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It's a Jeep thing ... 'All hot and bothered'


Wrangeld

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So it finally happened. After weeks of driving happily around the desert (including a Liwa expedition) without any overheating, little TJ got a bit hot and bothered this weekend while struggling through some soft sand and frustrated that it could not climb a hill decided to throw its toys out the pram [OK - water was bubbling out of the expansion tank]. 

Being quite new to this game, I happily believed everyone that said this is a 'Jeep' thing, and that they run hot: but I was hoping that there is advice out there about the solutions we can use/install so that we can continue to come out to play during the summer, and avoid the 20 minute long wait and litres of water poured over the radiator needed last weekend. 

I have heard that there is room for an additonal cooling fan and wondered if there's other people with experience that can suggest solutions that don't require us to spend money that would be much better employed in mods. [Now there's a thought, if there is a mod that makes it less likely we get stuck in soft sand, we can invest in that instead and the heating problem's gone Hahahahaha!]

Or, is this just a Jeep thing and we are just going to have to live with it!

 

P.S. All of you tempted to suggest the best mod would be to sell the Jeep and buy a Mitsubishi/Toyota/Nissan instead ... thanks!

Edited by Wrangeld
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@Wrangeld welcome to the Jeep overheating club. My suggestions which I have done for my XJ (which shares the same engine as your TJ) are as follows:

1. Replaced water with Red coolant (Toyota brand)

2. Installed 2 Hi Speed Aux Fans (there was infact space for 3 fans, but got only two installed). It costed about AED 80 per fan

It has been close to 3 years and even on some real heavy pushing (in summer months) rarely has the car gone anything above 110 deg.C (max is at 125 deg. C, with normal around 95 deg. C). Also, I would recommend you to carry a water spray can to help cool in the event of overheating.

Hope this solves the jeep overheating issue. 

27 minutes ago, Wrangeld said:

P.S. All of you tempted to suggest the best mod would be to sell the Jeep and buy a Mitsubishi/Toyota/Nissan instead ... thanks!

And for this, there are always going to be people suggesting only Japs. But I have seen them overheat more often then my XJ

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23 minutes ago, Wrangeld said:

I have heard that there is room for an additonal cooling fan and wondered if there's other people with experience that can suggest solutions that don't require us to spend money that would be much better employed in mods.

For TJs it is recommended to add an aluminium radiator and an extra cooling fan with a switch so you can turn it on when needed. 

 

 

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If coolant is bubbling out that means your system is not airtight anymore and air is leaking in from somewhere. 

It's supposed to be airtight to increase pressure to stop it from bubbling. Most likely suspect, radiator cap gone bad.

Had the same issue in those dark times when I owned a sheep xj same motor and everything as the TJ. 

I could drive all day long nothing but the moment I parked within 30 seconds the expansion tank would start bubbling and spewing out coolant.

I had just out in a OEM radiator and an original Mopar rad cap too. 

After weeks like this it took me literally an hour of just staring at the engine while running to figure it out. A tiny droplet of coolant would weep out from under the cap and within in minutes evaporate leaving almost no trace behind hence it took so long to figure out.

The original Mopar cap wasn't sealing the OEM rad neck 100%

So a cheap 20 dhs generic rad cap from sanaiya was put on and fixed the issue.

 

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1 minute ago, Javier M said:

For TJs it is recommended to add an aluminium radiator and an extra cooling fan with a switch so you can turn it on when needed. 

 

 

Yes, good suggestion by Javier. I have done the same when my stock radiator started leaking. I changed it to a 4 core full aluminium radiator that costed me approx AED 700 - 800. Makes a difference. The only question is whether you wish to do the full modification in one go or start with one and see if it resolves the problem.

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P.S : Jeeps are shit in the summer I couldn't handle the Jeep thing if the temp needle being almost 3/4th way to overheat and everyone telling me it's ok don't worry. It went great in the desert but I never really enjoyed it with my eyes more on the temp gauge than the dunes and was more than happy to get rid of it

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1 minute ago, desertdude said:

P.S : Jeeps are shit in the summer I couldn't handle the Jeep thing if the temp needle being almost 3/4th way to overheat and everyone telling me it's ok don't worry. It went great in the desert but I never really enjoyed it with my eyes more on the temp gauge than the dunes and was more than happy to get rid of it

I guess either you were unlucky or i was lucky. Never had a heating issue even in summers. The fact is that I was forced to change the entire cooling system as soon as I purchased the vehicle and like I said it has been 3 years. Even driving at 42 deg. C in the desert and I have not had an overheating issue. 

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1 hour ago, Srikumar said:

I guess either you were unlucky or i was lucky. Never had a heating issue even in summers. The fact is that I was forced to change the entire cooling system as soon as I purchased the vehicle and like I said it has been 3 years. Even driving at 42 deg. C in the desert and I have not had an overheating issue. 

Bar none the worst car I've ever owned. It only overheated once but the temp issues were just one small part of what made it shit for me. 

What I was trying to say earlier was according to internet wisdom and many of my sheeper friends. Running hot not overheating in the desert was/is considered totally normal. But I just couldn't comes to terms with this "Jeep thing" behaviour and thus was never comfortable and relaxed off roading in it.

But I did sell it for almost twice what I paid for it and bought two Land Rovers from that money. So it somewhat made up for all the misery it gave me while I had it. 

Edited by desertdude
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