Evening Brian. I've heard mechanics say that any temp not in the red is normal, but I don't buy it. Higher temps mean more wear and tear on your engine. 210 degree operating temp is o.k., but if you're seeing 225 to 230 I recommend you check the anti freeze level in the expansion tank first. It could be that you're low on coolant. If that looks good, try changing to a colder thermostat and drain/flush your radiator with water, then add a 50/50 mix of antifreeze. In general, coolant breaks down over time and loses cooling properties even though it may look o.k. While you've got the radiator drained, take a look at the internals. If there are a lot of deposits at the water channels then your radiator isn't performing efficiently, at that point you might want to consider a radiator replacement. If you end up going that far you may also want to consider replacing the radiator hoses. They may look fine as well, but may have softened over time causing them to collapse a bit during cooling cycling, which would restrict coolant flow and cause higher temp readings. If your tearing into it that far, considering the mileage on your YJ, I'd go ahead with a water pump change...do your research on that first though so you don't order the wrong one. There are serpentine belt driven water pumps and v-belt driven water pumps available for the YJ, the difference being the serpentine belt water pump incorporates a reverse flow impeller, the v-belt water pump incorporates a standard flow impeller. If you go this far, consider replacing your heater core as well, because as soon as you get everything back together that thing is sure to start leaking onto the passenger side floor board (ask me how I know...). As dieselearl stated, keep us posted...
