2007 Liberty Overheating

[FKatchmar]

I have a 2007 Jeep Liberty Sport v6 with 4 wheel drive. It has about 82,000 miles. This week the check engine light came on. I used the scanner and it showed two codes. P0300 and P0304. I went to Auto zone and purchased new ignition coils and new spark plugs. After installing them the check engine light and codes were still registering on the scanner. I removed the negative terminal from the battery and that cleared the codes and check engine light. I went for a short trip to the store and now the temperature gauge is climbing up to the Hot range. It wasn't moving from the center of the gauge before this work. Could I have caused this or is this just another problem?

 

[lfhoward]

You definitely didn't cause that by replacing ignition coils & spark plugs or having the battery unhooked. You did well to stop driving it because an overheat condition can cause all sorts of additional problems.

Here are some questions you could answer for us to help us diagnose your overheat issue:
Turn on the Jeep and turn on the air conditioning. Does the electric radiator fan come on when you turn on the AC? (it should)
Do you see any wetness on the front of the engine below the center pulley (water pump)?
Get the Jeep up to temperature and rev the engine. Is there steam/white smoke in the exhaust? (hopefully no)
Check the level in the coolant tank. Is it normal? (hopefully between min & max & appearance is normal) [Don't remove the radiator cap when the Jeep is hot.]
Check the oil. Is it at the right level and not frothy or milkshake-like? (hopefully at the right level and not milky)

 

[FKatchmar]

Thanks for your quick reply. .i will check first thing tomorrow and give you answers. Thanks again!

 

[FKatchmar]

Electric radiator fan does come on when I turn the air conditioning.

No wetness in the front of the car at all no drips.

Initially when I just started the car there was some white smoke faint coming out of the tailpipe.After the car reach temperature I receding the engine and there was no white smoke coming out of the exhaust at all.

The coolant tank is at the full level. The antifreeze is green. Some people say you should use that type of antifreeze?

The oil is full and is looks good.

Yesterday when I changed the spark plugs and the ignition coils the man at AutoZone told me that the gap for the spark plug should be .35. After doing some research on your forum I found that it was supposed to be .40. So this morning I pulled all of the spark plugs back out and put them at .40. I have been idling the car for about 15 min and so far it’s not overheating but I haven’t taken it for a ride yet.

 

[FKatchmar]

I took it for a short ride . Gauge started to rise so I came home.

 

[lfhoward]

It doesn't sound like you have a head gasket leak, so that's good! Good catch on the spark plug gap too.

The green coolant is what sets off alarm bells for me. That is supposedly "universal" coolant that doesn't work in our engines. It has the wrong pH and will chemically react with the old coolant and the engine metals, creating a jello-like substance that can block up the radiator, heater core, engine cooling channels, and the water pump/thermostat. It could certainly lead to an overheat. How long has the green coolant been in it?

The Jeep 3.7 needs HOAT coolant only, which is either the Mopar coolant or Zerex G-05. The universal green stuff will not work regardless of what some quick-lube technicians and auto parts store clerks will tell you. It sounds like you definitely need a coolant flush and replace with the correct coolant. You may need a water pump & thermostat too, depending on how long the green coolant has been in it.

Sorry for the bad news about the coolant, but the good news is your engine didn't get overheated enough to get a head gasket leak, dropped valve seat, or seized pistons.

 

[FKatchmar]

Thanks. The green coolant was in it when I purchased it a few months ago. I haven’t driven it too much because of the quarantine. I think the previous owner had all the fluids, a brake job new tires and a new battery put in before he sold it. The car stalls when it’s idling and the dealer said he couldn’t replicate that so here we are.

 

[lfhoward]

You probably solved the stalls when idling problem with the new ignition coils & spark plugs. If not, run some Lucas fuel treatment injector cleaner through a couple of tanks of gas. You could also check the engine air filter to see if it needs replacing and take a look at cleaning the throttle body if it is carboned up. Sounds like the overheating problem is on the front burner now though.

 

[FKatchmar]

Thanks so much for all your help. I am taking the car to a radiator repair shop tomorrow. He will pressure flush the system out to remove all traces of that antifreeze, put the correct antifreeze in and put a new thermostat on and a new radiator cap. Hope this takes care of everything.

 

[lfhoward]

Sounds like a good plan. Hope that takes care of it!

 

[daves06lrenegade]

As long as the "green" coolant was put in the engine after a complete flush it should work OK...
It will protect the different metal parts... If green is ADDED to HOAT coolant then you can have problems... My 06 Liberty and my 2016 Chrysler 200 are running on green coolant with no problems... The "organic" antifreeze is supposed to be better for the environment and safer for dogs who found green "sweet" and would lap it up and would die from it...
Both of my vehicles had front end damage and had NO antifreeze in the system so mixing wasn't a problem... and I know not to mix them..

 

[lfhoward]

I’m not sure I agree it’s risk free in the long run. The engine and cooling system were designed for HOAT, and that’s what the manual says to use. But either way, I’m glad it’s working out for you and not causing issues in your vehicles!

 

[daves06lrenegade]

Two years on the Liberty with no signs of problems and 1 year on the Chrysler...I remember when we had cars with R12 Freon and they said that running R134a would damage the AC system... Now it is common place to "retrofit" R12 systems with R134a... The Chrysler 200 I rebuilt on a budget had the "new" refrigerant before it was leaked to the atmosphere in the accident...I did a lot of research and found that if the system was cleaned out R134a would work fine... I had a researcher for an AC parts supplier tell me that it couldn't possibly work without failure and damage to my AC system... He said that R134a systems could be retrofitted to use the new "improved" R1234yf when the R134a became obsolete with just a cleaning of the system and the "new" PAG oil... I think he was stating what he was taught by the company... Refrigerant that was used for years and years protecting copper/aluminum/brass/steel systems suddenly was no longer any good... Just as green coolant should not be used in new cars..
Careful cleaning of the systems and they work just fine... Newer chemicals come with newer improved prices... I have noticed that the newer "orange" HOAT coolant has been plugging up the heater cores in new Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge cars with the "gunk" coming from somewhere...(Organic breakdown anyone?) ...

We were told that our national oil supplies were depleted and we would run out of oil for many years and years...Now we are the biggest supplier of oil and natural gas in the world...

So much for expert opinions..How about the current virus pandemic ...Opinions on it's run and about flattening the curve change daily and we are learning to wear or not wear a mask...it's still up in the air...

I try to weed through the current mindsets of the day and make decisions on what is good for me...
Dave

 

[daves06lrenegade]

Time has now passed since last post on this thread and I have NO problems with my 2006 Jeep or my 2016 Chrysler 200s 2.4L using the "green" antifreeze... The Chrysler 200 has been running R134a now for 2.5 years and also no problems even though I was told it would damage my cars AC system... The compressor even states it was made for R134a on the label... Environmentalists don't like me!

 

[tommudd]

Time has now passed since last post on this thread and I have NO problems with my 2006 Jeep or my 2016 Chrysler 200s 2.4L using the "green" antifreeze... The Chrysler 200 has been running R134a now for 2.5 years and also no problems even though I was told it would damage my cars AC system... The compressor even states it was made for R134a on the label... Environmentalists don't like me!

You are just lucky then as I have seen ( worked on ) personally many that the green junk made a mess in the cooling system over the years
Doesn't cost anymore in the long run to use the correct products