*Bug Out Vehicle Maintenance*
Nothing worse then coming home from work and having your wife tell you her Jeep is overheating. Well I guess having overheat issues while bugging out can be worse. But to the wife it is bad no matter what. So as a good husband I went out and purchased a new hose, a thermostat, and a new Radiator Cap, thermostat gasket and some permatex gasket sealer.I also purchased this flush kit. It is the Prestone Flush N’ Fill Kit http://www.prestone.com/products/print/461?popup=1
This write up is specifically for a 1996 Jeep Cherokee XJ. Your Vehicle may be the same or different mileage may vary and it is up to you to find the proper techniques described in this write up for your specific vehicle needs. If you have any concerns get with a local mechanic and have them do it.
First off, you have to find the Upper Radiator hose coming from the firewall going to the Thermostat Housing. The other Hose goes to the Water Pump and we are not using this hose. Cut the Hose in this picture it is the upper hose that I am holding and already has the T fitting in place.
Next I installed the Outlet for the Yuck.
Next you have to hook the fitting that came with the Flush N’ Fill Kit that goes to the T and the Yellow part attaches to the garden Hose.
Turn the garden hose on to start the backflush and then start the vehicle. You will also need to turn your heater to the on position.
The Yuck will start to flow.
Run the water for 5 to 10 minutes or until you have clean water flowing from the direction outlet. Once clean water is flowing, turn your vehicle off. Drain your radiator, hook up all hoses and start the vehicle to install your Anti Freeze I used a 50/50 mixture. With your vehicle running, stop when fluid backs up out of the radiator cap. I had a few other steps to do before I could fill with fluid so on to the rest of the article.
Here is what the old hose looked like. It was bent and impeding the proper flow of Coolant.
Now I removed the 2 bolts holding the thermostat housing and used a razor to remove the old gasket. Once removed I found that there was not a thermostat even installed in this Jeep, Hmmm. I used a 195 deg thermostat with the failsafe it is suppose to fail in the open position but Murphy may show up so I picked up a spare.
I also installed the new hose.
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