Fan Clutch And Cooling Issues

Received the used OEM gauges. I went ahead and plugged the gauge cluster in to see if the temperature gauge would work and it shot to 260F right when I turned on the battery. I also, noticed the fuel gauge was working. F....

I said to myself well maybe the cluster itself is bad, so I took the Crown temperature gauge out of my cluster and swapped it with the OEM temperature gauge. When I started taking the used OEM cluster apart I noticed rings of water around the gauges when I pulled the clear cover off. F...

I plugged the cluster back in, same thing, the temperature gauge shot up to 260. F....So this tells me there is something wrong with the gauge even though it looks fine? IDK.

I put my Crown gauge back into my cluster and turned on the Jeep again. It worked as it should like before, but before my Jeep got to temperature it sputtered and died. F***#$@!#$@#%#$^@!#$%^!#$^$!#^

It would not start back up. I heard a loud drip knocking within the motor that sounded unusual, I have no idea if related. I checked for fuel pressure on the relief valve and I had fuel shooting out. So maybe injectors? IDK I am done for today.
 
Damn man your Jeep just blows my mind every time you do something to it cooling system related. It sounds like the cluster you just got isn't in good shape or something since it has rings of water in it? I don't really know... How does the circuit ribbon on the backside look?

As for the shutdown, that is annoying and sucks, but it's probably something along the lines of spark if I had to guess. No idea though. Fuel out of the rail is good, and i doubt you have bad injectors when they're brand new. But really I don't know, I guess you'll have to start going down the trail of troubleshooting that now.
 
The circuit ribbon was dirty and felt grimey, which is why I went ahead and just swapped the gauge into mine. The gauge itself looks fine. I wish I knew someone with a YJ over here so I can test the gauge on.
 
Annnnnd my Jeep started no problem first time 24 hours later...

I would investigate more, but I cut my arm pretty bad reaching under my truck seat trying to grab my phone and had to get stiched up. No Jeep stuff this weekend woop woop.
 
Bought another gauge cluster from ebay that were claimed tested before selling. And what do do you know. It works and my temp never even touched 210. It stayed inbetween the tiny notch and 210.
 
SirDoopYJ said:
Bought another gauge cluster from ebay that were claimed tested before selling. And what do do you know. It works and my temp never even touched 210. It stayed inbetween the tiny notch and 210.
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Damn, that’s nuts. Give it some time to make sure it doesn’t act up again, but sounds like maybe you are back to good now.
 
Took it for a 2 hour test drive on some backroad highways. It never touched 210. I am hoping it stays this way so I can finally scratch it off the list and focus my energy on the next big thing.
 
SirDoopYJ said:
Took it for a 2 hour test drive on some backroad highways. It never touched 210. I am hoping it stays this way so I can finally scratch it off the list and focus my energy on the next big thing.
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Keep an eye on it, but that certainly sounds very positive.
 
Nice to hear some forward progress, I think you may finally be Golden!
That's the exact same spot where my gauge sits.
Never moves, but my cooling capacity is also way overkill for my little 2.5 aquarium pump.
As such, I've actually considered going with a 205 t-stat as it seems happier when it's hot.
 
Almost had a boo boo yesterday afternoon. You may also say I was lucky.

I drove my Jeep to work, because it is finally beautiful weather over here. It is a 5:00am hour commute. I drove 60mph pretty much the whole way on the interstate. I noticed no issues. On my way home, there was traffic, and when I got out of traffic I just wanted to get home, so I pushed it to 70 to 75mph. When I got 10 minutes away from home, I noticed my temp gauge started creeping to 210 and then it started creeping past 210. I said, awww sh**, here we go again.

When I got home, there was coolant dripping like crazy. It looked like it was coming from the lower radiator hose where it connects to the water pump. I removed the radiator cap and my radiator was dry as far as I could see. My reservoir was also filled to the very top to the cap. I also heard like a tiny leak of air. It sounded like it was coming from the thermostat area, but it still could have been coming from my hose.

I am going to replace all of my hoses, even though they still look in good shape. For clamps, I am using the ones you screw to tighten. Should I switch back to the tension ones?
 
Did you ever get a new radiator cap? Sounds like a cap issue and maybe a water pump or hose issue. I helped a friend with a 97 TJ years ago who had coolant just pouring out of that water pump/hose/engine area when we will fill the radiator past a certain point. We were young and inexperienced so we didn't mess with the pump but we did change the hose and that didn't fix it. The issue ended up being the water pump which a shop fixed for him. It's sometimes hard to get eyes up in there so that leak could be from a few spots.

Not sure about the full reservoir, could be from pressure differences with the leak but I don't know. Maybe a radiator cap issue, did you ever get a new cap?

I like the constant tension clamps the best for sure. They will pretty much make sure any leak issue you have is not a hose connection problem. Putting one on the water pump sucks, You need a 55 mm and need to open it all the way, then put the hose on the pump, then pop the tab on the clamp so it springs back into clamped mode. I hate dealing with the locking tab on constant tension clamps.
 
Check the cap closely. If anybody used some kind of stop leak crap its very possible there is remnants of it under the cap seals. If you look you'll see they work like a check valve of sorts. Gets hot,pushes the spring loaded center up and pushed coolant into the overflow. Cools down and contracts and that little brass center metal disc opens up and lets coolant back into the radiator to keep ant air displaced. Rusty,gunky crud screws gets under the rubber and that metal disc and stops it from doing its job. You certainly have been thru the ringer on the cooling system on yours, were keeping our fingers crossed its just a bad cap or loose clamp. I prefer the screw/worm drive type clamps myself. Some places are just to hard to squeeze the tabs together and get at it. The I can use 3' of extensions with a Universal if needed to tighten or loosen.
 
I did not purchase a new cap. I'll go ahead and do that, and replace the hoses anyways.

I also forgot to mention that inside my reservoir, I had a few spots of dark gunk floating on top of the coolant. It almost had the texture of clumped up hair. I have removed my reservoir twice in the past and cleaned it out with dawn soap, so I don't know where the gunk is coming from.

I will inspect the cap more when I get home and send some pictures.
 
SirDoopYJ said:
I did not purchase a new cap. I'll go ahead and do that, and replace the hoses anyways.

I also forgot to mention that inside my reservoir, I had a few spots of dark gunk floating on top of the coolant. It almost had the texture of clumped up hair. I have removed my reservoir twice in the past and cleaned it out with dawn soap, so I don't know where the gunk is coming from.

I will inspect the cap more when I get home and send some pictures.
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That might be what left of somebody's mess trying to seal up a leak. I can almost guarantee you thats doing bad things to the caps ability to function correctly. Also even after replacing it you likely will have a reoccurring issue if it goobers up again.
 
SirDoopYJ said:

Amazon.com: Genuine Chrysler 52079880AA Radiator Cap : Automotive

Buy Genuine Chrysler 52079880AA Radiator Cap: Standard - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
www.amazon.com

Went through the thread history to find the part number. You said Amazon is going to say it doesn't fit, but yours did when you tested it. I just wanted to clarify.
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If I recall, it looked identical to the one I got from the parts store, meaning it should fit. I have not installed it onto my radiator yet and so I can not confirm for sure. I have not installed it on mine because I have a pretty old and poor shape cooling system that needs to be overhauled, just waiting until i start driving to knock it all out.
 
Gilaguy23 said:
That might be what left of somebody's mess trying to seal up a leak. I can almost guarantee you thats doing bad things to the caps ability to function correctly. Also even after replacing it you likely will have a reoccurring issue if it goobers up again.
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So if they used something to seal a leak, I could have a bigger issue I don't know about if the seal ever goes away? You are talking about they might have used some sort of head gasket sealer?

I didn't see any NAPA caps unless I check off universal fit. Autozone and Oreily only had 13lb caps.
 
Something's not right. I got a direct fit 16 lb cap for my radiator from O'Reilly a few weeks ago. Murray brand, their house line. Maybe they're out of stock or something but they definitely exist. Maybe I can find the part number.

Murray 7616.

16lb cap O'Reilly
 
My old one
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