator.


I've got two '96 Cherokees, both with the 4.0 engine. One has a manual transmission, the other is an automatic.
IMO, you need to stay away from the cheapie aftermarket radiators. As you have witnessed, these Jeeps run hot and the radiator is not only undersized, but it is so exaggeratedly rectangular that they used both a mechanical fan and an electric fan at the same time.
Also, you say everything is new, but is the fan shroud in perfect shape? I'd also suspect the fan clutch, even if it is new and appears to be working good. There are a lot of bad aftermarket fan clutches for the Jeep Cherokees.
Not to give them a free plug, but my Jeep with the manual transmission also has a radiator from this company: http://www.btr-radiator.com/ I've had it about three years and the temp dropped to a manageable level immediately after I installed it.
I have no problem running at 205° or below at all times.
 
Chris is on the right track - the radiator in those was right on the edge of being able to handle the 4.0. One piece of the system is marginal and presto, problems.

Going to a lower temp thermostat will do nothing in those temps.

My issue was the fan clutch back when I had a Cherokee. I went through three bad ones right out of the box - Napa/Hayden units (at the time). Switched to a torqueflo from Autozone, and it worked much better. The cherokee often sounded like a Mack truck when the cooling fan engaged, but it definitely worked!
 
When replacing the radiator a couple years ago the shroud broke and I put a new one in.

Fan clutch was an O'Reillys one and last year it wasn't engaging as much, I put in a Napa one and it moves a ton of air.

Catalytic converter has some dents on the bottom (it's a Jeep), mostly just the heat shield I think. It rattles but it's only the heat shield. Poking with a screwdriver makes it stop. Thinking of replacing the catalytic converter as well. Any way to diagnose if it's bad?
 
Originally Posted By: thescreensavers
Which radiator did you put in?

I have a spectra radiator which is 70$ https://www.amazon.com/Spectra-Premium-CU1193-Complete-Radiator/dp/B000C7S062

I also put in a 180deg thermostat, on the highway it's running ~190 in South Florida with AC on full blast, at lights and other times it will still sit at 210 but with earlier opening thermostat seems to help.

$107 Murray from O'Reillys in 10/2013
 
Appearing to be running at 215 seems just above normal to me. The MJ's temperature runs just to the right of the 210 mark down the highway.

Did you say you replaced the water pump? I'd try an OE part followed by an OE radiator and fan clutch.
 
The "short + wide" radiator design was mounted high so these Jeeps could traverse tree stumps etc.

Did you cheap out and use rock hard well water when you mixed up your coolant? This is what my foolish friends did and their coolant is immediately cloudy.

Also, is the radiator you bought of good design? Is the stat you bought of good quality? Lotsa junk out there.

A Stant brand stat for a Toyota (AA-only game in town) actually didn't clear and snagged up. Got Toyota OE, no probs.
 
If most of your driving is city and off road you might consider a solid fan drive, no clutch.
 
I just did the Spectra radiator as well. On long drives the heat would gradually creep up.
I did replace my fan clutch with the one from a 4cyl Wrangler and it dropped the temp too.
When we opened up my old radiator it had a lot of debris caught in the ends, so I am happy I spent the $100.
When I replaced the water pump it look like it had been shot-peeled with gravel and the blades were eroded. I bought the Jeep off eBay for my son and the coolant looked like red mud. It has taken it a year to flush out completely.

Don't forget to back-flush the heater core if you have any debris in the system.

I use a Scangauge on my OBD2 port to monitor coolant temperature and can confirm that the dash gauges are intentionally wrong. They are linear up until about 210 and then track at about 1/4 after that and then they will spike to 260. I guess to keep people from panicking over 230deg water temps, but it really isn't good for the heads and gaskets. No wonder they end up weeping oil from seals.
 
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