98 Jeep Grand Cherokee AC/Cooling System

Hey all, great forum. I am pretty pumped I found this site.

I was wondering if anyone out there could give me some insight as to why my Jeep is gently blowing STEAMING hot air from the floorboard on the driver and passenger sides while the AC is on?

I know I have a small leak in my AC system as I have to recharge with freon much more than the average person. I am wondering if my problem is related to my second issue: this vehicle seems to run EXTREMELY hot. The temp gauge appears to work as it has informed my of an overheating problem before in which I had the water pump replaced. However, now, the gauge reads normal all the time.

I live in SC where we are in the mid to upper 90's consistently, but the cars temp seems very abnormal. I had noticed one time that I had a coolant overflow after I turned the ignition off in my driveway. The car was off for about 5 minutes then gushed coolent underneath the passenger side for 5-6 seconds. I checked levels over the next few days, all was fine so I assumed it was an overfilling issue.

Any insight would be great.

Thanks so much!!!

 

The passenger side at the front of the vehicle or back toward the passenger compartment? How hot does the gauge show the car is running?

 

Under the dash at the front of the car. So: by the gas pedal/brakes and under the glove compartment.

Temp gage is right in the middle. (don't have exact #)

 

I'm guessing a clogged or leaking heater core possibly. Did you replace the thermostat and engine temp sensor yet?

Your AC is leaking if you are having to recharge it so much.

 

sounds like a heater core leak to me. You should not have to recharge your ac at all.

 

You mean my freon leak could be coming from my heater core? I just had the system evacuated and recharged with dye. I would assume if no leaks can be detected, that heater core is the source of my woes?

Re: thermostat and engine temp. sensor:

The thermostat was replaced with the water pump, but I have no idea on the enigine temp sensor. I am not familiar with that part.

 

No, the AC is not part of the heater core. You seem to have two different problems.

The engine/coolant temp sensor(s) tells the radiator fans when to come on and control your temp gauge. It's a cheap part and usually easy to change.

 

no, engine coolant is leaking out of your heater core causing the steam. You are having to recharge your ac system from time to time, this indicates that you have a leak in your ac system. If you think the engine is running hot, temporarly install a manual temp gauge to get a true reading on the temp.

 

The temperature gauge in my car reads right in the middle - 230

All radiator hoses are hot to touch, so everything appears to be flowing.

THis sounds like a pretty daunting task. Just dumped $800 into this car having the back rotors/brakes diff and xfer case serviced along with the AC diagnostic which led no where.

I am somewhat handy and have vowed to do all the work on this car myself, as I purchased it for $500. So far I have paid shops close to $2000 in repairs on it.

Do you guys think an "experienced" novice would be able to replace the heater core in this car or is that really not something I should tackle without some help or more research?

 

Are you losing coolant?????? Are the floor boards or carpeting wet under the passenger side dash and footwells?


Before condemning a CORE, Ensure the Blend door is working properly...Switches all the way from hot to cold....A broken door or bent or damaged pivots will allow a door to stay partially open and allow airflow to places it shouldnt be, even at temps that are otherwise unexplainable.

Not so much anymore, but back in the day, the carpenters and electricians would toss their rulers and pencils on the dash after a job.......Down the defroster vent they fell, and jammed a door, broke a cable and ended up just as you are now...with an unexplicable Air temp problem....

 

WOW, great advice man, the person who owned the car before me used it as his work truck and virtually ran it into the ground. He ran a landscaping business and I literally had to get into the car with a blower to get all the crap out of it before I could even attempt to vacuum.

Perhaps the problem is exactly how you mention.

I take it that still requires removing the dash in order to inspect the "doors"?

I am positive there is tons of crap caked up behind that dash...