thermastat or no thermastat

[K85k03]

Iam having problems with my cherokee over heating and I have a new radiator, and new water pump and plenty of fluids, and I have asked a few people and some tell me to just pull out the thermastat and then other tell me that its a bad idea to pull it. so I figured I would just ask the people at RME. would the thermastat make a difference if I pulled it? Thanks.

kyle

 

[Herzog]

I've been running my cherokee all summer with out a thermostat. It helped mine out a lot.

Also make sure you've let all the air circulate out of the cherokee's coolant system. Sometimes that process gets forgotten and they will act up and overheat a lot!

I plan on putting a thermostat back in this fall when the weather cools down though.

 

[grinch]

If its bad replace it..... They serve a purpose.... they cycle water between the raidiator and the block so the raidiator has time to cool the fluid before its sent back to the engine.... also in the winter it allows the block to heat up before it starts running coolent through the block...... Trust me thermostats are a good thing to run... If it goes bad on the trail pull it out and run without it but replace it when you get home.....

 

[K85k03]

what if I run it without the therm. and it still gets warm when Iam just sitting there. but cools down slightly going down the road. but Ive never had this problem until a couple of weeks ago.

 

[Greg]

You probably have an air bubble in the cooling system, like Herzog mentioined.

To get check it, take off the Rad. Cap, top off the coolant then run the engine. Keep a close eye on the fluid level.... after about 5 minutes, the thermostat should open & the fluid in the radiator will move into the engine. Top off the coolant again & let it run for another 5 minutes. Make sure the Temp is at normal operating temp, then put the cap back on.

If you have a bubble, that should take care of it. If it still doesn't fix your problem, I'd replace the Thermostat. It could be stuck opened, therefore not allowing the coolant time to cool in the radiator. Either of those should keep you busy for a little while!

Good luck!

 

[K85k03]

thanks I will get right to it and see what happens.

 

[Fuller]

maybe your fan clutch is bad. another thing that is good to do on cherokee is to wire a switch inline with your electric fan so you can turn it on when it gets hot.

 

[SAMI]

that's what i'm gonna do on my zuk!

 

[Get Me wired]

Originally posted by K85k03
what if I run it without the therm. and it still gets warm when Iam just sitting there. but cools down slightly going down the road. but Ive never had this problem until a couple of weeks ago.

This points to an air flow problem. What kind of fan do you have, electric or belt driven?

 

[K85k03]

I have both fans. electric and belt driven.

 

[Shawn]

Can you see through the fins in the radiator? Are they cloged with bugs or mud?

A thremostat is a must. I agree with the above mentioning the air flow problem.

 

[K85k03]

ya. the fins are good, no bugs or mud. Iam getting confused. I have no idea what the problem is. atleast Iam finding out about the therm. I allways get mixed answers when I asked friends.

 

[Shawn]

K,

How clean is the fluid? When you look into the Rad is it clean or do you see build up in the holes?

Have you tried to back flush?

 

[K85k03]

I don't know what back flush is? but ya Ive drained the fluid twice. once just to check, and then when I replaced the water pump. thanks.

 

[sukaB]

I would hope the shroud is still in place...
I would recommend a thermo as well.
Back flush could hurt either..

 

[N-Smooth]

overheating sucks... my car was overheating and i got a therm and it went away. dude therms are like $7 at my work and probably any other place. my buddies 89 xj is overheating and he says that hs 4.0 doesn't have a rad cap... is that true? he says it goes from the reservoir to the rad...???

-nate