2001 TJ SE Overheating

[TJ4Jim]

Rust is normal if the coolant has been in there too long. It is nothing to worry about on its own. 160 is wrong, you probably need to replace the thermostat again, it should be at 210 when it is warm. I'm afraid to ask, did you replace the radiator cap?

On my 2.5 and my son's 210 for warmed up is a bit high, usually just barely over the 200 mark on even warm days. I ran the live data on my 2.5 for comparison and on a 95 deg+ day with AC on she would be between 200 and 205 on the reader.

But if they just did a coolant flush and put new coolant in (assuming they actually did) - should it look this rusty again already 2 weeks later? They should have replaced the cap - but I guess I need to double check it.

Considering the color of that I would remove the coolant and refill with distilled water and run for several days, rinse and repeat several times. At least that will give you a baseline for troubleshooting.

 

[pagrey]

Water doesn't remove rust, it creates it. Running water for any length of time will cause more corrosion especially if you heat the water. You could use a product like thermocure but I personally would never run water through my Jeep except for the short time I flush it out. Not only that, this Jeep is already overheating and water will boil out at a much lower temp, really poor advice in my book.

 

[TJ4Jim]

Water doesn't remove rust, it creates it. Running water for any length of time will cause more corrosion especially if you heat the water. You could use a product like thermocure but I personally would never run water through my Jeep except for the short time I flush it out. Not only that, this Jeep is already overheating and water will boil out at a much lower temp, really poor advice in my book.

Running distilled water for a few days is good advice and what I suggested , same advice in your response. And provides improved cooling over anti-freeze for short term use.