Odd cooling problems

[blackbeard00]

Hey everyone!
This isn't exactly how I thought my first post would go. I have a 00 Tj sport that I have owned for some time now. I had some cooling issues in the past when I lived in Florida such as slightly creeping temps while at idle for long periods of time, so I replaced literally everything when it came time to fix the heater core. I mean everything, cooler thermostat, aluminum radiator, new fan clutch, every hose, the whole lot. Since that time I have noticed after a long period of time ( talking months) I am missing coolant, I have just been toping off and everything been fine. I have even driven it from Portland OR area to Moab and back with no issues, never over heats, no visible pools under the jeep (no coolant any way) no smoke in the exhaust, no water in the oil, nothing. It even did fine when we just recently had this heat wave of 116+, today however I noticed the temp was on the high side, not overheating but higher than normal. I went straight home the temp held the same place never overheating never really cooling off. I parked it waited for it to cool off opened the radiator cap and saw it was low. I then used by radiator bleeder/ funnel to purge the air and add coolant. When the temp got to the thermostat it pulled an old faithful on me, no air that I could tell just whole ton of water. If anyone has any clue to what's happening please let me know (really really hoping its not a head gasket or head).
Sorry for the longwinded post just trying to cover everything.

 

[Moglocker]

Hey everyone!
This isn't exactly how I thought my first post would go. I have a 00 Tj sport that I have owned for some time now. I had some cooling issues in the past when I lived in Florida such as slightly creeping temps while at idle for long periods of time, so I replaced literally everything when it came time to fix the heater core. I mean everything, cooler thermostat, aluminum radiator, new fan clutch, every hose, the whole lot. Since that time I have noticed after a long period of time ( talking months) I am missing coolant, I have just been toping off and everything been fine. I have even driven it from Portland OR area to Moab and back with no issues, never over heats, no visible pools under the jeep (no coolant any way) no smoke in the exhaust, no water in the oil, nothing. It even did fine when we just recently had this heat wave of 116+, today however I noticed the temp was on the high side, not overheating but higher than normal. I went straight home the temp held the same place never overheating never really cooling off. I parked it waited for it to cool off opened the radiator cap and saw it was low. I then used by radiator bleeder/ funnel to purge the air and add coolant. When the temp got to the thermostat it pulled an old faithful on me, no air that I could tell just whole ton of water. If anyone has any clue to what's happening please let me know (really really hoping its not a head gasket or head).
Sorry for the longwinded post just trying to cover everything.

Water?don’t you mean antifreeze.

 

[CharlesHS]

With the low coolant level in the radiator and the increased operating temperatures; sounds like there is a slow leak in the system.
The cooler thermostat was a wrong choice; should have used a Stant 197* thermostat.
The 4.0L operates the best for emissions and gas mileage when operated at the proper temperatures.
The aluminum radiator would not be my first choice; quite a few forum members have had cracking problems.
IF you can locate one... the factory Mopar radiators are best as a replacement.

 

[blackbeard00]

With the low coolant level in the radiator and the increased operating temperatures; sounds like there is a slow leak in the system.
The cooler thermostat was a wrong choice; should have used a Stant 197* thermostat.
The 4.0L operates the best for emissions and gas mileage when operated at the proper temperatures.
The aluminum radiator would not be my first choice; quite a few forum members have had cracking problems.
IF you can locate one... the factory Mopar radiators are best as a replacement.

So far the aluminum radiator hasn't let me down, at least no visible leaks. I had a few days off and looked over everything. I noticed that the thermostat looked like it was sticking and opening way past when it was supposed to. While I had the cooling system apart and was looking over parts I cleaned out my reservoir and noticed my over flow bottle hose was 100% plugged. Blow whatever it was in there into space with some compressed air, put it all back together and seems to be doing great now. I know I should be running a warmer thermostat I just came from older turd muscle cars in Florida so I am paranoid about letting things get warm I will more than likely swap it out latter.