Help.. Xj Overheating

LBjpXj

LBjpXj

Active Member
Joined
May 5, 2009
Location
Clayton/Raleigh
Not like its a unusuall problem with xj's But Iv had a heck of a time trying to get this crud out of my 2000 xj whoever had it b4 me never changed the radiator fluid and it has turned into this mud like substance Iv changed the radiator in it twice and have been flushing it like every other week with heat on full blast and bottom hose undone with the waterhose in it and so its been about a year since the first radiator and have been flushing ever since Im running straight distilled water in it right now and its still overheating and rust colored.... so how do i get all that built up junk out of the engine is there sum kind of chemical cleaner I can use or what? any suggestions would be much appreciated.... b4 I put the 3rd radiator in this thing I want to get the engine as clean as poss
 
There are radiator cleaners out there, use one of them. One problem you have is straight water does not do anything to stop or prevent rust from forming.

You said it was a 00 XJ there was a problem with the factory fill on some XJ's in 00-01 so the rust is not a surprise to me.

Now back to your overheating problem there are a couple of know issues with XJ cooling systems, make sure your electric fan is coming on when it is supposed, make sure the fan clutch is working properly as well as having the fan shroud in place.
The last thing is the 00-01 cylinder heads are prone to cracking.
 
yep

Thanks dor the info any brand of cleaner you have used? The only reason Im using water is because I have been flushing the thing every week and antifreeze aint cheap... If the head was cracked wouldnt I see it in the oil? Like Noticably? cause I change the oil every month regardless of mileage so I think I would notice it
 
when u flush it leave the lower hose on and remove the upper then shove the water hose in the radaitor start it up and let it run like that for a while then drain it back down and refill it with a liquid laundry detergent or dishwasher detergent and water and run it for an hour or so then remove upper hose and flush with water again. you may need to remove the t-stat to help the flow during all this flushing but i have never really had to . hope this helps i have used this method for years and it works well.
 
I basically do what novacayne75 does except I remove the hose from the thermostat housing and stick the water hose in it and clamp some vice grips around the radiator hose and make it a little more snug. I then crank the water up trying to force things out backwards that may be restricting the normal flow. I have had a lot of good luck doing it this way too. HTH
 
Yea I guess the soap workd but Now after using anti freeze and not water I can see it in the oil so now I get to do a head gasket or clylinder head swap Yea.....Ugh....
 
Years ago I would use washing soda (not baking) which is sold as a laundry booster. If it is still available try driving around with it and then flush well. It used to clean up old mopars that got rusty an d brown.
 
Im confused as to how the AF made it show up in the oil....but anywho.... Depending on which hoses you have some have metal springs inside them that actually rust and keep adding rust to the solution...
At least its just 1 head and gasket benefits of an I6...
 
10-4 on it being a i6 and only one head gasket and/or head Got to love a 4.0ltr!! The AF just let me see the green color in the oil instead of just water... and yea Iv changed the hoses but preciate the tip
 
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