Hi all i am on my second jk having owned a 2008 jk 3.8L before- my temp gauge never ver passed dead center even on the hottest of days off or on road
to cut to the chase i now have a 2015jku sahara 3.6L. for the past 4 months. i live in dubai and i am going sand dune offroading every weekend. i have noticed from day 1 that the temp gauge needle ON the road is dead in the middle (in the summer when it s hotter it still is in middle maybe dead middle then or slightly right but still middle).
on the road i never go above 224F where i can hear the cooling fan lower speed kick in and that temp i get when i m not driving at all at a light or waiting. i usually operate between 185F (it stays at 185F for a good 20 mins from first start of the day till it climbs up) and then i operate between 202F to 217F on a normal day summer or winter colder or warmer On the road
the above behavior based on my research is what people would call normal operating driving temperatures on the road- please correct me if this is wrong
BUT
when i go out in the desert the needle almost every time 4-5 times at a time at least goes above the middle line and usually plays between middle and the a bit before 3/4 (not hitting 3/4) and this does not always happen when i push it sometimes it just happens on a straight dirt road on 4wd at no push
the evic registers temps of anything from 203F when i climb dunes to absolute worst case 240F (thankfully this does not happen too often) but many times i see the temp climb to 232F-233F till i can hear the max speed of the fan kick in and then very quickly the needle goes back to middle and all is good for a while
what i know so far is that the engine coolant was flushed many kilometers ago prob arioud 30,000km - i m now on 139000
i do not have any issues getting warm air through the heater in fact when i turn on the heater my temp never goes above 226f or 227f max
my aircon works fine and i do not operate when i m in the desert to not increase heat from there
i cannot see any leaks other than today spotting a very small eardrop like one at the rad driver side (this is brand new it was not there all these many months whilst this behaviour was exerted)- i have always kinda smelled a bit of coolant but again in many threads this also seems to be normal for jk?
i have no leaks from my thermostat housing
i have to say that i have seen my coolant level drop 1 inch from when i bought it when i topped up which was 4 months ago which i suspect that it may be from this eardrop like small leak at the bottom of driver side rad tank (common i know) and i will have to replace rad since it now started but bear in mind that the temp playing as i describe has been from when i bought it and it is bad when offroad so i m unsure that this is the cause here
can you please tell me for 2015 jk owners do you see your temp needles always dead middle (maybe a small hair right from middle if pushed?) when offroad? do they fluctuate is it normal to hit close to 3/4 even dead on 3/4 mark or am i putting the engine slowly to death?
i ve also checked with a friend who has a 2014 jk and even at a push that needle does not go other than a hair right from the middle when on the dunes, but i suspect the fan programming on the 2014 is different to the 2015 up? can someone verify this?
do you recommend that i first do an engine coolant flush and see if that helps anything before i go change thermostat 9 (i really cannot see that the thermostat is wrong as it opens when it gets hot and i assume it closes when it gets colder as i see coolant level drop well when the low fan speed kicks in ) and ultimately rad (this will need to change soon no doubt now that the eardrop leak has started)>
what is the correct behaviour that i should be seeing with my temp gauge needle and the coolant temp in the desert environment on sand dunes and offroad? should the needle be dead center middle and temp maxing max at 224F maybe a tad to the right from middle on the temp gauge? what would this 2015 temp gauge look like when rolling off the shop floor? i always thought dead middle center is normal anything to the right you have a problem but this is negated by many people, forums, videos etc that i have researched.
please can you help me cause i ve read a lot on this forum and others checked youtube videos etc and loads of ppl seem to think reaching up to 240f -245f is normal for the the pentastar but i have to say that after seeing two friends on 2014s and 2012s not ever almost exceed middle mark on temp gauges i am wondering what plays here and if i should actually start worrying as i had kind of accepted the fact that the pentastar operates hot anyway?
to cut to the chase i now have a 2015jku sahara 3.6L. for the past 4 months. i live in dubai and i am going sand dune offroading every weekend. i have noticed from day 1 that the temp gauge needle ON the road is dead in the middle (in the summer when it s hotter it still is in middle maybe dead middle then or slightly right but still middle).
on the road i never go above 224F where i can hear the cooling fan lower speed kick in and that temp i get when i m not driving at all at a light or waiting. i usually operate between 185F (it stays at 185F for a good 20 mins from first start of the day till it climbs up) and then i operate between 202F to 217F on a normal day summer or winter colder or warmer On the road
the above behavior based on my research is what people would call normal operating driving temperatures on the road- please correct me if this is wrong
BUT
when i go out in the desert the needle almost every time 4-5 times at a time at least goes above the middle line and usually plays between middle and the a bit before 3/4 (not hitting 3/4) and this does not always happen when i push it sometimes it just happens on a straight dirt road on 4wd at no push
the evic registers temps of anything from 203F when i climb dunes to absolute worst case 240F (thankfully this does not happen too often) but many times i see the temp climb to 232F-233F till i can hear the max speed of the fan kick in and then very quickly the needle goes back to middle and all is good for a while
what i know so far is that the engine coolant was flushed many kilometers ago prob arioud 30,000km - i m now on 139000
i do not have any issues getting warm air through the heater in fact when i turn on the heater my temp never goes above 226f or 227f max
my aircon works fine and i do not operate when i m in the desert to not increase heat from there
i cannot see any leaks other than today spotting a very small eardrop like one at the rad driver side (this is brand new it was not there all these many months whilst this behaviour was exerted)- i have always kinda smelled a bit of coolant but again in many threads this also seems to be normal for jk?
i have no leaks from my thermostat housing
i have to say that i have seen my coolant level drop 1 inch from when i bought it when i topped up which was 4 months ago which i suspect that it may be from this eardrop like small leak at the bottom of driver side rad tank (common i know) and i will have to replace rad since it now started but bear in mind that the temp playing as i describe has been from when i bought it and it is bad when offroad so i m unsure that this is the cause here
can you please tell me for 2015 jk owners do you see your temp needles always dead middle (maybe a small hair right from middle if pushed?) when offroad? do they fluctuate is it normal to hit close to 3/4 even dead on 3/4 mark or am i putting the engine slowly to death?
i ve also checked with a friend who has a 2014 jk and even at a push that needle does not go other than a hair right from the middle when on the dunes, but i suspect the fan programming on the 2014 is different to the 2015 up? can someone verify this?
do you recommend that i first do an engine coolant flush and see if that helps anything before i go change thermostat 9 (i really cannot see that the thermostat is wrong as it opens when it gets hot and i assume it closes when it gets colder as i see coolant level drop well when the low fan speed kicks in ) and ultimately rad (this will need to change soon no doubt now that the eardrop leak has started)>
what is the correct behaviour that i should be seeing with my temp gauge needle and the coolant temp in the desert environment on sand dunes and offroad? should the needle be dead center middle and temp maxing max at 224F maybe a tad to the right from middle on the temp gauge? what would this 2015 temp gauge look like when rolling off the shop floor? i always thought dead middle center is normal anything to the right you have a problem but this is negated by many people, forums, videos etc that i have researched.
please can you help me cause i ve read a lot on this forum and others checked youtube videos etc and loads of ppl seem to think reaching up to 240f -245f is normal for the the pentastar but i have to say that after seeing two friends on 2014s and 2012s not ever almost exceed middle mark on temp gauges i am wondering what plays here and if i should actually start worrying as i had kind of accepted the fact that the pentastar operates hot anyway?
