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Coolant system FAIL - Now I have Valve Cover Off! 8-)


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*Story*

 

Ok...not having a good week... my Grandfather in Florida passed away last week... packed up and flew out this past Wednesday (San Jose Airport is about 30-40ish miles away from home)... Drove the MJ since I was by myself, and still have the Top off the TJ and don't really want to leave that parked at the airport (especially with no top).

 

So flew back home from Orlando today (after having my GPS on my phone not work and get sort of lost going to the airport, and nearly missing my flight), was hoping to get home soon enough to see the wife, whom I hadn't seen in a few days, before she had to leave for work and get home to my kids...Was already running late because of another flight delay in Las Vegas. Started driving home on the Freeway...and the engine just STOPS, I mean abruptly...I coast over to the shoulder and smell burning and then start to see the smoke/steam...

 

I get out and the engine compartment has coolant EVERYWHERE, I mean covered from top to bottom...

 

Called AAA, got the tow home, missed the wife by about 1/2 hour and now have to do more work on the MJ...I am thinking more and more that I should just get rid of this thing...I still have to fix the rust spot under the dash before winter rainy season, have an engine that could go anytime, and tranny that usually, but not always will go into gear...

 

Probably just tired from all the traveling and disappointed that I couldn't make it home to see my whole family, but the MJ REALLY let me down today... :fs1:

 

BTW, I don't know how TAZ or anyone else for that matter lives in Florida... I mean the Humidity (which I was told was mild while I was there), is just KILLER...literally gave me headaches...

 

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Hang in there Wade, all it needs is a new heater valve, I've seen plastic and metal ones, I would get the metal one. Where exactly is that on 17?

 

P.S. My condolences for the passing of your grandfather.

 

Thanks... I was just south of HWY85...luckily where there still is a shoulder...had I been on my way up the Hill, I would have been in a HEAP of trouble (virtually no shoulder on either side for about 10 miles up a 1500-2000ft incline/decline) for those that have never been between San Jose and Santa Cruz.

 

BTW, if anyone has an extra heater valve laying around of the part # for a new one, I'm all ears.

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This happened to me too, and is exacerly the reason I dumped the water control valve and went with the 1997+ design that does not use them. It's a crappy design but fortunately an easy fix Wade-man. Sorry about your Grandfather too SW2.

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The happened to me too, and is exacerly the reason I dumped the water control valve and went with the 1997+ design that does not use them. It's a crappy design but fortunately an easy fix Wade-man. Sorry about your Grandfather too man.

 

Thanks Hornbrod...this was just the icing on a pretty crummy week or so...

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I believe we have one new in box sitting on the shelf at the shop.

 

PM me your addy and I'll get it sent out to you Monday AM.

 

 

IF he doesn't have one.. I have one as well.

 

 

I had issues with the closed system as well, so I ended up doing the open conversion, and did away with all that heater hose crap there.

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Wade, Ill take a pic of where my drivers floor used to be, that should cheer you up. This is probally just bad karma coming back at you because of that guy you had rolled up in the rug.

 

 

Sorry to hear about your GF.

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I believe we have one new in box sitting on the shelf at the shop.

 

PM me your addy and I'll get it sent out to you Monday AM.

 

 

IF he doesn't have one.. I have one as well.

 

 

I had issues with the closed system as well, so I ended up doing the open conversion, and did away with all that heater hose crap there.

 

Thanks PP...will let you know if MOR ends up not having one on his shelf...

 

If I was 100% sure I was going to keep this and/or do an engine swap at some point I'd think about the open swap...I just don't have the time or want to throw the extra money at something that I still might just get rid of...

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Just get some plumbing fittings and get rid of the HCV. Mine cracked on the XJ and was leaking pretty bad, right now I just cut off the plastic part and ran a longer hose, but I'm going to get some plumbing in there. HCV is pretty useless, after all, they did eventually do away with it anyway.

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Damn, sorry to hear about that... :(

 

My closed cooling system looked alot worse that your, glad I converted to Open system. I also got rid of all of the Heater valve crap and ran 5/8 hose direct to the water outlet and heater core.

 

I was a little worried about relocating the Renix fan temp sensor, but as luck would have it, the newer style open radiator I bought off of ebay already had a spot for it!

 

Bought if from here for just over $60 shipped brand new.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/JEEP-CHEROKEE-91-92-93-94-95-96-97-98-4-0-L6-RADIATOR_W0QQitemZ330349002543QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item4cea55bf2f&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245

 

Though made in China, the quality is superior to the original OEM (which lasted 21 years btw) AND the temp sensor bung was made of brass, were as the OEM was plastic...

 

EDIT: The picture of the item even shows the plug for the Renix temp sensor :banana: Made the swap super easy :thumbsup:

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Well, taking the broken one off took about 3 minutes with a beer break in the middle, so if the replacement is just as quick, then other than the bad timing and the inconvenience of the tow (and all the a-holes that yelled at me as they drove by because they thought I was the reason for the Freeway slowdown), it wasn't that big of a deal...

 

But I am a drama queen, so I have to make a big deal about everything. :roll:

 

Maybe I'll even yank my dash and fix my rust spot while it's in the garage waiting for the new heater valve.

 

Thanks for everyone's condolences for my Grandfather...he was a good man...saw action in Europe and the Pacific in WW2, Korea and Vietnam (Air Force) and thankful he is no longer suffering the cancer all over his body and all the other stuff that had kept him pretty bad off the past few months. My kids got to spend a day with him when he was still "OK" in January, so hopefully they will remember him a little bit, even if only through some pics

 

Sw2

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Thanks for everyone's condolences for my Grandfather...he was a good man...saw action in Europe and the Pacific in WW2, Korea and Vietnam (Air Force) and thankful he is no longer suffering the cancer all over his body and all the other stuff that had kept him pretty bad off the past few months. My kids got to spend a day with him when he was still "OK" in January, so hopefully they will remember him a little bit, even if only through some pics

Sw2

 

Aye - you come from good stock SW2. A WW2, Korea, and Nam vet. Must have been a hell of a guy. :USAflag:

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Do you know why exactly your engine quit? I'm assuming it overheated due to lack of coolant?

 

You might want to check to make sure the overheating didn't cause any other problems .... just to be safe.

 

I'm always afraid of problems like this, so I just replaced my HCV, radiator, and all the hoses this past weekend. I got good deals on stuff and eveything was less than $150 total. Thats pretty cheap to make sure I've got a reliable cooling system .... well, except for that darn pressure bottle.

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I've got a reliable cooling system .... well, except for that darn pressure bottle.

You can always try that $100 aluminum bottle I've seen linked in other posts. However, I don't know if it's worth it, is anyone here using it?

 

i converted my truck over to a volvo pressure bottle (i'm a volvo mech. so i used what was lying around)

 

the pressure caps/bottles on them are highly reliable just had to step-down in the hose size a little bit, she cools great now.

took the jeep bracket and welded the volvo bracket to it.

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More $$$ than I want to put into this thing right now...

 

The radiator is about $60 shipped, and I got the coolant bottle for $5 from the JY, radiator cap and tstat for about $15 and upper and lower rad hoses for about $20. Pretty cheap all things considered. Just trying to help

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I wanted to send props to Motion Offroad for sending me the Heater Valve (for nothing)...it arrived today, installed in about 5 minutes, filled up with fluid and I again have a very poorly running MJ...but at least it runs again...

 

Thanks Again Adam, greatly appreciate it!

 

Wade

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...and I again have a very poorly running MJ...but at least it runs again...

 

Wade

Good to hear another MJ is back on the road but what's "poorly running"?

 

It starts most of the time...It runs, usually ...but original engine/tranny at 208K miles...it sounds like a diesel (the lifters and rods)...burns oil all the time, the tranny sometimes will go into gear (sometimes not)... I'm basically just waiting for it to up and die and then I will have to decide what to do for a swap or whatever...

 

I'm also a little disappointed that I didn't even elicit a snide or smart assed remark from either Wahoo or JT on this entire thread...what is this site coming too now a days?

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I'm also a little disappointed that I didn't even elicit a snide or smart assed remark from either Wahoo or JT on this entire thread...what is this site coming too now a days?

 

Bunch of slackers, apparently. :dunno:

 

Have you pulled up the valve cover to see if anything is loose inside?

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