Never had any problems with my 2008 Liberty. Last month while traveling it got hot. Took to a Firestone Auto Center and replaced the water pump and thermostat. They spent over an hour then trying to get an airlock out. A few days later realized I didn't have any heat. Took to a local Firestone, they bled it and got heat. When I got home and tried it, it did not w ork. Made 3 trips there, 2nd time same thing. 3rd time they replaced the thermostat. When they did that it overheated. Said the thermostat the other garage put in was missing the plunger. So they put the old one back in so I could get home an hour and 1/2 away. Told me to take to a Jeep garage cause they didn't know after I spent 9 hours sitting there. Took to Jeep dealer and they said heater core but they didn't check the thermostat or put it on the computer. I hate to spend another 700 I don't have if that doesn't fix it
2008 Liberty = Just had water pump and thermostat replaced. Now no heat
- Thread starter golden12
- Start date
SteelHeadz
Super Moderator
The proper way to bleed the cooling system on your Jeep is to loosen the Allen screw on top of the intake, right where the upper radiator hose attaches to the inlet.. Use a radiator funnel that attaches like a radiator cap. Fill half way and see if it pushes some air out of the bleeder, close off the bleeder enough that it stops leaking coolant. Start the engine and let idle. Set the HVAC to full heat and monitor the temperature. Slowly loosen the bleeder screw until you see it bubble or leak coolant out them close it off again when you see it spewing out a solid stream of coolant fluid, no air. Check the funnel and make sure it maintains half full of coolant. Be aware that the coolant can reach around 212 degrees Fahrenheit. The thermostat should open around 195-198 degrees most of the time before the boiling point of 212. When this happens , the coolant level on the funnel will go down as it fills the cooling system in the engine. At this point you will need to burp the cooling system again through the bleeder valve. Remember not to remove the screw all the way, only loosen it enough to expel the air from the system then close it off again. Do this at least 2 times when the thermostat opens and closes. After you have verified there's no longer any air in the cooling system, with the engine still running, remove the funnel carefully without burning yourself with the hot fluid , install the radiator cap then shut off the engine. If you turn the engine off before you install the cap back on, the boiling coolant will spew out of the radiator and possibly burn you. Wear safety goggles, gloves and protective clothing......2 things you can do to verify if the heater core is plugged.. You can check the temperature variation between the inlet and outlet heater core hoses. If the temperature is relatively the same, it's good. If one line is way cooler that the other, there's a restriction. Sometimes you can flush the heater core and call it good if its not too bad... Sent from my iPad using Jeepz
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SteelHeadz
Super Moderator
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I am not too knowledgeable under the hood to do this myself. I know when it was at Firestone they bled it and I had heat until I turned it off. Twice this happened. When the "new" thermostat was replaced 3 weeks later it got hot. So they took it back out and put the one without the plunger back in - no heat but doesn't overheat. Jeep garage did not even look at the thermostat and don't plan to replace it. I know they had a garden hose flushing it. I just don't think its the heater core. Firestone said Jeep garage could put on the computer and tell right away what is wrong but they didn't. I feel as though I am being ripped off because I am a woman and they think they can tell me anything and I will believe it. When they bled it each time I had heat- temporarily. If the heater core was bad, would I have had heat? This Jeep has 88K miles on it and is garage kept and serviced regularly.
SteelHeadz
Super Moderator
The only thing a computer can do in this situation is monitor the temperature what the ECT sensor is reporting to the PCM. I'm leaning towards a flow issue that's causing air to remain trapped or keep getting trapped in the heater core. Either way I look at this , bleeding the system and re-evaluating the condition thereafter would be the action I would take. I would not eliminate the possibility of the heater core being plugged up just yet, I've seen heater cores give out heat one minute and then stops as soon as an accumulation of debris plugs it up..
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