The family and I left town late Thursday evening to visit my mom's side of the family for a few days. We spent Friday in Austin and then drove down to New Braunfels Saturday morning and spent the day floating the Comal river with the family. We had to pick my sister-in-law up from the airport Sunday morning around 10am, so we tried staying as late as we could Saturday night and still drive home without falling asleep. We ended up leaving around 9:30-10pm.

Around 11:15, I'm on IH-10, 65 miles away from home & I've got the cruise on 72ish. I happen to notice the coolant temp guage on the Jeep is reading kinda hot. I keep an eye on it for another 2-3 miles and the damn thing hits the top of the guage (245*+) and the digital read-out says oil temp is at the top of the scale as well (310*+). I find an exit (Weimar for the locals), which are few and far between out there, and get lucky that a motel is there. I pull into the parking lot and cannot locate anything out of the ordinary. Fan is running, overflow bottle for the radiator is full, no split hoses, but the motor has coolant sprayed all over it. I'm thinking the radiator cap sprayed. Of course I can't open it to check the level, though. After sitting in the motel parking lot for 30 minutes with no signs of the car cooling down enough to continue, we decide to stay the night.

$80 and 7 hours later, we hit the road again only to pull over into a rest-stop roughly 5 miles down the road, with coolant temps around 220*, but oil temps at the top of the guage. This time I notice that a hose going to the heater core is blown off. Oh yeah, the overflow bottle is still full at this point. I carefully put the hose back on, and proceed to fill the coolant system with water from the bathroom at the rest-stop with the largest container I have......an empty 32oz tea cup. 12+ trips later, the radiator is burping air out of the system as I let it idle for roughly 30 minutes gradually adding water to replace the burped air; the overflow bottle finally starts draining into the system. Coolant temps hover around 220* (normal is 195*) and oil temps stay around 230-240, which is normal. Feeling I have done enough to get the car home, we leave the rest-stop around 8am, an hour after leaving the motel.

10 minutes down the road, the guages are through the roof again and I pull off IH-10 roughly 5-10 miles west of Columbus at Hwy 949. There is absolutely nothing at this intersection and I end up parking in what used to be a gravel driveway for an abandoned house. At this point, we decide that since we have no more water to add to the vehicle, a tow is mandatory. Outside temps are hovering around 80* while we are trying to find a good deal on a tow. USAA finally comes through with a flatbed wrecker that will be there in ~45 minutes, can carry all 4 of us and charges $3/mile after the first 18 covered by USAA. So we now proceed to wait for the tow truck and in between the sudden downpours where we have to shut ourselves in the hot ****ing steamy car, my sons get to experience their first time of peeing on the side of the road. My oldest even had to do some additional business. Tow truck shows, we get in the car and my son says happily "This the first time I've ever been in a tow-truck". http://www.theplaceholder.com/forums/images/smilies/noemo.gif 1 hour and $87 later, we finally arrive home around 11am. We left Weimar, 61 miles away from home, 4 hours prior. Oh yeah, my father ended up picking my sister-in law up from the airport.

The Jeep was towed to the dealer Monday morning and they diagnosed it as a bad fan and control module. We were told the parts would be in on Tuesday, and we'd get it back that night. That afternoon we get a call saying "all the parts did not come in, so it won't be done until tomorrow". I'm betting it's not just the fan, so we'll see. I have yet to hear anything from them today.

Clif's Notes: ....... Happy Father's Day to me. http://www.theplaceholder.com/forums/images/smilies/noemo.gif

That blows.

Man that sucks...I hope things work out.

WOW....I'm so sorry to hear this Houston. This seems to be a bad month for us so far.

I hope they get her fixed up quickly for you. Keep us posted on exactly what the problem was. I'm curious how that hose came off to begin with. Would heat buildup cause that?

Would heat buildup cause that?

I'm thinking steam build-up.

man sorry that sucks, i found coolant spray in my bay also ( ****ty radiator cap soon to be replaced with stant #11334 ) but as to quote the srt engineers in lamens term "we drove it in death valley all day long and the temps stayed right where they should be"......yea and i get coolant spray at 90 degrees...hmmm must have been death valley at night when its like 60 out.

Sorry from the problem Houston. Hope they get you fixed up ASAP.

Damn dude.... sucks. Man I guess it can happen to anybody but when you're with the kids it sucks even more cause you're powerless. I hope it all works out brotha,
EX.

That really sucks Houston... Sorry to hear that.

I'm curious if there is a way to make sure the heads (assuming they are aluminum) didn't warp in any way, or if any engine damage occurred. Take advantage of that warranty to make sure everything is "A" ok.

Just heard from the dealer. They replaced the fan and module, but that didn't cure the overheating. They did say that the dry bearing noise I've been hearing is gone, though.

I'm curious if there is a way to make sure the heads (assuming they are aluminum) didn't warp in any way, or if any engine damage occurred. Take advantage of that warranty to make sure everything is "A" ok.

Yeah, I'm worried about that as well.

Just heard from the dealer. They replaced the fan and module, but that didn't cure the overheating. They did say that the dry bearing noise I've been hearing is gone, though.
Damn Houston,
I hate that for you!
I can get an attitude real easy in that situation.
Please keep us up to date on what happened.
So Sorry...hate your family got caught in the mess also.:mad:

Bill

Sorry that happened to you bro. Hope all works out well. Keep staring at my avatar and it should help take your mind of things.

The family and I left town late Thursday evening to visit my mom's side of the family for a few days. We spent Friday in Austin and then drove down to New Braunfels Saturday morning and spent the day floating the Comal river with the family. We had to pick my sister-in-law up from the airport Sunday morning around 10am, so we tried staying as late as we could Saturday night and still drive home without falling asleep. We ended up leaving around 9:30-10pm.

Around 11:15, I'm on IH-10, 65 miles away from home & I've got the cruise on 72ish. I happen to notice the coolant temp guage on the Jeep is reading kinda hot. I keep an eye on it for another 2-3 miles and the damn thing hits the top of the guage (245*+) and the digital read-out says oil temp is at the top of the scale as well (310*+). I find an exit (Weimar for the locals), which are few and far between out there, and get lucky that a motel is there. I pull into the parking lot and cannot locate anything out of the ordinary. Fan is running, overflow bottle for the radiator is full, no split hoses, but the motor has coolant sprayed all over it. I'm thinking the radiator cap sprayed. Of course I can't open it to check the level, though. After sitting in the motel parking lot for 30 minutes with no signs of the car cooling down enough to continue, we decide to stay the night.

$80 and 7 hours later, we hit the road again only to pull over into a rest-stop roughly 5 miles down the road, with coolant temps around 220*, but oil temps at the top of the guage. This time I notice that a hose going to the heater core is blown off. Oh yeah, the overflow bottle is still full at this point. I carefully put the hose back on, and proceed to fill the coolant system with water from the bathroom at the rest-stop with the largest container I have......an empty 32oz tea cup. 12+ trips later, the radiator is burping air out of the system as I let it idle for roughly 30 minutes gradually adding water to replace the burped air; the overflow bottle finally starts draining into the system. Coolant temps hover around 220* (normal is 195*) and oil temps stay around 230-240, which is normal. Feeling I have done enough to get the car home, we leave the rest-stop around 8am, an hour after leaving the motel.

10 minutes down the road, the guages are through the roof again and I pull off IH-10 roughly 5-10 miles west of Columbus at Hwy 949. There is absolutely nothing at this intersection and I end up parking in what used to be a gravel driveway for an abandoned house. At this point, we decide that since we have no more water to add to the vehicle, a tow is mandatory. Outside temps are hovering around 80* while we are trying to find a good deal on a tow. USAA finally comes through with a flatbed wrecker that will be there in ~45 minutes, can carry all 4 of us and charges $3/mile after the first 18 covered by USAA. So we now proceed to wait for the tow truck and in between the sudden downpours where we have to shut ourselves in the hot ****ing steamy car, my sons get to experience their first time of peeing on the side of the road. My oldest even had to do some additional business. Tow truck shows, we get in the car and my son says happily "This the first time I've ever been in a tow-truck". http://www.theplaceholder.com/forums/images/smilies/noemo.gif 1 hour and $87 later, we finally arrive home around 11am. We left Weimar, 61 miles away from home, 4 hours prior. Oh yeah, my father ended up picking my sister-in law up from the airport.

The Jeep was towed to the dealer Monday morning and they diagnosed it as a bad fan and control module. We were told the parts would be in on Tuesday, and we'd get it back that night. That afternoon we get a call saying "all the parts did not come in, so it won't be done until tomorrow". I'm betting it's not just the fan, so we'll see. I have yet to hear anything from them today.

Clif's Notes: ....... Happy Father's Day to me. http://www.theplaceholder.com/forums/images/smilies/noemo.gif


Mine did the same thing..........poppped the hose to the heater core and lost all the coolant. I reattached it with a better clamp.......refilled it and drove it around. The coolant smell lingered for weeks and it took about a day for it to "burp" all the air and temps to get to normal.

For what it's worth, my money is on the water pump.

For what it's worth, my money is on the water pump.

Holllllllyyyyyyy coowwwww!!! So sorry to read this Houston! I second that bet too. But what really scares the h*ll out of me, is the next day when you attempted to limp her home, the coolant temp was only 220-ish, but the oil temp already railed out over 310 again??? Did you check the oil condition (as in water mixed in) before you left it with the dealer? Just curious...

Not trying to be a drama queen, but I remember when my 94 s-10 Blazer did that. Thought I cought it in time, towed to dealer, picked it up from the dealer-"all fixed and ok", drove 15 miles and the engine completly siezed. Dealer claims it was my fault when it overheated the first time.:mad: Keep us posted and best of luck.

Mine did the same thing..........poppped the hose to the heater core and lost all the coolant. I reattached it with a better clamp.......refilled it and drove it around. The coolant smell lingered for weeks and it took about a day for it to "burp" all the air and temps to get to normal.

ok, looks like everyone will be doing a heater-hose mod now;)

its the water pump. I had the same problem on an old pontiac, they reflushed it, put in a new thermo, radiator cap, always the same thing - overheating, spraying coolant. Definitley the water pump, brings back bad memories because it took sooo long before some reg joe mechanic was like "its the water pump"

Good luck on this, hopefully you have a good dealer.

BTW I may be coming to Houston to visit a friend of mine that just got transfered there.

when me and another forum member went to LA last year:

http://www.cherokeesrt8.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1953

the cruise was set at about 110 when we started smelling the infamous smell of coolant burning on the hot engine. The engine temp was 250+ IIRC. We stopped in Mesquite to find one of the radiator hoses had popped off, spraying coolant all over the engine bay. It got towed to Las Vegas where we were told the t-stat had "gotten stuck". It was replaced and no problems since.

Sorry that happened to you bro. Hope all works out well. Keep staring at my avatar and it should help take your mind of things.


Is it a bad thing that I know EXACTLY what that av is from? :eek: :D

Do you have a fan mod installed?

Do you have a fan mod installed?
No.

The Jeep is running the stock t-stat as well. ;)

No.

The Jeep is running the stock t-stat as well. ;)

Not according to your signiture, but whatever. For those of you who "have" installed the fan mod, did you install a diod to isolate ground loops?

Not according to your signiture, but whatever.

When the Jeep was taken to the dealer, the coolant system was stock. That better?

Not according to your signiture, but whatever. For those of you who "have" installed the fan mod, did you install a diod to isolate ground loops?

Yes (I'm using a modified version of the Jaack relay). But I thought that diode was to prevent the FCM from seeing that the fan is being controlled by something other than the FCM and triggering a fault code?

Yes (I'm using a modified version of the Jaack relay). But I thought that diode was to prevent the FCM from seeing that the fan is being controlled by something other than the FCM and triggering a fault code?

I am not familiar with the wiring of the fan mod, but a diod only allows current to flow in one direction. When making a mod especially with a computer controlled device, it is usually beneficial to install one to prevent feed back through the circuit or to prevent ground loops due to a variety of situations.

Shoulda called me. Would have gotten a chance to try out my new car trailer....

I am not familiar with the wiring of the fan mod, but a diod only allows current to flow in one direction. When making a mod especially with a computer controlled device, it is usually beneficial to install one to prevent feed back through the circuit or to prevent ground loops due to a variety of situations.

And throw a relay on top of that and you will be golden. Diode and relay on my electric fans and e-water pump.

I've got a real winner of a dealer here. The tech is now saying the radiator cap is bad. http://www.theplaceholder.com/forums/images/smilies/z7shysterical.gif

Uhmm.....no, you ****ing idiot. It's a flow related problem. :mad:

I've got a real winner of a dealer here. The tech is now saying the radiator cap is bad. http://www.theplaceholder.com/forums/images/smilies/z7shysterical.gif

Uhmm.....no, you ****ing idiot. It's a flow related problem. :mad:

It very well could be a flow related issue, but if your system doesn't build enough pressure, you could have a problem there.

Well, he changed his mind. The cap was replaced, but that didn't solve the problem. He then said the factory t-stat was bad. He replaced it and claimed that everything was good to go. We go to pick up the Jeep tonight and they have test driven it a total of less than 2 miles. Wow, way to test and see if it works. My wife is now finally in a loaner (a Neon that she has already cursed) and the great service advisor we used when the nav system went out is making sure that it gets driven at least 10 miles tomorrow for testing and up to 30, if need be. I'd like to fire the service advisor that we've been using.

BTW, when I asked them why it seemed like they were just throwing parts at the vehicle instead of actually diagnosing it, they claimed they were following a step-by-step guide st forth by DCX to find the problem.

Sorry to hear about your rig Houston. I'm subscribed and appreciate to hear what your outcome is from this. I live in Austin and will start making trips down to SA to visit the GF when she goes to school there. This will pretty much clone your conditions when your car had problems and makes me nervous.

Dealer just called and said they drove it for 15 miles with no signs of overheating. We'll be picking it up during lunch.

He then said the factory t-stat was bad. He replaced it and claimed that everything was good to go.

So it was really a bad after market t-stat correct? Now you are back to stock temp t-stat?

BTW, when I asked them why it seemed like they were just throwing parts at the vehicle instead of actually diagnosing it, they claimed they were following a step-by-step guide st forth by DCX to find the problem.

The infamous DCX troubleshooting tree. They all start of like, clear the code and see if it comes back, and end with replace the computer, lol.

OK, I am scratching my head a little. In the first post, you state you found a hose blown off. If this is true, did you not explain this to the dealership when you brought it in? Or did they even ask you for the details you shared with us here? If you did tell them about the hose, it is pretty scary that they have twenty other reasons for the overheating. And I agree, about throwing parts at it. If there is a guide, I would think it would help them find the cause of the problem and not tell them to blindly replace this and that until things are working. Oh well! In the end, I hope all is well with your wheels

OK, I am scratching my head a little. In the first post, you state you found a hose blown off. If this is true, did you not explain this to the dealership when you brought it in? Or did they even ask you for the details you shared with us here? If you did tell them about the hose, it is pretty scary that they have twenty other reasons for the overheating. And I agree, about throwing parts at it. If there is a guide, I would think it would help them find the cause of the problem and not tell them to blindly replace this and that until things are working. Oh well! In the end, I hope all is well with your wheels
The hose was not blown off when I stopped at the inn on Saturday night. The hose blew off between the inn and rest-stop on Sunday morning. I'm guessing from steam.

Yes, I explained everything to the dealer, but it seems like they picked & chose what to listen to.