Overheated for the first time this morning. Is it okay to drive to shop or not?

PattonD

PattonD

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The kid was driving to school and just before she got there, the check gauges light came on. She pulled into her parking space and it started hissing and antifreeze started running on the ground. She called me, and I asked her to crank it to let me see what the gauges showed and everything was back to normal.

I didn't have a key, but ran by about 30 minutes later and found the antifreeze under the Jeep, but from the spots, it looks as if it happened after she stopped, not while she was running in. There was nothing leaking once I got there.

The radiator cap was only warm at this point and the overflow shows to be at acceptable levels.

I THINK that i am safe to drive it to the shop (about 5 miles, 15 minutes), but would appreciate others thoughts.

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I'm no expert compared to some of the geniuses located on this forum, but considering the distance you need to go, I'd think that you'd be alright making that drive. With that being said, I'm sure it's a super simple fix that you could do there at home as well. My first guess is that your thermostat is stuck in the closed position and it just boiled over out of the reservoir. Looking at your last picture though, up on the shroud you've got antifreeze pooled there. That makes me think your radiator cap is either not fully seated or bad unless your reservoir was seriously spraying all over the place.
 
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looking closer at your pictures, I'm willing to bet it came out of your reservoir. I'm either going to get blasted by other members, or they're going to agree. I'd pick up a new thermostat and replace it. Simple 10-minute job.
 
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I'm going to try and get it to the house and see what happens. That's only 2.5 miles.
 
The fluid looks fresh, was it changed recently? Could be a stuck thermo. Water pumps usually leak out the bottom of pump, not top of radiator (fingers crossed). The fact you had some warnings is what you gotta track down.
 
WSS said:
The fluid looks fresh, was it changed recently? Could be a stuck thermo. Water pumps usually leak out the bottom of pump, not top of radiator (fingers crossed). The fact you had some warnings is what you gotta track down.
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It’s only got about 1000 miles on it since it was flushed. It has been driven in much warmer weather recently. Thermostat or cap failure are my first checks, just have to get it out of the school parking lot
 
If the check gauges came on, it was hot.

Stuck thermostat is my guess.

If it was just the cap leaking, it will just spray the engine bay. Weak spring on the cap will allow it to boil over at normal temps into the reservoir.

I would change the cap if it's old anyway.
 
Made it about a mile, before the light came back on. Steam coming from what I think is the head gasket

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That's the thermostat housing and it's pretty common to leak there. While it could be a head or head gasket there are quite a few things to check first. That white crud, steam and water in the picture aren't where the head gasket normally leaks.
 
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If you didn't pour water back into the radiator through the radiator fill that will cause a quick overheat. Cap wont cause a quick overheat in any situation, you could even run with it off, it wont pin the needle that fast in my opinion.

(my first guess is the housing sprung a leak and you lost enough coolant to cause an overheat, then you didn't fill the radiator the second time)
 
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defenderu said:
Could just be overflow. Hmmm loose cap maybe. Weird to see it on the upper radiator area.
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My first thought too. Could be just a radiator cap that wasn't screwed down all the way or the cap needs to be replaced with a fresh one with the correct 18 psi pressure rating.
 
Hopefully it’s the housing, sending it to the shop, waiting on the tow truck now
 
They are saying its the water pump, replacing that and the thermostat.

Also having them check the hard shift into first while at it.
 
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PattonD said:
They are saying its the water pump, replacing that and the thermostat.

Also having them check the hard shift into first what at it.
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A hard shift is a common problem without a known easy fix. I had that with my previous TJ's AX-15 too. I read its input shaft bearing could cause that problem so I had high hopes after replacing it during a clutch job. Nope, didn't help.

Hopefully your shop is not using a cheap store brand water pump, and make sure they use a 195 degree NON-failsafe thermostat. :)
 
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pagrey said:
If you didn't pour water back into the radiator through the radiator fill that will cause a quick overheat. Cap wont cause a quick overheat in any situation, you could even run with it off, it wont pin the needle that fast in my opinion.

(my first guess is the housing sprung a leak and you lost enough coolant to cause an overheat, then you didn't fill the radiator the second time)
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Came here to say this. After any cooling "event" you need to make sure the radiator is full, not just the overflow tank.
 
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