I went out for an off-road week end. (will post the pics asap ) and the KJ started over heating since the first uphill trail.
The temperature gauge went past the mid part (vertical), and a few moment later, when the gauge reached the 3 quarters, the temp.Trans. cell went on.
So i stopped for a while.
Its the first time the KJ heats up since I own it (it has now 106'000 miles), and i did exactely the same trails last year with no problems.

It heat-up every uphill path during the week end. I noticed also that the best engine speed was around 2'000 rpm in 4th: Best power and less heating. But still, i had some heating up and had to stop now and then.

My question is, what would cause the KJ to suddenly heating up like this, it never did before, and I really did not push it at all.
My buddies insist on checking-out and cleaning the dirt that could be between the coolers, as I did quite a bit of off-road lately.
I will also have the coolant flushed out.
But beside this ? what else ?

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Silver CRD
ASFIR skid front & central elements, MOPAR gas tank skid - SAMCO Turbo hoses - 4 breathers extension
2006 gaser airbox - Frankenlift with Koni at front.
Airtex lift pump

Water pump impeller no longer connected. Failed thermostat.

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2005 KJ CRD - EURO TC, GDE ECO-FT, GDE TRANS, Lift Pump(<- hard to install, worth it) = 32+ MPG highway and a great ride
Product & Catalog Director @ IDParts.com (888) 444-7951 sales@idparts.com http://www.idparts.com

Possible fan clutch?

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2005 CRD Limited

At 106k miles you're due for a timing belt and water pump change - and the thermostat often fails about there too.

Are you able to do the work? You may discover the root cause while you've got it apart.

Mark

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2005 Liberty CRD
2004.5 Cummins 5.9L TD, F1s, NV5600 6-speed in a '93 GMC Suburban

True, I forgot to mention that i have replaced the timing belt and water pump about 6'000 miles ago.
And also, i went through the rich thread: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=60274&p=670616&hilit=2005+crd+over+heating#p670616
on heating.
But nothing really stroke me as the possible cause. What worries me is the sudden appearance of the problem. It seems (but I may be wrong) that some CRD always been heating-up, mine is doing so since a few 100's miles...


I will most probably replce the fan clutch by the Hayden 2905, and check that water pump works well.
I will also try to purge the air from the system.

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Silver CRD
ASFIR skid front & central elements, MOPAR gas tank skid - SAMCO Turbo hoses - 4 breathers extension
2006 gaser airbox - Frankenlift with Koni at front.
Airtex lift pump

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Atlantic Blue 06 CRD Limited (his)
Joined by a 2000 XJ Classic (hers)

I found what it was.
We have removed the fan cover and looked between the radiators....big mess. Full of dirt, leaves, cigarettes butts....you name it.
So we used a soft brush and lot of water to clean. We unscrewed the AC condensor to just lift it up by a few inches to allow to spray water by underneath. tons of dirt came out
Also, to make next cleaning easier, we cut a widow in the fan cover. Hopefully it will also improve the airflow and the cooling.
I have kept anyway the piece we removed and will glue it back if i see that too much dirt is getting in there.

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Silver CRD
ASFIR skid front & central elements, MOPAR gas tank skid - SAMCO Turbo hoses - 4 breathers extension
2006 gaser airbox - Frankenlift with Koni at front.
Airtex lift pump

Yup, that'd do it. Glad the problem was so inexpensively remedied.

And I applaud the decision to replace the fan clutch with the Hayden unit. The stock one is worthless junk.