[freestonefly]

I have read through several threads on the engine running hot, and sadly several people who had my problem didn’t follow through with what the actual fix was. Hopefully folks will be able to answer this question.

2012 Jeep Patriot sport, 2.0l, manual trans. At highway speeds, my keep overheats a little going up hills (i live near the mountains, but not in the mountains). In town it is fine, and idling it is fine. The coolant is less than 2 years old, and 50/50 mixed. There are no spots on the driveway. I have checked the electrical system, and the fans are coming on when they should. I have read it could literally be anything, the pump going bad, clog in the line, thermostats getting stuck, cooling system needs burping, even though the computer watches for that, even the radiator cap itself etc.

I would love to hear from those who had this problem what the fix was.

Thanks,
Jim

 

[Sandstone]

Hi, welcome to the forum.

I haven't had that problem, but I'll just throw this out.

When you say overheating a little, how high does it read? I'd expect the 2.0 would have to work a little harder than the 2.4 in the mountains.

Since the fans are working, one thing you could try (If you haven't already) is cleaning the radiator fins out with water to make sure they're not clogged with dirt, etc.

 

[JNuchols]

Hi, welcome to the forum.

I haven't had that problem, but I'll just throw this out.

When you say overheating a little, how high does it read? I'd expect the 2.0 would have to work a little harder than the 2.4 in the mountains.

Since the fans are working, one thing you could try (If you haven't already) is cleaning the radiator fins out with water to make sure they're not clogged with dirt, etc.

Water pump likely going bad. Propeller is most likely spinning loosely inside the water pump. Barely pushing any water. I would change the water pump. Part is not very expensive. I accessed mine from underneath the car. Car on ramps. Fairly easy repair if your mechanical.

 

[freestonefly]

Thanks for the input. In town and at idle, it’s a needle-width above mid-gauge, all good. At highway speed, 5th gear, uphill, it moves about halfway to the 3/4 mark. The fins are clear of debris.

 

[freestonefly]

Water pump likely going bad. Propeller is most likely spinning loosely inside the water pump. Barely pushing any water. I would change the water pump. Part is not very expensive. I accessed mine from underneath the car. Car on ramps. Fairly easy repair if your mechanical.

I haven’t ruled it out, but from what I’ve read in the Haynes manual, there would be signs of the pump going out, like noise, weeping, or metal debris in the fluid. But when idling in the driveway, when the stats open up it looks like good flow through the radiator fill neck. But i know that’s not a guaranteed way to diagnose.

 

[Sandstone]

Thanks for the input. In town and at idle, it’s a needle-width above mid-gauge, all good. At highway speed, 5th gear, uphill, it moves about halfway to the 3/4 mark. The fins are clear of debris.

Thanks,

If it has a/c, is the a/c running when going up the hill?

Also, do you know what the outdoor temp was when going up the hill?

 

[RossoRacer]

Mine always reads warmer than usual when going off-road, and I don't recall looking while in the mountains but it wouldn't surprise me if even the 2.4L reads a bit higher when climbing.

 

[Sandstone]

@Ignatz has a 2.0l 5 speed, perhaps he'll see this and can offer some insight.

 

[JNuchols]

I haven’t ruled it out, but from what I’ve read in the Haynes manual, there would be signs of the pump going out, like noise, weeping, or metal debris in the fluid. But when idling in the driveway, when the stats open up it looks like good flow through the radiator fill neck. But i know that’s not a guaranteed way to diagnose.

The water pump has a plastic water propeller inside. When the pulley turns it should turn inside without slipping. When these pumps go bad the plastic propeller inside starts to not spin as fast as the pulley spins therefore not pumping enough water to cool the engine.

 

[Ignatz]

@Ignatz has a 2.0l 5 speed, perhaps he'll see this and can offer some insight.

I've had a 2.4 CVT and a presently have a 2.0 5-spd manual. The temp runs pretty much the same on both. The 2.0 doesn't get up in the mountains that often -- just the shorter ones in the southern part of the state. I pulled a mid-sized U-Haul loaded with furniture with my 2.0 on a warm day (70F) last fall for about 100 miles at roughly 50MPH and I didn't notice the temp rising. I kept a pretty close eye on it, too, because I knew the load was unusually heavy. Typically my gauge runs a little shy of half way. Once the outside temp gets above 80F I'll keep an eye on the gauge when climbing hills and report back.

 

[Ignatz]

Further thought. It might be time for a radiator flush. Your Patriot is 10 years old. You said you had new coolant, but was it flushed? Be sure to use a compatible coolant -- the wrong fluid can react with any residual fluid and wreak havoc on your engine, i.e. kill it.

 

[Ignatz]

PPS, these engines have two thermostats.

 

[freestonefly]

A lot of good info, thanks to everyone!

 

[freestonefly]

Further thought. It might be time for a radiator flush. Your Patriot is 10 years old. You said you had new coolant, but was it flushed? Be sure to use a compatible coolant -- the wrong fluid can react with any residual fluid and wreak havoc on your engine, i.e. kill it.

Thanks. The coolant looks clean, so i was thinking i probably didn’t need a flush.

 

[freestonefly]

Thanks,

If it has a/c, is the a/c running when going up the hill?

Also, do you know what the outdoor temp was when going up the hill?

With or without AC it stays about the same, starting doing this when the outside temp reached about 60.

 

[JNuchols]

The

I haven’t ruled it out, but from what I’ve read in the Haynes manual, there would be signs of the pump going out, like noise, weeping, or metal debris in the fluid. But when idling in the driveway, when the stats open up it looks like good flow through the radiator fill neck. But i know that’s not a guaranteed way to diagnose.

The plastic propeller on these pumps won't leave metal residue. And when propeller slips you won't hear any noise. And probably won't see any seepage. I wish I had saved my old water pump to show a video of the water propeller slipping when the water pump pulley turned. It was a obvious problem when I had the pump in my hand. Mine was a 2.4 liter but from what I understand they all have plastic propellers on the pumps. My pump was only around $70 dollars at O'Riley auto parts. My Patriot is running normal temperature since I changed it. It was like yours before.