Cooling system issue...

Hey Everyone, The AMC 360 in my CJ 8 is giving me a hot problem. It's got new hoses, belts, 4-core radiator, flex-fan and stock-replacement water pump. I had in a

195 t-stat for winter heat, and it's been getting hot lately. The mech. temp gauge would wander up to 210, and it's barely cracked the 70's here in PA. Even cruising at highway speeds it would barely go below 200. I did some checking, and with the engine running and rad cap off, there's barely any coolant flowing. Crank the throttle and some flows, but not much. Today i put in a cold t-stat (160) and drained the coolant, put in Prestone's rad flush, and filled with water as per the bottle. I drained and refilled with water three times. The last time i even used the flush-kit with a garden hose to pump fresh water throughout the system, and it all came out clean. I was hoping to see some crud from a blocked passage or something. I put the coolant back in with a new bottle of Water Wetter. Still not much flowing. The gauge is a little lower, but when i hold the throttle, the gauge climbs again. The fan is good, you can feel plenty of air pulling through the rad. I've worked in the parts business long enough to know "new" parts can be bad sometimes. Does this sound like a bad water pump?

Thanks, Don W

'82 CJ8 Scrambler AMC 360 T/F 727 Dana 300 One-piece model 20 rear Dana 30 front, upgraded to 6-bolt caliper and Warn hubs, awaiting locker

2" shackle lift/reversal 2" lift springs of unknown origin 33" Mickey's

And it finally runs!!!!!

Reply to
Don Wallish
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Hmmm...

My first guess would be a polished up fan belt.

The water pump and alternator take some HP to spin them up and I find Jeeps have a nasty tendency to polish up v-belts from mud puddles. Mud = liquid sandpaper.

I have a fast test for it. On a cold off engine, grab the alternator pulley and see if you can hand slip it under the belt tension. If you can, the belt is dead and the waterpump will slip too. You can grab the pump pulley and see if you can hand slip that too.

You are 'not' supposed to be able to slip either. When I turn the alternator pulley, the engine should turn over.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

D>

Reply to
Mike Romain

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