What happened to my KJ?

MiniDevil · **Posted:** Fri Jan 18, 2008 9:52 am

Not sure how to figure out what exactly happened, but I want to figure it out and get it fixed.

I took a nap in my KJ this morning and let it idle. We just had a lot of snow last night and the air temp is pretty cold.

20 mins into my nap the warning alarm woke me up when it dinged a few times. I looked at the instrument panel and saw my Temp gauge was approaching the red area. I immediately shut off the engine, then cycled the key back to 'on' without starting the car. The temp gauge was still at red and the dinging was heard again. I let it sit for about 3-4 minutes, checked under the hood but found nothing out of place, checked under the car for any coolant leaks etc but could not see nor smell anything. I got back in the car and started it up. Temp immediately began to slowly drop from red back to the middle stripe. The amount of time from red->middle was about 8 to 10 seconds.

No check engine light or anything else was illuminated and I am unable to replicate the problem. Does anyone have any ideas?

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Fri Jan 18, 2008 10:20 am

Was the grille blocked with snow? How about the fresh air vent by the wipers?

Idling is the worst for heat buildup because the car only relies on the cooling fan to move air across the radiator surface. Of course that air cools the vehilce, but if the grille is blocked and you can't pass air over the cooling fins than there isn't any way for the radiator to remove the heat.

A real trick to avoid overheating is to turn the heater all the way up and turn it on full blast since it acts like a mini radiator [it just uses the heat from the coolant to warm up the cabin.]

Did you happen to hear the cooling fan kick on or off when you turned off the car?

snowsport · **Joined:** Tue Oct 18, 2005 11:52 pm **Posts:** 1211

Could be the thermostat stuck closed for a minute. When was the last time it was replaced?

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Fri Jan 18, 2008 3:58 pm

Does the coolant reservoir has coolant in it. It should be around the seem or half way full.

If its full, how many miles are on the kj? I see that its an 03 so the coolant should be changed soon. A coolant change wouldnt cure this though.

Its either low coolant(cracked radiator?), bad water pump, or the stat got stuck. Also check to make sure the engine fan is working. You may only have an electric fan which can go bad but you may also have an engine driven fan if the Jeep has the towing pack.

Changing the stat is easy+cheap and its good insurance.

MiniDevil · **Posted:** Fri Jan 18, 2008 6:02 pm

83000 miles on it now. Just had a complete flush back in november. Grille was not blocked. To my knowledge, the stat has never been replaced. The fresh air vent may have been blocked. Didn't hear any fan, but I wasn't listening for a fan.

I'll start by changing the thermostat. Hopefully it's not a water pump or radiator issue.

dloc_jeep_KJ · **Posted:** Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:07 am

id check the stat and the fan first then go from there sounds like its the most likely to me.

Rush345 · **Posted:** Sat Jan 19, 2008 3:51 am

Check with parts guys their is a brand out that is designed that when it fails it fails in the open position to prevent damage since the stats are so inexpensive it's a good extra peice of insurance. :twisted:

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Sat Jan 19, 2008 3:58 am

The Heater core could be clogged. In this case scenario, the cooling system may appear to be fine. I’ve seen this happen many times on various vehicles as the heater core typically has the smallest passage in the cooling system.

MiniDevil · **Posted:** Sat Jan 19, 2008 10:59 am

Things just took a bad turn. Worked night shift past few nights so I drove down to work no issues, and on my way home I heard a kind of popping noise. I pulled over and turned the car off and then switched it to ON, and the temp gauge shot all the way up. Checked under the hood and I am seeing very little coolant left in the reservoir. Lots of steam coming from under the hood. Not a good day. Looks like this is going to be a warranty issue. Glad I took out the extended warranty until 92,000 miles.

DryBones · **Posted:** Sat Jan 19, 2008 11:09 am

MiniDevil wrote:

Not sure how to figure out what exactly happened, but I want to figure it out and get it fixed.

I took a nap in my KJ this morning and let it idle. We just had a lot of snow last night and the air temp is pretty cold.

Please don't be sleeping in a running vehicle. Carbon Monoxide can make that your last nap ever even if you are outside. It can happen, I had 2 classmates die that way when I was in high school.

saxdogg · **Joined:** Fri Jun 02, 2006 7:26 pm **Posts:** 199

keep us posted...I was betting on snow-clogged radiator too....

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Sat Jan 19, 2008 12:03 pm

DryBones wrote:

MiniDevil wrote:

Not sure how to figure out what exactly happened, but I want to figure it out and get it fixed.

I took a nap in my KJ this morning and let it idle. We just had a lot of snow last night and the air temp is pretty cold.

Please don't be sleeping in a running vehicle. Carbon Monoxide can make that your last nap ever even if you are outside. It can happen, I had 2 classmates die that way when I was in high school.

Leave all four windows down about 2" and the heater on high.

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:02 pm

Tokyojoe wrote:

DryBones wrote:

MiniDevil wrote:

Not sure how to figure out what exactly happened, but I want to figure it out and get it fixed.

I took a nap in my KJ this morning and let it idle. We just had a lot of snow last night and the air temp is pretty cold.

Please don't be sleeping in a running vehicle. Carbon Monoxide can make that your last nap ever even if you are outside. It can happen, I had 2 classmates die that way when I was in high school.

Leave all four windows down about 2" and the heater on high.

X's 3

MiniDevil · **Posted:** Sat Jan 19, 2008 5:15 pm

DryBones wrote:

MiniDevil wrote:

Not sure how to figure out what exactly happened, but I want to figure it out and get it fixed.

I took a nap in my KJ this morning and let it idle. We just had a lot of snow last night and the air temp is pretty cold.

Please don't be sleeping in a running vehicle. Carbon Monoxide can make that your last nap ever even if you are outside. It can happen, I had 2 classmates die that way when I was in high school.

Thanks for the warning, I appreciate it.

Just got the KJ back. Had them pressure test the entire system, reflush it, change the stat, etc. They said they were pretty sure the thermostat was the issue, but I think it may have been a combination of things.

Thanks for the help guys

saxdogg · **Joined:** Fri Jun 02, 2006 7:26 pm **Posts:** 199

sounds like you made out cheap (or easy anyways)

jeepmedic · **Posted:** Sat Jan 19, 2008 8:30 pm

I have seen on the XJ the same problem and the solution was the res. was not all the way full, and the anitfreeze was not the right temp rating. Glad you got it fixed though.

What happened to my KJ?

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