Hello Folks,
I took a drive today to the "local" off-roading spot and on the way there noticed that my temperature gauge was reading a bit high. If I remember correctly it always was slightly below 210 and now it was slightly above, actually more than slightly.
Take a look at the picture.
I was kind of puzzled in the beginning, thinking that it had to be the long climb or something, but it wasn't the first time I had been on that road and the needle never moved past 210 before.
Anyway.... When I finally stopped to inspect the coolant and the reservoir I saw the water (distilled water at the time) boiling in the reservoir with its level steadily rising. When the Jeep cooled down, the level went down and below normal, so I though AHA!!! I have a leaking cap that is sucking in air, pushing the coolant into the reservoir and the coolant is low, so all I have to do is replace the cap and add coolant.
Thinking about the issue on the way, I figured I could replace the thermostat (God only knows when the last owner did that) and do a full flush of the system. Thermostats are cheap as dirt and coolant is not so expensive either.
I can feel the coolant going through the hose, when I squeeze it, but there isn't much flow in my opinion. I do not have another Jeep to compare it to, so I can only compare it to my Ram 1500, which definitely has more flow in the hose. I also noticed small leaks around the top of the radiator where the edge of the plastic is.
What do you think my problem is?
Is it possible my water pump is bad? (I have only been running water for a month, always proper coolant before)
Can I get away with just replacing the water pump or should I do the radiator as well?
How can this be properly diagnosed?
Thanks in advance
I took a drive today to the "local" off-roading spot and on the way there noticed that my temperature gauge was reading a bit high. If I remember correctly it always was slightly below 210 and now it was slightly above, actually more than slightly.
Take a look at the picture.
I was kind of puzzled in the beginning, thinking that it had to be the long climb or something, but it wasn't the first time I had been on that road and the needle never moved past 210 before.
Anyway.... When I finally stopped to inspect the coolant and the reservoir I saw the water (distilled water at the time) boiling in the reservoir with its level steadily rising. When the Jeep cooled down, the level went down and below normal, so I though AHA!!! I have a leaking cap that is sucking in air, pushing the coolant into the reservoir and the coolant is low, so all I have to do is replace the cap and add coolant.
- Stopped by the local Autozone, picked up a new 18 lbs cap, got some distilled water and happily got on the way, but!!! no cigar. The problem persisted, so I turned back home. (No more boiling though and the cap was definitely bad)
Thinking about the issue on the way, I figured I could replace the thermostat (God only knows when the last owner did that) and do a full flush of the system. Thermostats are cheap as dirt and coolant is not so expensive either.
- Picked up a standard 195 degree thermostat, new gasket, coolant and replaced/flushed it. No cigar either, same thing!
I can feel the coolant going through the hose, when I squeeze it, but there isn't much flow in my opinion. I do not have another Jeep to compare it to, so I can only compare it to my Ram 1500, which definitely has more flow in the hose. I also noticed small leaks around the top of the radiator where the edge of the plastic is.
What do you think my problem is?
Is it possible my water pump is bad? (I have only been running water for a month, always proper coolant before)
Can I get away with just replacing the water pump or should I do the radiator as well?
How can this be properly diagnosed?
Thanks in advance