Overheated tonight

callaway · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:07 pm

Driving home the temp guage went to the red. I put the windows down and turned the heat on and the temp guage fell from the fully red to 3/4 red. Get home and its dark but I take a quick look under the hood and don't see anything out of the ordinary.

Is there a dipstick for radiator fluid? Anything else I should check out to see why the temp climbed so high?

Guest · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:51 pm

your reservoir is probably empty because you've probably got a radiator leak that's gone unchecked...OR you haven't flushed the 5 year/150k mile coolant out yet. it's almost 2008, you have an '03 that might have been built in '02. 5 year coolant is DONE...and you should REALLY flush it every 2 years anyway.

callaway · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:54 pm

ThunderbirdJunkie wrote:

your reservoir is probably empty because you've probably got a radiator leak that's gone unchecked...OR you haven't flushed the 5 year/150k mile coolant out yet.

i'll check in the light tomorrow for a leak... how would I know if the reservoir is empty?

theres ~63k miles on the car if that matters any...

Quote:

it's almost 2008, you have an '03 that might have been built in '02. 5 year coolant is DONE...and you should REALLY flush it every 2 years anyway.

how is this done?

bbo · **Joined:** Fri Sep 30, 2005 5:17 pm **Posts:** 382

well if the resevoir is empty .. it will look .. empty ...

and to flush ... three ways I would tackle it.

1) take it somewhere and have a shop do it ( (least likely)

2) buy one of those funky flush kits that hook up to a garden hose ( maybe a little more likely)

3) pull the hoses and empty the rad and then flush the block till clear water flows. (most likely, but then I would put new hoses on .... and adding the coolant take patience and be sure to measure to get the right mix).

I'm sure some on here will chime in with better methods.

jason thompson · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2007 10:33 pm

Best advice I can give you if you dont know how to check for coolant is to bring it to a shop and let them flush and fill
but also tell them that it over heated so they can find out what the problem is
could be
-thermostat
-hose
-water pump
-fan
-plugged rad.

You may or may not have a leak but if you over heated then chances are good you will be low

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2007 10:38 pm

Your coolant resevoir will be on the passenger side firewall...by the windshield cowling. It should show some "orange" colored liquid and have markings where your coolant level should be Hot and Cold. Don't drive it again until you find the resevoir and you should do as directed above and take it to a shop...even if you have to tow it.

callaway · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2007 10:49 pm

DarbyWalters wrote:

Your coolant resevoir will be on the passenger side firewall...by the windshield cowling. It should show some "orange" colored liquid and have markings where your coolant level should be Hot and Cold. Don't drive it again until you find the resevoir and you should do as directed above and take it to a shop...even if you have to tow it.

thanks much - i'll give it a look in the morning

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:02 pm

should look like this.

Since you only have 63k, the water pump is still under the powertrain warranty. If its not a leak then its either the rad or water pump.

RAYMAN975 · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:05 pm

can ANY part of your jeep get ANY cleaner? wow lol i dont think you drive it to be honest! haha jk

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:06 pm

RAYMAN975 wrote:

can ANY part of your jeep get ANY cleaner? wow lol i dont think you drive it to be honest! haha jk

Have you ever seen the pics of the underbody on my jeep?

Endurance · **Posted:** Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:21 am

Also, remember that there was a software issue. Theres a flash for faulty temp readings, this is a common issue.

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Wed Dec 19, 2007 11:39 am

Did you get a chance to look at your Jeep this morning Callaway?

Jeep Dawg · **Posted:** Wed Dec 19, 2007 11:47 am

RAYMAN975 wrote:

can ANY part of your jeep get ANY cleaner? wow lol i dont think you drive it to be honest! haha jk

YEA I WAS GONNA SAY THAT SAME THING.

Man I can't see mine at all. I have to scrape off all the mud just to see if it is low or not. :twisted:

WoodysKJ · **Posted:** Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:12 pm

callaway wrote:

Driving home the temp guage went to the red. I put the windows down and turned the heat on and the temp guage fell from the fully red to 3/4 red. Get home and its dark but I take a quick look under the hood and don't see anything out of the ordinary.

Is there a dipstick for radiator fluid? Anything else I should check out to see why the temp climbed so high?

Give us more details. How long after you started the KJ did it go into the red? If it was fine for a while then shot up real fast. Might be the software issue or a faulty sensor.

If it steadily progressed into the red from the start, and only after a few miles of driving, I would pull the themostat. If it fails to open once the KJ is warm then it will cause it to over heat. If buy using the heater core inside the KJ to cool it and it did cool it a little it appears, then I would suspect the Thermostat again. They can fail at the drop of a hat and they are realtivly easy to fix.

DO NOT DRIVE IT TILL IT IS FIXED!!

How long did you drive it in the red? Did you smell anything as you noticed the needle in the red? If not then possible the software. If so, Check your oil. See if there is an bubbles in it indicating possible water in the oil. DO this before driving it anymore.

callaway · **Posted:** Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:19 pm

WoodysKJ wrote:

Give us more details. How long after you started the KJ did it go into the red? If it was fine for a while then shot up real fast. Might be the software issue or a faulty sensor.

If it steadily progressed into the red from the start, and only after a few miles of driving, I would pull the themostat. If it fails to open once the KJ is warm then it will cause it to over heat. If buy using the heater core inside the KJ to cool it and it did cool it a little it appears, then I would suspect the Thermostat again. They can fail at the drop of a hat and they are realtivly easy to fix.

DO NOT DRIVE IT TILL IT IS FIXED!!

How long did you drive it in the red? Did you smell anything as you noticed the needle in the red? If not then possible the software. If so, Check your oil. See if there is an bubbles in it indicating possible water in the oil. DO this before driving it anymore.

I went about 30 miles (traffic was terrible so it was close to 2 hrs) and the temp went red and started to ding ~ 5 miles from home. Drove with it in the red and the heat on for about 10 minutes. Didnt notice any strange smells...

sorry its a late morning for me

about to go out and check things...

WoodysKJ · **Posted:** Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:26 pm

if it took that long before it went to red I would find somebody with a OBD hook up and see if it threw codes for a bad sensor. Once the thermostat is open it would not just decide to close.

If resivoir was low it should have been like the thermostat and start heating up imediately, not after a long time.

Did it idle low when at a traffic signal? If it didn't and no smell, then it is not probrably really overheating. But be careful. Check radiator for road damage. could have sudenly taken a rock or something to cause damage in the radiator and cause a leak. the more you know about the symptoms and possible causes, the less likely you are to be taken by the reapir shop.

callaway · **Posted:** Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:43 pm

where does the thermostat live?

I didnt notice anything strange w/rpms when idling/driving... no funky noises either...

Reservoir might be a little low...

I noticed a hose wasn't attached...

put it where it looked like if fell off of. Could this have done something?

WoodysKJ · **Posted:** Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:52 pm

Resivoir looks fine, cold level looks good. Hose is the breather hose and not a big issue, just uses filtered air for what ever. While it was off it wasn't filtering.

The thrmostat is located in the front of the engin near the water pump. Post a pic of the engine front and i will show you.

WoodysKJ · **Posted:** Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:56 pm

Follow the UPPER radiator hose from the radiator TO the engine. That is where the thermostat is located in that circular housing that is bolted to the engine between the hose and the engin.

DO NOT REMOVE THIS, yet.

RAYMAN975 · **Posted:** Wed Jan 16, 2008 9:06 pm

Jeepjeepster wrote:

RAYMAN975 wrote:

can ANY part of your jeep get ANY cleaner? wow lol i dont think you drive it to be honest! haha jk

Have you ever seen the pics of the underbody on my jeep?

lol yea i have, plenty of times, thats why i said that haha

Overheated tonight

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