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[WillCJ]

when they work the diesel is a good engine but it needs to be looked after to keep reliability. monitor the coolant and keep it at 50/50 mix. might be worth adding another temp guage to give a good coolant measurement. top hose connection into the rad is the perfect place.

I agree, great when in good order.
I just thought of a story here may be helpful.
 I was offroading in the XJ, in winter in some woods up as steep muddy track, left it running at the bottom to help/watch my mate in a Landy struggle and slide back off the track, when he gave up I went back to the car and it was registering very hot, and I can remember thinking it could do with an electric fan. Anyway, I had ago at the hill, flew up lika crazy thing, no prob, but engine temp alarm going off, cooled down at top and Ok.
 So , some time later I decided to look into fitting an electric fan, looked up the shroud, and......there is one there!, so... follow the wiring ,found connector unplugged, then checked fuse box and relays, neither fitted so dropped some in and ...working fan!
I wondered at the time if it was an extra when bought, and the cheating dealers only had to plug them in and charge £200 or something.
 Any way worth checking for anyone if not sure.

PS Read next reply, mine was a 2000, for info.

[The Smiths]

the auxillary fan was only fitted from around 1999 - it is a different shroud that the fan fits into.


I had to buy a new one from the dealers - the nasty thing is I had sold one with fan only a few weeks before the smash

Think shroud was £80, fan was £120 ish

[DICK BOOTH]

Unbelievable, had the xj running sweet for 200 miles and the thing has overheated AGAIN! Removed the water line to see head number 3 is is bubbling up! Cant believe it. surely the head only cracks when theirs been a water starvation then the cold water touches the red hot head which causes it to crack. How does this happen when EVERYTHING in the cooling system has been replaced for new. There are no leaks or blockages. The water is been cooled and circulated as it did when manufactured. The engine overheats due to lack of coolant and the only way to loose coolant is if theirs a leak (which there isn't) or if it's pressurising and spitting it out of the rad cap. If i'm not mistaken it can only pressurise if the head gaskets gone (but it's new!) if the heads cracked (suspected) or a liner/liner seal failed, but then i would have oil in the coolant, which i don't.

How is the head cracking, i'm missing something, surely there has to be an explanation.

I know the blatant thing to do is mug me off about having a VM in the first place, i know i should have bought a petrol but i'm currently out of work so a change isn't really an option just yet.

[Panic mechanic!]

its a design flaw in the engine, not you, nothing you can do is going to change it sadly, somethings are just designed badly from the word go, the vm is just one of them.

[Dave69]

Have you rang the VM specialist located in the chesterfield area for detailed advice on your problem, as they might/will be able to give constructive advice rather than ribbing about you should have bought a petrol.

[wildrover]

Chuck some STEAL SEAL in it....its worth a try...?

I too have a dreaded VM diesal , had the same problem as you when i first bought it....In my case , i was lucky , two bottles of steal seal cured it , and i have done many thousands of miles since...Sadly the steal seal has not helped when the hydraulic adjusters failed , or the pushrods jump out of place , one of the VM,s other amusing habbits...

I love my Cherokee diesal , but for sure i won,t buy another one...I am planning to drive this beast from my home in west Poland to my new home in Moscow.....Then , i am gonna use it for keeping chickens in...!

[isle of man]

I love my Cherokee diesal , but for sure i won,t buy another one...I am planning to drive this beast from my home in west Poland to my new home in Moscow.....Then , i am gonna use it for keeping chickens in...!

So you found LOURVE??

Do keep us posted I remember the thread about the need to visit.

[wildrover]

Yes..  i found love...  A lovely Russian lady...met her first on the internet , than after a year of chatting we met face to face in the lovely city of Kiev in Ukraine...  hopefully we now have all the documents in place , just need my letter of invitation from the Russian migration office , and i will be Jeeping off to Moscow to marry the lady...

I will travel light , then if the Jeep breaks down i can shove my stuff in a Bergen , set fire to the Jeep and walk the rest of the way....

[isle of man]

Yes..  i found love...  A lovely Russian lady...met her first on the internet , than after a year of chatting we met face to face in the lovely city of Kiev in Ukraine...  hopefully we now have all the documents in place , just need my letter of invitation from the Russian migration office , and i will be Jeeping off to Moscow to marry the lady...

I will travel light , then if the Jeep breaks down i can shove my stuff in a Bergen , set fire to the Jeep and walk the rest of the way....

I like your plan - but what about your small holding?

[The Transporter]

Yes..  i found love...  A lovely Russian lady...met her first on the internet , than after a year of chatting we met face to face in the lovely city of Kiev in Ukraine...  hopefully we now have all the documents in place , just need my letter of invitation from the Russian migration office , and i will be Jeeping off to Moscow to marry the lady...

I will travel light , then if the Jeep breaks down i can shove my stuff in a Bergen , set fire to the Jeep and walk the rest of the way....

Well done Wildrover, I hope that you are both very happy together.... However you may want to reconsider yomping it if the Jeep dies, friends in Moscow say it's about minus 20 at the moment and getting colder....That could really cool your passion..

[isle of man]

I have experienced -60 but still had the need to frobnicate...

[wildrover]

Its not far off minus 20 here in Poland...

Not too worried about yomping it in minus 20 with a loaded bergan...been there , done that....nuff said....

Whats she been saying about my small holding...she promised not to tell anyone...?

In any case...a chicken shed is cheap enough in Russia...  and you don,t have to worry about it overheating all the time...

And...  to get back to the topic...  I hope our friend with the overheating Jeep can get it sorted....at least long enough to sell it...

My next Jeep will be a Grand Cherokee running on gas....  Unlike the UK , every fuel station sells it over in the east...

[Dave69]

experienced a true -50 deg C (no wind chill factor) and wrote off a set of boots due to them freezing. Then tried it with 5mph of wind. Very hard to breath at that point onwards.

[Nosebolt]

went snowmobiling at -40 when staying at Kiiruna, the northernmost city in Sweden, and that was the in summer

[Bulldog67]

Scotland in June - fook me that was daft cold and the nutters were claiming a heatwave

[vmkrister]

Hi all, after nearly 2 months faffing around trying to resolve the overheating problem with my 2.5td vm in my xj, we suspect that the cylinder liner has corroded and has a pin hole in it. As the engine gets up to running temperature the cooling system pressurises and spits the coolant out of the expansion tank cap. After replacing almost everything throughout the cooling system and applying steel seal with crossed fingers it's looking like a new engine is on the cards!! It's either that or new liner, piston and rings plus gasket set. This works out to be pretty expensive.

Finding a VM at a reasonable price seems impossible as my jeep is an anniversary model therefore fly-by-wire throttle, any other engine and i'll need the ECU etc. Buying a VM engine seems a lot of cash to invest in a potential liability but my options are running out.

Does anyone know if any other diesel engine drops strait in compatible with the transfer box etc. All the XJ's being broken are due to overheating! Wondering if a CRD would drop in or a Ford lump, maybe something jap. May be able to find something if my options are a little wider

Thanks guys!

"Standard problem" is an inside cracked cylinder head. Before you turn off the engine the temperature has to go down and even out - otherwise the heat goes up the heads and you get these cracks.
Easiest is to take out, and put back, the heads as a packet with water rail, inlet, outlet, turbo and exhaust down to the gearbox. Have the heads pressure tested for cracks at 90 degrees Celsius, and you will find out which ones are cracked.

[Mike Pavelin]

  Holy thread revival, batman!