I’ve had my 2004 for about 18 months now and I’ve never seen the temp gauge move (after it’s warmed up.) It ALWAYS stays just to the left of the middle point. I’ve been in temps as low as -15 and as hot as 103 before factoring in the 90% humidity. That 103 temp trip had the AC on, 65 mph speeds and some hills as well as bumper to bumper traffic for 10 miles - yet no change at all!!! That’s not normal.

I read posts about people having their transmissions overheat or their engine’s overheat (I would think they are related) and almost everyone said they didn’t notice a change in their gauge until the light came on and it was too late.

I’m getting worried that Jeep has put an idiot feature on the temp gauge which forces it to stay in the middle even though the actual temperature may be changing. I’d rather know it’s climbing or falling so I can prepare for it (slow down, pull over, downshift, etc) before it’s too late.

So – if there is a dummy feature, can it be removed to show the actual temp? what are other people's thoughts?

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'04 Liberty Limited - 245/70/16 Firestone Destination AT's, Mopar tow hooks, Draw-Tite Class IV hitch, Skid Row Engine & Transmission Skids, Mopar T-Case & Gas Tank Skids, Extended Breather Tubes, Red Top Optima, Sylvania Silver Star head lights, Hella 500FF bumper mounted driving lights

Your temp gauge is just a fancy gadget,it only shows relitive readings.When the guage is centered your coolant temp can range from 178-225 degrees and the needle on the guage will not move.

I have a little gizmo that I plug in my OBDII port and it records all the info the PCM sees from the sensors and I can plug it into my laptop and gragh the info,the temp reading go in a stairstep fashion till the t-stat fully opens then it drops and starts all over agian.The t-stat in the KJ starts to open at 195 degrees and does not fully open til 218 degrees.

This is what happend to me when I ended up blowing up the motor. I looked at my gauges, everything was fine then about 2 mins later i heard a ding and seen that darn light and the needle was in the red. Pulled over right away and motor was clunking and shut down by its self. All I said was S***, F*** and so on.

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03 Limited Edition 4X4 Black
2.5" Daystar Spacer Lift KJ09115BK w/ Skyjacker N8088 shocks 235/70 16 Destination a/t's on factory wheel
Pioneer Premier speakers, Garmin Nuvi 205w
97 XJ Country Black and all stock for now:)
HP30 & 8.25 axles

http://schroeder222.mybrute.com

Care to tell where you got that and how much it was? Always wanted to hook my laptop up to my Jeep..

And idiot gauges is one reason I got my scan gauge.. Ive seen it as high as 230F in traffic and the gauge was still in the middle..

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LOST KJ'S
Where are you going???
Current Jeep: 2004 Jeep Liberty
-Atlantic Blue
-Air Ride Rear Suspension ; OME/Rustys Lift ; Powertrax Locker ; Moog Lower Ball-Joints ; 245/70/16 Yokohama Geolander A/T-S's on MOABS ; Flowmaster 50 SUV
Lost #007082
http://www.cardomain.com/id/jeepjeepster

http://www.crecorder.com/website/userLogin.do?method=productInfo&page=1

I have the CRecorder,bought it from the MAC tool guy for $80.

Mines, the same way. Wish it was a little more accurate, my past vehicles have been.

I've even put a CAI on mine...then took it off. Even in the winter I haven't noticed anything.

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03' Renegade. Front Frankenlift II Premium,1 Conduit, Rear OME 948, Ranchos, Upper Iso, JBA 4.5 Arms, 16x7 4inch backspacing Black Rock Street Locks, 245/75/16 Duratracs. Lots of stickers.
WVU

when my engine died, the dealer told me it overheated. but my temp needle never went above normal. they said the block cracked and so much coolant got into the oil, it watered the oil down and siezed up the engine. but up until the engine shut itself off, it was running perfectly normal.

just a couple weekd ago, my check engine light came on offroad, and the engine was sputtering, shut itself off, started it back up and it was fine, did that a second time about 20muntes later, so i drove through the creek, cleaned everything off, pulled back ashore, popped the hood and let it sit, few minutes went by and all of a sudden it seemed to be a lot of steam coming up(more than the usual steam from driving through water, but no coolant overflowed, it might have been nothing, but it just seemed like more steam than normal) looked at my temp needle and it was normal, right in the middle. let it sit for a long while, drove it back to the campsite, on the way there, the engine stuttered/engine light came on/safetey mode where it wont go above 2k rpm's, stopped, shut it off, started it back up, went to the campsite, popped the hood and let it sit for a half hour to an hour, and it was fine ever since...

so who knows! my coolant was in the normal spot, wasnt overflowing, engine didnt seem too hot when i put my hand over it, and the radiator was clear, so i have no clue, first time it ever did that since i got the new engine.

it didnt even act like that when my old engine died, it just shut off and didnt want to restart, finally about 20 minutes later when it DID restart finally, it ran really really rough, had to keep the rpms up, and it was spitting coolant out the exhaust. but none of those symptoms this last time a couple weeks ago

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2002 Cactus Green Renegade~OME HD/Rancho
235-85-16 Firestone Destination MT's~Detroit Locker~AL's 4.5 Arms
ARB bumper/Superwinch 9k~PIAA 540 driving lights/PIAA reverse lights~Crane 8.25 diff cover

Although my CRD is a different beast and thrives on heat I see a difference from my previous TJ. Does take longer to warm and if you just start it and let it idle the needle will barely move-even after 10 min. The Diesel motor wont heat up w/o the turbo spooling up.

Also twice driving in the mountains in single and sub zero temps I've watched the temp go from normal just left of center and drop to about 1/4 to the left as I coast down a pass after a couple miles of not being in the throttle and freezing temps.

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06 Jeep KJ CRD Sport full Mopar skids, front tow hooks, rear hitch shackle, Magnaflow muffler, Samco Sport CAC hoses, 02 Airbox mod, Unique series 42 steel wheels.