Help troubleshooting cooling system 1998 Jeep Cherokee?
From my experience, the cooling system in Jeep is very forgiving in term of air trapped. If everything else is good, the system will bleed itself and will never overheat. You should check the cooling fan's operation first before suspecting the head gasket. To do this, just run your engine til it start overheating. At this point, first check to see if the fan is kicked on. If not, there is 2 way to go. First turn on your a/c, if the fan runs then there is no problem with the fan circuit or the fan motor itself, therefore the problem will be the fan control module which located right under the passenger side head lamp (this problem is very common in Jeep). If the fan does not come on with the a/c, then you have to check the fan motor and the circuit. This step is pretty technical so just do the previous step first and let me know, I will guide you further with the next step depend on the result. (assuming your thermostat works, you can check this by feeling the upper and lower radiator hose at the time of overheating, both hose should feel the same in term of pressure and temperature). Goodluck.
Help troubleshooting cooling system 1998 Jeep Cherokee?
Let the motor cool down overnight. Next put the climate control on the hottest setting with the blower fan off or on low. Top up the radiator, leave the cap off, start the motor and if the coolant blows out of the radiator right away you may have a bad head gasket. Other wise run the motor until the thermostat opens, I take it you replaced it already if overheating, and keep topping up the system as the air purges. Some cooling systems are stubborn and require using an %26quot;Airlift%26quot; vacuum tool for filling cooling systems and getting the air out.
I had that problem too. Jack the front end up leave the cap off. After the coolant boils over fill it up.
Make sure the thermostat is open and do this until its full. Mine pinged from the trapped air if it is not trapped air I have also had it be the ecm not sending the right signal to the gauge (that was a 94).
