Coolant overheating while towing?

[bigcheeshead]

I've been using my Gladiator to tow a 4,000 pound trailer for almost two years now. Never had any issues even going up and down steep hills in AZ 110+ degree weather. Today I picked up my trailer and about 20 minutes into the drive on a flat road the coolant temp started spiking to nearly 3/4 of the gauge, sorry don't recall the exact temp, forcing the Jeep to slow down to 30 miles per hour or so. Oil temp, transmission temp and all other gauges were normal. The only thing changed is that I had a mechanic fix a coolant leak and do a coolant flush few weeks ago.

Did they put a wrong coolant in? Any other ideas why it started overheating out of the blue? It never went above 50% in the past. I have an aftermarket hood with numerous air vents. I don't have front inner fenders either so that helps with air circulation a lot. Engine didn't feel hot either.

Sponsored

 

[Hunter#1]

I'd check with your mechanic on what coolant he put in. could be the thermostate is bad. I'm no mechanic, But I was told if you don't use the coolant that Chrysler recomends , you will have problems.

 

[JerseyMark]

As above, make sure the correct coolant was used.
If it was and this is still happening, the system may need to be “burped” to get any air out of the coolant.

 

[Pickles85]

It sounds like it could be an air bubble in the system, did you check the coolant level?

 

[asrricklin]

The only thing changed is that I had a mechanic fix a coolant leak and do a coolant flush few weeks ago.

This needs to be the first sentence in your paragraph, not the last.

"The only thing that changed" was service to the cooling system that included most likely replacing some parts and refilling the system.
Then the next time the vehicle was in a high stress, high heat situation, the cooling system failed to perform.

Certainly something wasn't repaired correctly when the work was done on the cooling system.
As others have stated, I would start by making sure the correct specification coolant was used, it is filled to capacity, and there's no air in the system.

Take it back to the shop that did the work, and make them fix it.

 

[bigcheeshead]

So I went back to the shop that did the coolant flush. They ran a bunch of diagnostics and told me everything checks out fine. They also told me that the coolant that they use is "Generic and we put them in all of the cars that we service". So I wonder if I should order Mopar Coolant and make them do another flush, or just bite the bullet and replace the radiator with something more powerful like the Cold Case one below. Although, the reviews on aftermarket radiators are not the greatest either

https://www.coldcaseradiators.com/p...-extruded-core-aluminum-radiator?sku=MOJ996XD

 

[bigcheeshead]

Out of curiosity. For those of you living in hot 110+ degrees and dry climate like Arizona or Nevada, what temps is your coolant on a HWY? I'm averaging around 225, that's WITHOUT towing anything on a flat road doing about 75 mph at 109 ambient temp.

 

[ALT2870]

I live in Western Colorado and that is my standard coolant temp as well, just below half on the dash. Trans typically below half as well. Granted this is all with a Max Tow package but I don't see anything to be alarmed in that picture.

 

[bgott]

So I went back to the shop that did the coolant flush. They ran a bunch of diagnostics and told me everything checks out fine. They also told me that the coolant that they use is "Generic and we put them in all of the cars that we service". So I wonder if I should order Mopar Coolant and make them do another flush, or just bite the bullet and replace the radiator with something more powerful like the Cold Case one below. Although, the reviews on aftermarket radiators are not the greatest either

https://www.coldcaseradiators.com/p...-extruded-core-aluminum-radiator?sku=MOJ996XD

Time for a new shop. Generic coolant is for people that are too lazy or stupid to use the right stuff. Do you use them for your oil changes too? No telling' what they are using there. I'm a retired ASE master tech and I've attended a butt load of seminars and classes and have never had one where they recommended " generic" fluids in a modern vehicle.

 

[willys 41]

Out of curiosity. For those of you living in hot 110+ degrees and dry climate like Arizona or Nevada, what temps is your coolant on a HWY? I'm averaging around 225, that's WITHOUT towing anything on a flat road doing about 75 mph at 109 ambient temp.

If you want to see lower coolant and oil temps in the range of most cars and trucks install the RPM Extreme JL fan controller.
My average temps are 188 to 195 and the highest temp I have seen is 212 pulling a 4000ft to 8000ft mountain pass fully loaded with gear at about 6800lbs on 37 tires.
I no longer see temps as high as 235 degrees.
The Wrangler and Gladiator cooling system is capable of keeping the temp down with better fan control even with 110 degrees outside temps.
http://www.rpmextreme.com/Product/311/Jeep-JL-PWM-FAN-CONTROLLER.aspx

 

[Mr._Bill]

Out of curiosity. For those of you living in hot 110+ degrees and dry climate like Arizona or Nevada, what temps is your coolant on a HWY? I'm averaging around 225, that's WITHOUT towing anything on a flat road doing about 75 mph at 109 ambient temp.

This is from earlier today, just before I turned it off when I got home. It was a 25 minute drive, half freeway, 45 minutes parked, and 25 minutes back home. I always remote start, to cool the cabin as much as possible, and let it run at least 10 minutes. This is a 2023 HA. The fan comes on sooner and louder than it did with the 2020 Overland when idling. I have not yet made the trip in the HA, but with the Overland the highest oil temp was 230 and that was at the top of the mountain between Vegas and Pahrump going 65.

 

[Brojave22]

Not to alarm you**

I would lookeinto why the the coolant was leaking in the first place, I had a leak in the coolant reservoir thinking is was an isolated incident, turns out the engine was misfiring and over heating causing the the coolant reservoir to boil, the gasses causes it to rupture. get a jscan or something similar to monitor the misfires

 

[Jesnamy01]

At what temps (oil and coolant) should I be concerned when towing with the 3.6?

 

[willys 41]

At what temps (oil and coolant) should I be concerned when towing with the 3.6?

Most cars and trucks run between 185 to 200.
My 2020 f250 on a 100 degree day will hit 200 and I have only seen it hit 212 pulling my trailer with my 6200lb jeep on it.
My Willys and Rubicon used to hit 231 to 235 with no load on a 90 degree day and for me that's to hot.
Here is the way the 3.6 cooling system works or doesn't work.
At 190 the thermostat starts to open and at about 212 it is fully opened.
The rad. fan comes on at 221 at about 15% fan speed and 75% at 231 degrees. To little to late.
After installing the RPM Extreme JL fan controller the coolant and oil temps are down by 25 degrees and the highest temp I have seen is 212 coolant and oil at 220 pulling a steep mountain pass.
A simple test. On a 100+ degree day turn your A/C on full blast and you will see your temps down around 188 to 190. Turning on your A/C full blast turns on the rad. fan at a high rate of speed showing the the Wrangler cooling system is capable of keeping it cool put just need better fan control.

 

[Jesnamy01]

Most cars and trucks run between 185 to 200.
My 2020 f250 on a 100 degree day will hit 200 and I have only seen it hit 212 pulling my trailer with my 6200lb jeep on it.
My Willys and Rubicon used to hit 231 to 235 with no load on a 90 degree day and for me that's to hot.
Here is the way the 3.6 cooling system works or doesn't work.
At 190 the thermostat starts to open and at about 212 it is fully opened.
The rad. fan comes on at 221 at about 15% fan speed and 75% at 231 degrees. To little to late.
After installing the RPM Extreme JL fan controller the coolant and oil temps are down by 25 degrees and the highest temp I have seen is 212 coolant and oil at 220 pulling a steep mountain pass.
A simple test. On a 100+ degree day turn your A/C on full blast and you will see your temps down around 188 to 190. Turning on your A/C full blast turns on the rad. fan at a high rate of speed showing the the Wrangler cooling system is capable of keeping it cool put just need better fan control.

Thanks! Good info

Sponsored