Your radiator efficiency has been reduced by (what is called) blossoming. Blossoming is electrolytic growth of crystals inside radiator duct passages. This typically occurs in the older Troops as gradual overheating probs cause the vehicle to run low on coolant, then water is being used to top off system repeatedly, acid levels in cooling system rise as the coolant protectants degrade and the inside of the radiator ducts 'blossom' with small crystalline growths that reduce the radiators flow and ability to cool the engine. Flushing and blowing out the radiator are temporary fixes. Replacing the radiator is the permanent fix. You did the right thing by replacing the water pump, tstat and radiator cap. An old, original water pump usually fails soon after the radiator is replaced. New Trooper radiators are fairly cheap, $85+. The replacement can be done by any backyard mechanic or DIYer in under and hour. You know the typical warnings about the toxicity of antifreeze and the deadly affects on pets who drink improperly disposed coolant. Good luck to you. It's an easy remove and replace. Your Trooper will thank you with many cool running miles. -Geoff
Have you tried some rad flush?
this should clear the gunk out properly. and then if it returns it may be the head gasket leaking slightly.
I suggest flushing first then wait and see if it overheats again.
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That's what we were going to try next, just wanted to get some additional feed back.
Thanks and I'll let you know.
We changed out the radiator and it hasn't overheated since. The needle hasn't even moved past the middle.
Thank you!
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