How to house a homeless friend

In reply to spitfirebill:

Can you share the contact info?

DJ sent money again for her. I'll get her alternator tonight and hopefully that's the last thing that breaks for a good long while.

THANKS DJ!

volvoclearinghouse wrote: In reply to spitfirebill: Hugh Mull's?

Why yes it is. Our Brit car clubs uses him. I called about my wife's Solara alternator when AA told me it was not good. I believe he said around $80 to repair it. As it turns out, the battery was crap and the alt was fine.

Hugh Mull's Rebuilder

345 Old Converse Rd

Spartanburg, SC 29307

864-579-9300

Called and no answer earlier in the afternoon. I have to make a move to get it out of my driveway so I just hit the easy button and went to oreillys.

To all that have made the effort of a random act of kindness.....blessings upon y'all....peace out

Alternator in, and it solved that issue. Some notes:

Jeep is goofy about some stuff. Let's put the alternator on a bracket, and mount that bracket to a bracket, and mount THAT bracket to the engine. Also, let's use three of the same bolt to mount both brackets, and also make it so both brackets have to be removed from the engine to physically get the alternator out.

So anyway.

It charges now, and I drove it around.

The bad news is twofold: I drove it for maybe twenty minutes on an admittedly flat battery with the lights on, so it may not have had enough time to charge, but I may end up giving her my old Tunatruck battery if it doesn't work out.

Also it's still running hot. For the record, I just changed three freeze plugs, the water pump and the radiator cap, and filled with maybe 60-40. In the past few years it's had all new hoses and a new radiator. The weird bit is that it had still not built any pressure when I returned and it was at maybe 230, so I perhaps have to spend more time getting air out.

Nice work on the alternator. I read your previous cooling thread, and it mentioned the XJs as being difficult to burp. A few posters mentioned jacking the front end of the truck high into the air, and one left the cap off until the thermostat opened. I'm hoping it just requires some more bleeding to get the air pockets out.

I've heard that. I've also heard removing the temperature sensor at the back of the block while filling works. So of course I tried that as soon as I woke up and the sensor broke when I disconnected it. The even-worse thing is that I can't get a socket around it because the valve cover is too close, and can't get a wrench on it because there is no room next door.

Look, I fixed it! Gah. So I'll buy her a replacement today and spend the evening figuring out how to get it out.

In retrospect jacking up the front of the jeep very high probably would have worked perfectly.

Do you have a shorter socket you can use (like for a 1/4" set)? I used the jack up the front method with success on my E36, which is notoriously hard to bleed, so I know it can help.

Good luck with the sensor! On one XJ page I saw that what you removed wasn't the temp sensor, but the temp sensor sender. (Want to ensure you pick up the right part.) http://www.lunghd.com/Tech_Articles/Cooling/BurpAirMod.htm

I may try the skinny socket now, but I don't own a deep well 1/4" drive in the right size, so either way I probably will end up partially pulling the valve cover.

Seems like it would be pretty easy to buy a deep 1/4" drive socket. Might be worth it to avoid pulling a 3' long valve cover that will never seal again.

tuna55 wrote: In retrospect jacking up the front of the jeep very high probably would have worked perfectly.

I can't remember which vehicle I did it on, but I would drive it onto my highest ramps to bleed the cooling system,

volvoclearinghouse wrote: Seems like it would be pretty easy to buy a deep 1/4" drive socket. Might be worth it to avoid pulling a 3' long valve cover that will never seal again.

I'll try the 1/4" drive socket to get it out (because I do not need it to be deep to remove it now that it's broken in half) but I suspect that it, too, will not fit.

So I did get the sender replaced, which may or may not have involved breaking a 9/16" open end wrench in half, and filled the coolant, and then installed the sender, jacked up the front end, and filled and burped everything out and ran it up and down the road.

It still runs hot. It's swinging around, most of the heat comes in when I coast to a stop after running up a hill, up around 240, and runs nearer to 210 normally.

This time the upper hose is pressurized. Not a ton, but it's definitely pressurized. The water pump and radiator cap is brand new, the rest of the cooling system was replaced about three years ago (thermostat, hoses, radiator). It's obvious that the thermostat is opening because of the temperature swings, upper hose pressure and stable idle temperature.

For record, the coolant that came out was the correct viscosity, but orange. I naturally assumed Dexcool red, but rust red is possible. I expect nothing gloppy in the thermostat. The only thing I can think of is to run without a thermostat or drill holes in it since perhaps it's not getting enough flow.

I really need to give this stupid car back an work on my own junk.

How are the fans? From the little bit of reading I did, it looks like there's a mechanical fan with a fan clutch and an electric fan, as well. From what I read on an XJ forum, the e-fan should come on between 212 and 218 degrees. Someone mentioned their e-fan was running in the opposite direction (supposedly it should pull air through the radiator).

Did the coolant level drop after you drove it a bit, or is it holding steady? How is it at highway speeds?

Another thing someone mentioned was checking the line from the overflow bottle to the radiator, it can be clogged.

People also constantly mention to get a quality t-stat, I guess the quality on some is really poor.

Hang in there!!!

If the engine/ cooling loop will operate without a t-stat, try removing the stat temporarily to see if anything changes. I've also removed the stat while flushing the system, as the stat reduces flow (and doesn't allow any flow at all when closed) so it can be an impediment to flushing the system really well.

Think about it- when you're flushing, you're constantly adding cool water. Is the stat going to open and allow flow?

I only use STANT heavy duty stats. I believe they are still Murican made. I'd probably go with a 180 stat, too.

In typical Jeep weirdness, the thermostat is in a rather low part of the system, so I can't just put one in later after filling.

To the point, I attempted to fill it several times, each time it's showing full, this was with the sender removed and with the front jacked up and after the thermostat opened and after cooling down.

I replaced the clutch fan also a few years back, the electric fan works.

I think I'll throw a thermostat at it, it's basically the only thing left.

In reply to tuna55:

Even so, it still might prove fruitful to remove the stat while flushing (with water & dishwasher detergent), and then drain the system, install the stat, and then fill/ burp/ bleed with the car on ramps.

volvoclearinghouse wrote: In reply to tuna55: Even so, it still might prove fruitful to remove the stat while flushing (with water & dishwasher detergent), and then drain the system, install the stat, and then fill/ burp/ bleed with the car on ramps.

Oh, I get you now.

There is a hose which bypasses the thermostat, I used that, as well as basically every other orifice in every direction, to flush it clean.

Also, coolant is $15, it's already in there and she's poor.

The recommendation I saw was having the nose pointed downhill while the coolant temp sending unit was removed, and uphill if you're not removing the sending unit. Judging from the number of XJ Overheating threads out there, it seems like they're a pain in the butt to get them to cool properly.

T-stat sounds like a good idea. The Stant recommendation from VCH was also what I found on the XJ forums, and some swore by the stock Mopar t-stat.

Been following along. Nice of you guys to help physically and with donations. Don't count on charging the battery with the alternator. Use a charger to bring it back up to full charge as soon as possible. A dead battery will eat itself up even if it's brand new and shorten the life if left discharged.

Maybe take up a collection to buy her AAA for a year would be a good idea? The people with the least amount of disposable income with the crappiest cars are actually the ones who need it the most.

NOT A TA wrote: Been following along. Nice of you guys to help physically and with donations. Don't count on charging the battery with the alternator. Use a charger to bring it back up to full charge as soon as possible. A dead battery will eat itself up even if it's brand new and shorten the life if left discharged. Maybe take up a collection to buy her AAA for a year would be a good idea? The people with the least amount of disposable income with the crappiest cars are actually the ones who need it the most.

I have never actually owned a battery charger.

The thermostat fixed it! I did drill a hole, I don't know if it mattered, but the temperature is rock solid now. Great job everyone! Thanks for all the help!

tuna55 wrote:

NOT A TA wrote: Been following along. Nice of you guys to help physically and with donations. Don't count on charging the battery with the alternator. Use a charger to bring it back up to full charge as soon as possible. A dead battery will eat itself up even if it's brand new and shorten the life if left discharged. Maybe take up a collection to buy her AAA for a year would be a good idea? The people with the least amount of disposable income with the crappiest cars are actually the ones who need it the most.

I have never actually owned a battery charger.

Borrow one, or you'll be getting a dead battery call sooner than you'd expect based on the date on the battery. Driving around for a little while and being able to restart the vehicle doesn't mean the battery is fully charged and it may continue to eat itself when the vehicle is shut off. Then put one on your holiday/special occasion gift list so you'll have one. Car guys need a battery charger.

Typing this makes me think Batteries would be an excellent topic for one of JG's Wed night video episodes. Types, how to charge different types, cautions, lightweight batteries, etc. etc. Bring in an expert from Braille, interstate, or one of the other well known brands.