HELP KJ Can't Stay Cool

[04jeepkj]

Ok doing some pretty good wheeling yesterday and about halfway through the temp gauge spiked and engine started to smoke, coolent boiling and a small leak in the radiatior. . . So let her cool down put some water in and made a temp fix on the radiator. got back on the trail and not 2 mins later temp spiked again and coolent boiling from the tank. Got her off the trail let her cool down for 3 hours, no leak, started up fine, after 2 mins of driving temp spiked yet again.
And i have no clue what is causing the KJ to do this. . . There are however a few thing i noticed, the cooling fan doesn't seem to be coming on at all, Turning on the heat full blast brought the temperature down a little. And Jeep did a pretty good job on hiding the thermostat. . .

Anyone else have any issues like this? Any ideas?

The KJ is an 04 3.7L V6.

[2003KJ]

How much mud is caked in your radiator?

My money is on the fact that mud is plastered in front of it, blocking air flow.....and it has also shorted out your radiator fan as well. Wouldn't be the first time i've seen it.

[04jeepkj]

How much mud is caked in your radiator?

My money is on the fact that mud is plastered in front of it, blocking air flow.....and it has also shorted out your radiator fan as well. Wouldn't be the first time i've seen it.

would that cause all these problems? cause even at idle she was overheating. . .

[2003KJ]

would that cause all these problems? cause even at idle she was overheating. . .

Yeah it most certainly can....it's actually happened to a couple of people on here in the past from getting a little too carried away playing in mud.

It is overheating at idle because the fan isn't coming on. What's wrong with the radiator?

[Marlon_JB2]

Yeah it most certainly can....it's actually happened to a couple of people on here in the past from getting a little too carried away playing in mud.


ANd I would be one of them...

Clean the radiator!!!

[04jeepkj]

cleaned the radiator, one of the fan relays in the fuse box under the hood is dead. . . i am hoping that will solve it cause i am 4 hours from home and the KJ can't make it 4 blocks without overheating

[04jeepkj]

Well i got the kj back to a safe place, and started taking things apart. . . Took the KJ to the dealer to see what issues and if the problem was something more than i could trouble shoot. . . turns out it was just the fan. So i went and got the KJ before they could start working on replacing the fan cause they wanted $465.00 to fix it HA HA HA NOT!!! Got a fan on its way for $140, and paid the dealer $35 for them telling me thats what was wrong with my KJ.

So i took the old fan out, cleaned it and its still dead so i am waiting for the new one to get here in the morning, meanwhile i will be cleaning out all the mud and stuff from the radiator and other now easier places to get too.

[2003KJ]

Figured that's what it was.

They're kind of picky when it comes to mud sometimes...

[patbluejeep]

well great our kj is doing the same thing. a quick fan cleaning worked before but i think its trashed now.

[04jeepkj]

I think i am going to go with a fan that bolts to the pulley, a heavy duty towing fan. . . Right now i have an electric aftermarket 1 high speed fan wired to a switch in the cab. The only problem is my dad forgets to A. turn it on or B. turn it off and kills the battery. So if i get the other one, i can eliminate the switch and just make it easier.

[john jr]

Your water pump will not hold up with that fan on there

[LibertyOrDeath]

With this guy riding shotgun you'll never over heat.
http://pics.bestpicever.com/pics/pic_12066559869341.jpg

[tjkj2002]

Your water pump will not hold up with that fan on there
Yes it will,the mechanical OEM fan was a option that came with HD cooling and/or the tow package.But the mechanical fan IS NOT designed to properly cool the KJ on it's own.It will decrease your power(added mechanical drag on the engine) and will shorten the life of the WP bearings,to maybe 100,000miles,but after time all WP's need to be changed for one reason or another.

[501]

My KJ had the same problem but it ended up that the connector to the fan that's mounted on the shrod was bad. My wires were red hot and when I took the connector apart I noticed it was burnt inside from arching.

I cut the connector off and re-connected it with sta-con connectors and it works great now.

[04jeepkj]

I think this might have been the reason why the KJ couldn't stay cool. . .
http://a13.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/68/l_1d1d7e58a5567b7e16ba9c2b010137b4.jpg