Overheating in reverse

TJ_YJ

New Member
Original poster
Joined
Jun 3, 2020
Messages
14
Location
NC
I'm having a weird issue with overheating when I go into reverse. I recently replaced the thermostat, water pump and fan clutch. Any help is much appreciated.
 
Are you sure the thermostatic clutch and water pump that were installed were the correct parts ? There are parts for Jeeps that can fit, but spin in the wrong direction.
 
Are you sure the thermostatic clutch and water pump that were installed were the correct parts ? There are parts for Jeeps that can fit, but spin in the wrong direction.
Im positive. They were a direct match to the old parts.
 
You're saying the temperature gauge goes up as soon as you shift into reverse? If not how long does it take for the gauge indicator to go up? What temperature does it indicate at its highest?

Yeah - My POS 1972 Fiat 128 (Good riddance, don't let the door hit ya...) would do similar things in reverse. Bad wiring connections. As soon as the reverse lights came on all hell would break look on the dashboard.
 
You're saying the temperature gauge goes up as soon as you shift into reverse? If not how long does it take for the gauge indicator to go up? What temperature does it indicate at its highest?
Not in reverse long. Maybe 3-5 minutes just to properly put it the car port. And its within that window of 5 minutes. It reads just shy of 260*. Ill turn it off and then around 10 ish minutes its back at 215* but if I'm not quick itll just do it again.
 
Problem id'd. My heater core is leaking. I think that's the problem bleeding out all the coolant. Does that sound right?
 
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Wait, hold on. Turn on the heat and smelling coolant can mean that your heater core has a small leak - but this doesn't explain overheating in reverse. Don't jump to conclusions just yet. This problem has not been identified yet.

First I would ignore the reverse part of this problem and focus on the overheating.
If you leave the jeep idle in park or neutral, does it overheat?
 
Wait, hold on. Turn on the heat and smelling coolant can mean that your heater core has a small leak - but this doesn't explain overheating in reverse. Don't jump to conclusions just yet. This problem has not been identified yet.

First I would ignore the reverse part of this problem and focus on the overheating.
If you leave the jeep idle in park or neutral, does it overheat?

If the Jeep only overheats whilst reversing into the carport then the problem is with the carport.