3.6L V6 Thermostat Housing Replacement

Engine Still Overheating

Ryan,

Great write-up, you made it easy to swap out my thermostat. I guess it's going to become a process of elimination for me however, because my 2016 JKU is still overheating. I had pretty much the same symptoms that you did: empty reservoir bottle, low coolant level, no visible leaking. My temp gauge hit the red line after less than 5 minutes of driving on Friday. I opened the hood and saw that my radiator cap was popped and coolant had sprayed around the engine. I was uphill of our house so I let the engine cool off and coasted most of the way home.

I was sure that my problem was a stuck thermostat, but after completing all your steps, I ran the car for 10 minutes, and the fan never turned on. The temp gauge stayed in the middle until I turned off the heater. After I turned off the heater, the fan kicked on but within a couple minutes the temperature gauge was heading for the red line again.

I'm temporarily living in El Salvador, so trying to do as much repair work as I can by myself. If anyone has any ideas, I'd like to see what else I can do. There aren't very many Wranglers here, so I think most local shops wouldn't know much about Jeeps.

Appreciate any assistance.
 
Ryan,

Great write-up, you made it easy to swap out my thermostat. I guess it's going to become a process of elimination for me however, because my 2016 JKU is still overheating. I had pretty much the same symptoms that you did: empty reservoir bottle, low coolant level, no visible leaking. My temp gauge hit the red line after less than 5 minutes of driving on Friday. I opened the hood and saw that my radiator cap was popped and coolant had sprayed around the engine. I was uphill of our house so I let the engine cool off and coasted most of the way home.

I was sure that my problem was a stuck thermostat, but after completing all your steps, I ran the car for 10 minutes, and the fan never turned on. The temp gauge stayed in the middle until I turned off the heater. After I turned off the heater, the fan kicked on but within a couple minutes the temperature gauge was heading for the red line again.

I'm temporarily living in El Salvador, so trying to do as much repair work as I can by myself. If anyone has any ideas, I'd like to see what else I can do. There aren't very many Wranglers here, so I think most local shops wouldn't know much about Jeeps.

Appreciate any assistance.

Exactly the same situation I had with my housing. The leak was extremely small - it really didnt even look like much. But it didnt let the system build pressure so it couldn't work properly. My fan also did not come on. New housing and I was back in business.
 
Ryan,

Great write-up, you made it easy to swap out my thermostat. I guess it's going to become a process of elimination for me however, because my 2016 JKU is still overheating. I had pretty much the same symptoms that you did: empty reservoir bottle, low coolant level, no visible leaking. My temp gauge hit the red line after less than 5 minutes of driving on Friday. I opened the hood and saw that my radiator cap was popped and coolant had sprayed around the engine. I was uphill of our house so I let the engine cool off and coasted most of the way home.

I was sure that my problem was a stuck thermostat, but after completing all your steps, I ran the car for 10 minutes, and the fan never turned on. The temp gauge stayed in the middle until I turned off the heater. After I turned off the heater, the fan kicked on but within a couple minutes the temperature gauge was heading for the red line again.

I'm temporarily living in El Salvador, so trying to do as much repair work as I can by myself. If anyone has any ideas, I'd like to see what else I can do. There aren't very many Wranglers here, so I think most local shops wouldn't know much about Jeeps.

Appreciate any assistance.

Glad the write-up served you well.

Are you sure that the system was completely filled with coolant (this took a few cycles of getting up to operating temp and letting it completely cool, then adding more coolant to the rad to top it off after it was cool). Also, are you sure the cap was properly twisted onto the radiator? It may be worth replacing the cap itself with a new one in the meantime. Make sure your temps are cycling properly with the tstat opening and closing and fan kicking on/off prior to driving, other than say around the block. You don't want to get stranded or do any damage from overheating. Last but not least, you may also have a small leak in your radiator that you didn't realize was there.

I'm willing to bet that you didn't have enough coolant in the system initially.
 
Many thanks for this write up. It helps tremendously. There was one thing that I didn't see covered. I experienced the check engine light did not go off on its own. I checked the diagnostics ( ignition key fwd and back 3 times) and there was no longer a code yet the check engine light stayed lit. At that point I just cleared the light by disconnecting the battery. I hope that was the end of this issue. Thank you again......time for that Beer[emoji481] CHEERS![emoji482]


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I never had a CEL prior to or after replacing the housing. You may have an underlying issue that popped up.
 
I will be doing this next weekend. Stealership says it is not covered under bumper to bumper lifetime warranty! Curious as to how many people have had this same issue.
 
I will be doing this next weekend. Stealership says it is not covered under bumper to bumper lifetime warranty! Curious as to how many people have had this same issue.

I would bring it to another dealership... unless there's evident physical damage. Otherwise there's enough of us who've had it fail for them to not have any issue replacing it under warranty.
 
I will be doing this next weekend. Stealership says it is not covered under bumper to bumper lifetime warranty! Curious as to how many people have had this same issue.

It should be covered under basic 3yr/36k mi warranty, but I do not believe it is covered under the powertrain warranty.
 
I would bring it to another dealership... unless there's evident physical damage. Otherwise there's enough of us who've had it fail for them to not have any issue replacing it under warranty.

I have heard of a bunch cracking, but how many got them replaced under warranty? I know 2 other people that where told it was a non warranty covered item.


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Thank you for this post. I followed the instructions and successfully replaced the thermostat on my 2012 JKU (new to me) last weekend. Engine light is off, coolant is at the perfect level, and she's running great.

I think Jeeps like it when their owners work on them.
 
ive got a 2012 and just started getting p0128 code also. As I look for the part should I be replacing just the thermostat or the stat and housing together? Are you buying the dorman version or only going with oem. It seems easier to get the whole assembley Mine is not leaking as of yet, just the stat stuck open.
Also, it looks like it comes with an oring so im guessing no rtv is needed? correct?

anyone have the proper part # so I can search it up I came up with 5184651AH is this correct??

Thanks

Tony
 
ive got a 2012 and just started getting p0128 code also. As I look for the part should I be replacing just the thermostat or the stat and housing together? Are you buying the dorman version or only going with oem. It seems easier to get the whole assembley Mine is not leaking as of yet, just the stat stuck open.
Also, it looks like it comes with an oring so im guessing no rtv is needed? correct?

anyone have the proper part # so I can search it up I came up with 5184651AH is this correct??

Thanks

Tony

I’m not sure what the code refers to.

I purchased the housing from the parts counter at my local dealer. Just give them the last 8 of your vin and they’ll pull the part up. The housing comes with a new thermostat built into it. The o-ring is also pre-seated into the housing, no RTV needed in replacing. Just make sure you remove the old o-ring as it is likely going to stick to the block when you pull the old housing off and two orings smashed together is not better than one lol.
 
My 2012 JKR

Thanks to the OP - I noticed low coolant in overflow a couple days before the DC/chk engine light came on... Going to get this done asap.
Btw, 71,200mi on my 2012 JK Rubicon
 
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