Wildman's TJ is getting a face lift

[Wildman]

Isn't that what air in the system will do?

Sometimes YES... But as many times as I've heat cycled it I don't think it could still have a air pocket. And I've tried also parking it with the side of the radiator filler higher.

 

[Wildman]

Isn't that what air in the system will do?

Also my coolant level doesn't drop when it's gotten hot.

 

[lBasket]

Also my coolant level doesn't drop when it's gotten hot.

Do you have an expansion tank or an overflow tank?

 

[Wildman]

Do you have an expansion tank or an overflow tank?

Yes but it's only about 16 Oz or something.

 

[lBasket]

Yes but it's only about 16 Oz or something.

Yes to which one

 

[Wildman]

Yes to which one

Overflow tank I'd call it. I'd tried to put a larger one on but didn't have the room.

 

[lBasket]

Overflow tank I'd call it. I'd tried to put a larger one on but didn't have the room.

Okay I see. Just wondering because the expansion tanks are supposedly self bleeding

 

[Lou]

Where’s your sensor located on the engine for your gauge? Am I understanding correctly your fans aren’t coming on unless over rode?

 

[NashvilleTJ]

@NashvilleTJ before you installed the 500 watt SPAL fan were you having overheating issues? I don't remember now.

...

I was not specifically having overheating issues. I was wheelin' with Victor at Hawk Pride and had the thermostat stick closed, which did cause it to heat up. We pulled the thermostat and wheeled the rest of the day with no problems.

But while monitoring temps running a few days without a thermostat, it was running up close to 200 - when it should have been running very cool. I concluded that the system overall did not have enough capacity. That is when I swapped the Derale 23.5 amp fan (the second fan after the Hemi swap) for the then just released SPAL 500 watt brushless. The no thermostat temp dropped to around 160-ish if memory serves. I reinstalled the thermostat and things have been fine ever since.

This is the post over in my build thread where I talked about it:

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/nashville-tjs-build-continued.42035/post-974375

 

[Wildman]

Where’s your sensor located on the engine for your gauge? Am I understanding correctly your fans aren’t coming on unless over rode?

It's on the top of the engine in the coolant gallery.

No I'm saying that the fan is running and keeping it cool @ around 195⁰ and then jumps up to 250⁰. But then if I turn on the fan @ 100 % it'll cool it back down to 200⁰. So for some reason the fan temperature sensor isn't making it come on to 100%.

Fan temperature sensor is right @ the thermostat.

I was not specifically having overheating issues. I was wheelin' with Victor at Hawk Pride and had the thermostat stick closed, which did cause it to heat up. We pulled the thermostat and wheeled the rest of the day with no problems.

But while monitoring temps running a few days without a thermostat, it was running up close to 200 - when it should have been running very cool. I concluded that the system overall did not have enough capacity. That is when I swapped the Derale 23.5 amp fan (the second fan after the Hemi swap) for the then just released SPAL 500 watt brushless. The no thermostat temp dropped to around 160-ish if memory serves. I reinstalled the thermostat and things have been fine ever since.

This is the post over in my build thread where I talked about it:

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/nashville-tjs-build-continued.42035/post-974375

Thanks Jeff. I couldn't remember exactly why you'd changed the fan.
I might pull the thermostat first and see if that's what is causing it to overheat. Hadn't thought about that being a possibility.

 

[Wildman]

The trip was more or less boring for me. The first day we drove up to the top of the forest service roads. It was a nice view.

Then Tuesday we'd driven 50+ miles on dirt roads and that was when the Jeep overheated the 1st time.
I'd turn on the bypass and it'd ran cool until after we'd stopped at Kootenai Falls.

I didn't walk down to see the view from the bottom.

It overheated about 2 hours away from camp and that was when I'd found the plug on the relay loose.
I'd stayed in camp Wednesday to work on the Jeep. Drove it for 15-20 minutes about 4 different times and didn't have any issues. I'd found it about 1/2 gallon low on coolant that day.

Thursday we'd driven into Kalispell to meet a local club member who was taking us to the Wild Bill trail which is a few miles out of town and it'd overheated on the way there. So I'd decided to not try running the trail because I couldn't check the coolant level and thought it might have lost coolant again. But when we got back to the staging area it was full of coolant.

Then Friday we'd driven down to the river and I'd been driving about 30-40 minutes when it'd gotten about 250⁰ and turned the fan on bypass and that's when I'd cooled back down to 200⁰ when we stopped.

Now the first time it'd overheated since I'd put the Hemi in was the day I'd driven up the forest service roads by my house about a week before I'd gone on this trip.
It'd never gotten above about 210⁰ before that.

So a sticking thermostat could be the problem.

 

[Wildman]

I'd knew the 1st day when the leader of the group told me he'd never been on a trail where you needed more than a limited slip to do it that we weren't doing and HARD. A total different type of off-roading... These guys were all overlanders.

 

[lBasket]

I'd knew the 1st day when the leader of the group told me he'd never been on a trail where you needed more than a limited slip to do it that we weren't doing and HARD. A total different type of off-roading... These guys were all overlanders.

The roads in my neighborhood are bad enough that I bet my MR2 has been on harder "trails" than those types of people I guess you are in shakedown mode a little bit anyways though

 

[Zorba]

I've learned to never buy a car without A/C.

Depends on where you live. Here in Florida? Absolutely. Central coastal Commiefornia? Completely optional, might use it 2 weeks a year.

 

[FarFire70]

My Jeep had A/C when it had the stock 4 banger

I never realized (or forgot if I did know) your Jeep started out as a 4 cylinder. Those assemblers in Toledo never knew what the product they were building would one day grow up to be a V8-powered 'real boy'.

—

Sorry to hear the trip wasn't as rough country and the overheating issues. While not the most challenging, hopefully you got to enjoy the riding in the wilderness..... Scenic and waterfall pics looked like nice spots to check out.

Hopefully it's as simple as a thermostat and (maybe) a fan to get you back to service. It would suck to lose the AC, especially with your plans to ride Moab in the future. That said - I too haven't had AC working in my TJ for may years...

 

[Woodrow]

Depends on where you live. Here in Florida? Absolutely. Central coastal Commiefornia? Completely optional, might use it 2 weeks a year.

Most folks seems to prefer climate control. I like being outside (and my job is indoors). In my car, jeep, truck, whatever… if its above 30 and under 100 (and not pouring down rain) my windows are down. I just don’t get driving around with the rig all sealed up and AC blasting when its 70 degrees out.

 

[Wildman]

The roads in my neighborhood are bad enough that I bet my MR2 has been on harder "trails" than those types of people I guess you are in shakedown mode a little bit anyways though.

I get that everyone has a different definition of what "HARD" is but it's just funny listening to these guys "think" they're doing hard trails when it's nothing more than a bumpy forest service road.

Depends on where you live. Here in Florida? Absolutely. Central coastal Commiefornia? Completely optional, might use it 2 weeks a year.

I never owned a vehicle that had A/C until I was about 25 or 26. And lived in VA & spent time in NC & SC for a summer. And didn't have A/C in any of my older CJ's...

I never realized (or forgot if I did know) your Jeep started out as a 4 cylinder. Those assemblers in Toledo never knew what the product they were building would one day grow up to be a V8-powered 'real boy'.

—

Sorry to hear the trip wasn't as rough country and the overheating issues. While not the most challenging, hopefully you got to enjoy the riding in the wilderness..... Scenic and waterfall pics looked like nice spots to check out.

Hopefully it's as simple as a thermostat and (maybe) a fan to get you back to service. It would suck to lose the AC, especially with your plans to ride Moab in the future. That said - I too haven't had AC working in my TJ for may years...

Yep it was a SE model.... So a 4 banger from 1997-2006 then a Magnum V-8 from 2006-2024 and now a Hemi from 2024-Present

Yep I'm hoping it's as easy as a new thermostat.... Fan would be fairly easy but expensive.

I'm a little disappointed based on what they claimed on their Website but yep it was good as a shakedown run other than all the damn miles we drove on the hardtop.

Most folks seems to prefer climate control. I like being outside (and my job is indoors). In my car, jeep, truck, whatever… if its above 30 and under 100 (and not pouring down rain) my windows are down. I just don’t get driving around with the rig all sealed up and AC blasting when its 70 degrees out.

I go back & forth... Most of my earlier pickups never had A/C and same with cars I owned. And I'd run with my widows down rather than use the early A/C cause I thought they'd stunk back then too. Now days due to my hearing loss I like my widows up if doing 60+ on the highway... But yes in town or local roads I run with my windows down too. So losing A/C on the Jeep wouldn't kill me or even make me sad to be honest. But it's also not a DD.

 

[Zorba]

I never owned a vehicle that had A/C until I was about 25 or 26. And lived in VA & spent time in NC & SC for a summer. And didn't have A/C in any of my older CJ's...

My parents rarely had AC in their cars either. The '64 convertible Continental had it, but then they didn't have another vehicle with it until the '78 1 ton Chevy. Dad had been commuting to the bay area for 20+ years before he bought an '80 Mazda GLC with AC - and he needed it.

 

[Wildman]

My parents rarely had AC in their cars either. The '64 convertible Continental had it, but then they didn't have another vehicle with it until the '78 1 ton Chevy. Dad had been commuting to the bay area for 20+ years before he bought an '80 Mazda GLC with AC - and he needed it.

I wouldn't own a rig with A/C until 1985 or 86 I think... And while Germany wasn't too bad at the time when in MD it was nice some days but I also drove a CJ5 half the time so didn't have A/C then. My Nissan had A/C.
My Samurai didn't have A/C and I was surprised that the TJ had A/C when I'd bought it. My YJ didn't have A/C that I owned when I was at Ft Ord and then lived in the area after I'd gotten out. The A/C in my Corvette didn't work either.

 

[Zorba]

My YJ didn't have A/C that I owned when I was at Ft Ord and then lived in the area after I'd gotten out. The A/C in my Corvette didn't work either.

I forgot that you lived there for awhile. Didn't need it in Ft Ord - at least on the seaward side. Over in Carmel Valley it might be nice once in a while.