Overheating Issue

[jharrisliberty]

I was out on a trail yesterday when all of a sudden I had what looked like white smoke coming from out of the tail pipe. The only thing with this is that when I went back to check and see if it was oil that was burning it had a sweet smell to it. So I figured out that it was coolant that was coming out of the exhaust. I was headed back to town after being up on a trail for a good part of the morning and then it started to overheat just a little bit. The temp gauge was a little over the norm. I had to stop a couple of times on the way back into town to let the engine cool down enough to get her to the closest parts store. By the time that I made it to the parts store there was no more coolant vapor coming out of the tailpipe anymore. So due to these symptoms my frined and I concluded that there was a really good possibility that it was the thermostat that was stuck shut. This got changed in the parking lot. I bled the system and it seemed to be running great. It was holding a steady temp all the way home on the highway and through a good bit of stop and go traffic. The only thing that I noticed was that the heater even though being on was not getting hot. So I figured the heater core just went out, which is no big deal cause winter is over here for the most part. After I got home I made a short run to the store and on my way back I noticed that it had started to overheat again. The only thing that I can come up with that is left to change would be the water pump. Please help as this is becoming a very frustrating problem as this is my DD.

 

[Phil + Neela]

Uh oh...for coolant to come out of your exhaust, that's usually a head gasket problem $$$$ maybe not immediately, but eventually.

Be particularly careful about not overheating the libby, as the aluminum heads warp easily and will kill it.

If your heater core is not getting hot AND you're overheating, this means the coolant is not flowing properly (or even at all). You did the thermostat already. Next is to check for clogs in the system, but that doesn't sound too likely anymore.

If it's not any of these easier fixes, then it's probably the water pump as you feared.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Hundojoe]

I would say that you either have a bad head gasket or cracked head, worst case scenario could be a cracked block. Check your oil to see if it's milky looking or its higher then it should be.

 

[jharrisliberty]

I would say that you either have a bad head gasket or cracked head, worst case scenario could be a cracked block. Check your oil to see if it's milky looking or its higher then it should be.

There is no coolant in the oil. That was one of the first things that I checked. There is also no oil in the coolant either. Also as far as I can tell there is no oil leaking either.

 

[tjkj2002]

Could have been heat soak if you were not in 4low on the trail.That low range does wonders for keeping heat soak and temps in check.

 

[jharrisliberty]

I just put in a new water pump. Hopefully this will take care of the problem. I am going to drive it to work tomorrow and hope that the problem is solved. I did take the time to run the engine for what felt like a long enough period of time once at operating temps to make sure that it didn't start to over heat. Also the problem of no heat in the cab was eliminated once I put on this water pump. I will post whether or not this fixed my problem tomorrow night. Thanks for all of the help and insight. Also didn't know that I should have been in 4low on the trail and will keep that in mind next time.

 

[renegade 04]

If you have the ability to get a OBDII reader on it you should be able to see what the actual engine temperature is and see that the engine is over heating before it does. I have a engine temperature gauge on my liberty and it has a digital readout so I can tell exactly what the engine temperature is. the temperature gauge has saved me a few times and allowed me to take action and turn the cooling fan to high BEFORE I got into a overheat scenario.

 

[jharrisliberty]

So I drove to go get dinner tonight and basically put it through its paces. And it does not overheat anymore but it does look like it is going to need a head gasket. It started to burn coolant again. So now I have to look into that. Thanks for all of the help.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

Could have been heat soak if you were not in 4low on the trail.That low range does wonders for keeping heat soak and temps in check.

What is heat soak? I've never heard the term before.

 

[tjkj2002]

What is heat soak? I've never heard the term before.

Basically running at high operating temps(219 degrees or above for the KJ) for extended length of time resulting in overheating other parts of the engine(sensors,starter,injectors and such) and other items bolted to the engine.


Often is the result of a poorly maintained cooling system or severely over working the engine.


One good example on a KJ is when(not if) you overheat the engine and have a auto trans(more important for '02 KJ's with the in-radiator trans cooler) you must have the trans fluid flushed since it was also exposed to excessive heat by the engine just by being bolted to it.