2.0 Coolant Overheating issue

[wantingtobuyonetouch]

When I am idling or sitting for awhile the coolant temperate heats up. It gets lower if the car is shut off, or if you keep driving, but will periodically go higher in temperature. I have replaced both the fan and sensor, and the thermostat. I’m not sure what else it can be (water pump, head gasket?) before I take it to the dealer. Anyone have this same problem?

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[azjl#3]

define heats up and higher?

 

[travis304]

You need to say what temperatures you're seeing.

It's "normal" (not ideal, but expected) to see coolant temps in traffic, on a hot day, above 220. Especially so for these little high-strung turbo 4's.

I personally find these temps to be bullshit myself, have seen enough plastic shit warp over the years, ran enough triple-core radiators and track cars on the streets with 185 thermostats, and find 220+ temps insane. MOPAR calls it normal.

All that said, I just bought a JL Tazer Mini and I turn my rad fan with button shortcut on the steering wheel on as soon as I'm above 205 or so. Cools right back down to 185, stat opens/closes so I know nothing is wrong there, and everything is fine.

 

[wantingtobuyonetouch]

It will go to 240-260. It went from doing it at idle months ago, to now periodically doing it while driving and idling.

 

[travis304]

It will go to 240-260. It went from doing it at idle months ago, to now periodically doing it while driving and idling.

230 would be the limit of "normal". Did you test your thermostat before installing it to make sure it opens? Throw it in a pot of water and boil it.

Thermostat should start to open at 195. Is your fan turning on as temps climb?

 

[tk1700]

Is the coolant full?

 

[wantingtobuyonetouch]

Is the coolant full?

Of course. No leaks.

 

[wantingtobuyonetouch]

230 would be the limit of "normal". Did you test your thermostat before installing it to make sure it opens? Throw it in a pot of water and boil it.

Thermostat should start to open at 195. Is your fan turning on as temps climb?

Fan turns on around 220-230 iirc, still shouldn’t be climbing like this.

 

[travis304]

Of course. No leaks.

When you replaced stuff, did you bleed air from the system? Have you been able to put a stethoscope on or near the water pump and listen to it?

 

[MyKeg]

Did you check both reservoirs? I think I was having the same symptom as you. When sitting at idle (e.g. a stop light or traffic jam) but engine temp would shoot up and give me a warning. If I threw it into neutral and gave it some gas it would go back down to normal operating levels. I was sure it was the thermostat but did some more digging. The black, opaque coolant reservoir on the driver side closer to the cabin ended up empty even through the translucent one was completely in normal range. I never saw or smelled a leak either. Once I got that reservoir filled back up, the high engine temp issues went away.

 

[VKSheridan]

Separate your condenser from your radiator and give it a good cleansing. It doesn’t sound like you have a “making too much heat” issue since it gets hot at idle but rather a “not getting rid of heat” issue. Airflow is usually the culprit.

 

[Old Dogger]

Are you using MOPAR OEM parts? How about your antifreeze is it MOPAR OAT 50/50 mix antifreeze? How about your engine coolant levels?

 

[wantingtobuyonetouch]

Did you check both reservoirs? I think I was having the same symptom as you. When sitting at idle (e.g. a stop light or traffic jam) but engine temp would shoot up and give me a warning. If I threw it into neutral and gave it some gas it would go back down to normal operating levels. I was sure it was the thermostat but did some more digging. The black, opaque coolant reservoir on the driver side closer to the cabin ended up empty even through the translucent one was completely in normal range. I never saw or smelled a leak either. Once I got that reservoir filled back up, the high engine temp issues went away.

You’re the winner! 4 months of issues have plagued me, and the solution was the black coolant tank. I’m not sure how it got low, but I feel foolish throwing money at other things they never fixed the issue. Thank you so much for your help.

 

[shane h.]

Look at the RPM Extreme fan controller. Complete game changer for coolant and oil temperature regulation. It's good enough that I've put it in both of our JLURs - one built and one stock, and two of my trail buddies have it installed in their Rubicons now.

 

[Heimkehr]

Did you check both reservoirs? The black, opaque coolant reservoir on the driver side closer to the cabin ended up empty even through the translucent one was completely in normal range.

They're separate circuits. That the translucent reservoir had the correct coolant level would have no effect on the opaque reservoir, which is usually the problematic one when cooling issues occur.

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