blowing cool air

[Scott Dog]

I have another cherokee cooling issue. The temp gauge reads only about 120 degrees, and it is blowing cool air out of the heater. We justed flushed and filled the radiator about 2 months ago, it was pretty nasty looking. The radiator seems to be leaking a little around the top where the plastic meets the medal. I can smell antifreeze when I get out after driving to work and back. The cooling fan kicks on and off all the time also. Should I just buy a radiator, install a new thermostat and cap? We just bought the jeep around 2 months ago, so we are still working out the bugs. It appears to have had a need thermostat, because there is fresh silicone around the housing. I read somewhere where a guy flushes his heater core to remove all the gunk in it, and should I do that also? Thanks for any imput!!

[91 bird]

i would flush the heater core. pull the thermostat and ensure it is not stuck open. 120 degrees is too cold. hope this gets ya running.

[DIVERHERB]

I would guess that with the "fresh silicone" around the housing and the engine running cold that the thermostate has been removed. I dont think that I would bother flushing due to what you said about the rad leaking. There are several online stores that sell some pretty nice heavy duty radiators for reasonable prices. As for the fans cycling on and off, they should only be coming on when the temp nears 210deg. Is the a/c on when they are cycling, if so that would be normal.

[Scott Dog]

We flushed the heater core, nothing but fresh clean water. Filled the radiator with the front of the vehicle elevated and then put on a new 16 lb radiator cap, still cool air. When I grab the lower and upper radiator hoses, and squeeze one, I can feel pressure in the other. I did this with the car warm. I then let it cool to a point I know the thermostat should be shut. I could still feel pressure in both, which makes me think the thermostat is stuck open, or is removed. Why would someone remove the thermostat? My next step is to replace the thermostat.

[ejfenz]

My 98 Sport is doing the same thing (rusty coolant but level was fine), never gets above 130. I should have changed the thermostat when I flushed the system. Let me know how it went.