We own a 2009 Jeep Grand Cherokee, with the 5.7 Liter V8 Hemi engine.
A couple months back, we were on a driving adventure, when we started hearing a "squeaking" sound ... figured it might be a loose belt, so we hightailed it back to town to the nearest repair shop; turned out that the water pump was failing, so we ended up replacing the water pump, hoses and a few other things.
About a week later, we noticed that the radiator had a tiny leak ... somewhere. We also noticed something we had never seen before: if we were out on a hot day driving slowly, we could sometimes hear a bubbling sound! Upon opening the hood, we could see the coolant was literally boiling back into the coolant reservoir ... and the reservoir looked like it was about to explode from the pressure!
Upon returning home, we had it checked out, and ended up having a new radiator installed. But the next time we were out adventuring, we experienced the same problem with the coolant boiling back into the reservoir. So we visited a nearby Jeep dealer, who determined that there was an air bubble in the cooling system ... unfortunately, after taking care of the that problem, the same thing happened the next day ... so we had to return to the dealer. This time, it was determined that the thermostat was faulty, so we had that replaced.
Unfortunately, a week later, we experienced the same problem again!
The interesting thing is that the engine temperature gauge never goes above the halfway mark. And I can't tell if the fans are running, but I know that the dealer we visited during our travels said they were.
So I have yet another appointment with my local dealer, as we try to figure out what is happening.
Has anyone else ever experienced this problem? If so, how was it fixed? If not, any suggestions on what I need to suggest to the service folks?
I also have what may seem to be a stupid question ... but I'm not a mechanic, so I'll ask it anyways: a friend mentioned to me that while the engine was running, if I tried to squeeze the top radiator hose, it should not be easy to squeeze it because of the pressure ... but when I try to squeeze it, the hose is hot (expected), but relatively easy to squeeze ... that surprised me ... is that indicative of a pressurization problem?
Thanks!!
A couple months back, we were on a driving adventure, when we started hearing a "squeaking" sound ... figured it might be a loose belt, so we hightailed it back to town to the nearest repair shop; turned out that the water pump was failing, so we ended up replacing the water pump, hoses and a few other things.
About a week later, we noticed that the radiator had a tiny leak ... somewhere. We also noticed something we had never seen before: if we were out on a hot day driving slowly, we could sometimes hear a bubbling sound! Upon opening the hood, we could see the coolant was literally boiling back into the coolant reservoir ... and the reservoir looked like it was about to explode from the pressure!
Upon returning home, we had it checked out, and ended up having a new radiator installed. But the next time we were out adventuring, we experienced the same problem with the coolant boiling back into the reservoir. So we visited a nearby Jeep dealer, who determined that there was an air bubble in the cooling system ... unfortunately, after taking care of the that problem, the same thing happened the next day ... so we had to return to the dealer. This time, it was determined that the thermostat was faulty, so we had that replaced.
Unfortunately, a week later, we experienced the same problem again!
The interesting thing is that the engine temperature gauge never goes above the halfway mark. And I can't tell if the fans are running, but I know that the dealer we visited during our travels said they were.
So I have yet another appointment with my local dealer, as we try to figure out what is happening.
Has anyone else ever experienced this problem? If so, how was it fixed? If not, any suggestions on what I need to suggest to the service folks?
I also have what may seem to be a stupid question ... but I'm not a mechanic, so I'll ask it anyways: a friend mentioned to me that while the engine was running, if I tried to squeeze the top radiator hose, it should not be easy to squeeze it because of the pressure ... but when I try to squeeze it, the hose is hot (expected), but relatively easy to squeeze ... that surprised me ... is that indicative of a pressurization problem?
Thanks!!
