Well this issue started in December right after purchase of my 1st Jeep. Radiator sprung a leak in the Plastic tank on top. Replaced Radiator with new. and it ran several weeks before starting to overheat after driving a little while and stopping at stoplights, would rapidly cool back to what I thought was normal temp. Replaced Thermostat, and Sensor, found crack in Thermostat Housing, Replaced that and still getting the same thing. Getting a little drip out of tailpipe with a sweet smell of Anti freeze. About at my wits end. Is it time for a Head gasket or worse?
Overheating Issues With My 2005 4.0L, Manual Rubicon
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Rubirob
TJ Enthusiast
Sounds like a bad water pump started it all, and now probably a head gasket if your smelling/seeing coolant out of the tailpipe. These guys will still run alright with a blown head gasket.. I did one on my 90 XJ Cherokee.. how many miles do you got on it? The Cherokee had 215k when the head gasket went
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Coolant dripping out of the tail pipe is pretty much a clear sign you have a blown head gasket. Also be aware that not many aftermarket store brand radiators cool as well as the OE Mopar radiator does.
And if it mostly overheats when sitting still, that often means your fan thermostat-clutch is not spinning the fan enough when the engine isn't getting air through the radiator from driving it. So a new fan clutch may be in order. Is your fan shroud in place and in good condition? The fan shroud is crucial to good cooling when you're stopped or in stop & go traffic.
And if it mostly overheats when sitting still, that often means your fan thermostat-clutch is not spinning the fan enough when the engine isn't getting air through the radiator from driving it. So a new fan clutch may be in order. Is your fan shroud in place and in good condition? The fan shroud is crucial to good cooling when you're stopped or in stop & go traffic.
Rubirob
TJ Enthusiast
And for your question about maybe something worse, someone correct me if I’m wrong.. but there are certain years of our jeeps that are prone to actually having the head crack or warp or something right? I remember checking mine and it did or didn’t have the print on it.. so mine isn’t one of them, it’s the one after they fixed the problem with the metal or something idk.. but what I’m getting is with overheating issues you can mess the head up.. so when you replace it check for warping and cracks.
On the Cherokee the head warped and we had it milled down. Most parts shop either have a machine shop in them or at a different location, or have a place the can recommend
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On the Cherokee the head warped and we had it milled down. Most parts shop either have a machine shop in them or at a different location, or have a place the can recommend
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Only has 118K miles, and yes it seems to run fine, no misses or oil consumption, No water in oil or any other tell tale signs.
Fan Shroud is in place and in good condition, wound up buying OEM non Mopar Brand radiator, wish I had came on here earlier for better advise. Glad to have found you guys, Thanks to all who replied.
Rubirob
TJ Enthusiast
Mine didn’t have any of those issues, but it was a blown head gasket. Like jerry said, if your seeing and smelling coolant from the tailpipe I can bet it’s a blown head gasket. I didn’t know about the fan shrouds causing problems. Good info to know tho, I do know when a water pump fails a lot of the time at idle is when you see it.. when the engine rpms pick up the pump will work more and cool stuff down.. and yes always get mopar parts, for everything you can.. it might cost more, and be a pain to hunt down.. but they are better
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That's common, new Jeepers wouldn't know about the problem with most other radiators not working as well. When catalogs say "OEM replacement", they phrase it like that that to fool people... it just means what they're selling will bolt into place of what the factory installed, not that it's actually the OEM product.
