Help! KJ Overheating

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rocknrun

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I'm actually sitting on the side of the road while typing this; KJ started overheating, I'm letting it cool down so I can hopefully limp on home (not far away). Hoses are fine, serpentine belt is fine, no noise from the water pump (is there such a thing as a silent water pump failure?). Had the radiator flushed and filled last Saturday, but have driven several hundred miles since then without problem, and no, it's not unusually hot weather today. Any ideas of what to look for? 2004 KJ, 3.7.
 

Xodius

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Lol another 04 problem. A coworker of mine has same prob and hers is a 4 ******.


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Xodius

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Btw I have no idea and hope you get home ok. Sorry to hear of the problem.


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streetglideok

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WHen its warmed up, how good does the heater put out? How full is the coolant? Was the cooling system serviced for maint, or to address another problem? Sometimes waterpump impellers come loose and freespin on the shaft, but its not very common, in fact, its one of the last things I'll go to check. Stop and go traffic, or open hwy driving? Is the radiator fan working?
 

rocknrun

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Made it home OK, had to stop a couple of times and let it cool down. Last weeks flush/fill was for maint, but once I got the chance to read some other threads on here I realized that they used the wrong kind of anti-freeze...don't think that would have messed anything up in 900 miles though. With 110,000 miles on it won't hurt to go ahead and change the water pump even if that's not the problem. Rad fan is running. Think I'll just flush and re-fill myself, and do the water pump changeout, found a how to on it, looks fairly easy. Might as well change out the thermostat while I'm at it.
 

rocknrun

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What coolant did they use? No overheating issue before the flush was done?

They used the wrong coolant, used green instead of Zerex; don't know that it being in the system for one week and 900 miles was enough to cause this problem. I just ordered all the parts I need to change the water pump and the thermostat, plus a couple of other things I need from Advance Auto online for in-store pickup. Found an online coupon that knocked $35 off my order so I'm pretty happy about that. Advance doesn't have the Zerex so I'll have to get it at Napa or O'Reilys. Good thing I took today off so I could have a 4 day weekend.
 

rocknrun

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OK, I have flushed the green stuff out, put in a new water pump (the one I took out looked fine), put in a new thermostat, went ahead and replaced the lower rad hose while I was down there, re-filled with Zerex G-05. I left the cap off of the overflow tank while it was running, got quite hot and was overflowing out so I replaced the cap. Jeep still runs hot; runs hotter at 35 mph than 55 mph and yes, the rad fan is working. Any suggestions? Air still trapped in the system maybe?
 

G36 Shooter

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When you refilled the cooling did you remove the allen socket plug by the upper rad hose engine side? Let the engine cool and remove this plug and fill with coolant, your prob. could most likely be an air pocket.
 

rocknrun

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When you refilled the cooling did you remove the allen socket plug by the upper rad hose engine side? Let the engine cool and remove this plug and fill with coolant, your prob. could most likely be an air pocket.

Didn't remove the plug, I'll give that a try. Do I need to drain the coolant I put in and refill?
 

G36 Shooter

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Didn't remove the plug, I'll give that a try. Do I need to drain the coolant I put in and refill?

No, just fill up the engine after removing the plug, reinstall, start engine and set heater dial to max heat, watch temp gauge and heat output. My engine temp allways is to the left of TDC no matter if I tow or normal daily driving, Good luck.
 

rocknrun

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Jeep still overheating at interstate speeds, but I think the problem has been diagnosed. Went by a radiator shop Saturday, told old fellow that owns it came out, felt my upper and lower rad hoses which were hot and then felt my radiator which wasn't. Clogged radiator. Spent this afternoon pulling the radiator (a bigger job than what I thought it would be) will drop it off tomorrow morning at the rad shop to be "boiled out" and I'll re-install tomorrow evening. Hopefully, this will be the end of this little saga.
 

BjBnet

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did it fix it?
I'm asking because mine did the same today. The cap had a cracked gasket so I replaced it but it's still the same.
I have a new waterpump sitting in front of me and a thermostat but I'm getting that warm fuzzy feeling that might not be the problem
 

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