Pls help 04 Jeep Liberty renegade overheating on hwy

[Michael Wolfe]

I had a similar problem with my 2005 CRD. Due to a bad transmission sensor, I lost the overdrive, so the engine had to run at high RPM's at highway speed, causing it to overheat.

 

[stumpumper46]

I had a similar problem with my 2005 CRD. Due to a bad transmission sensor, I lost the overdrive, so the engine had to run at high RPM's at highway speed, causing it to overheat.

It might be that your radiator is getting plugged up or that the thermostat is going bad. Mine was overheating until I got the thermostat replaced. It is not the usual thermostat either. you will need to order it from a dealer. There is a conversion kit so it can hold a standard thermostat but I can't remember who makes them. Might find them in a search.

 

[Phuc Nguyen]

I have this similar issue with my 04 KJ, 18 months ago.
How I found my radiator was partial clogged by doing this, took the radiator out and stand it straight up, fill with water from top until overflow and watch the water coming out at bottom until no more water gushing out, then turn the unit upside down and see how much water is left in the unit, that will let you how many percent it was clogged.

I would say either replace with a new radiator or flush the unit yourself will help you with this overheating issue.

This is how I flush my radiator. Remove unit from the Jeep, fill with 100% CLR, (Calcium, Lime and Rust removal) around $20 per gallon from Walmart, let it sit a day or two or maybe longer, then drain the CLR, note: save the CLR you might re-use to soak it longer, then flush with fresh water, a lot of rust sediment or some kind of brown scale like hard water coming out of the unit. Use a white 5 gallon can to collect flushed water to see much scale is coming out until no more scale coming out of the unit.

You will be amazed to see the difference with cooling issue and you can keep your eyes on the road instead of temperature gauge.

Good luck 416KJ.

 

[416kJ]

Hello all (UPDATE)

first off I wanted to thank everyone for there input/help after a lot of testing with the fan relays etc and a scare of possible head gasket failure I Finally figured out that it was a seriously bad plugged radiator, (which some of you suggested and was right) make sense because these rads r super thin and I’m guessing it never been changed ever , I flushed the system out and it was a lot of nastiness in there ,, the rad couldn’t even drain from the drain plug it was so bad ,, I got Maybey two drops or thick muck that dropped out of the drain plug lol it was terrible ,
Long story short it works great now ,, I took it on the hwy for an hour driving and the temp gauge didn’t even budge it stayed just below normal middle mark on the gauge and didn’t even budge I also left the heat off , and it didn’t overheat (awesome)
Throughout replacing the clutch fan, thermostat, radiator it runs great , I believe my clutch fan was worn out so it’s good I changed that as well ,,the old thermostat was rusty as well from overtime buildup I’m guessing these were all contributing factors in the end

I also made a bleeder valve since the factory hex socket bleeder valve had gotten stripped on the head ,,worked out great and got the air out of the system

pics:

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thanks everyone for you’re input and help there’s tons of useful info that was supplied that I didn’t even know about on my Jeep that helped me out and made me more knowledgeable about the KJ it’s funny I called a few so called Jeep specialist to pick there brain about the issue but for some reason wrangler people don’t like Cherokee or Liberty lol don’t know what’s goin on there but alrighty then ,

(cheers) and stay safe

 

[Phuc Nguyen]

Hi 416KJ, that home made bleeder valve looks great. I'll keep that in mind when needed.

 

[416kJ]

Hi 416KJ, that home made bleeder valve looks great. I'll keep that in mind when needed.

Hello
check it out :

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lots of videos

 

[Michael Wolfe]

It might be that your radiator is getting plugged up or that the thermostat is going bad. Mine was overheating until I got the thermostat replaced. It is not the usual thermostat either. you will need to order it from a dealer. There is a conversion kit so it can hold a standard thermostat but I can't remember who makes them. Might find them in a search.

It was actually because it wouldn't shift into overdrive. Instead of happily chugging along at 2K RPM on the highway, it had to rev up to about 3.8K. Had to take back roads ( ran fine ). Replaced the input and output transmission speed sensors and connectors, and never had the issue again. Pulled a Mazda on a car trailer 80MPH up a mountain on 70 in the summer with the AC on. No issues. Thermostat and water pump was replaced when I first bought the vehicle, because I had no record of timing belt replacement.