I was out cruising around saturday and the driver side defrost and regular vent and half of the windshield defrost vent are blowing cooler air then the others when the tstat is cranked max heat and the fan on highest setting, anyone else encounter this? and my rad i don't know if i'm paranoid, but there's a massive cold spot in the top passenger corner of the rad and everytime i stop at an intersection or whatnot there's a bunch of steam that comes out and obstructs my vision? anyone have the same problem with the rad and steam or am i just paranoid?

 

I am by no means a jeep expert as I have only owned 2 JKs. But working on cars almost all my life the answer is no that is not right. You are right to be paranoid. Anytime you see steam and it is not from water splashing on exhaust it usually means trouble. What does your temp gauge read when this happens and does it happen all the time?

 

Im mechanically inclined and im worried too, temp gauge reads normal, midway of the gauge, what temp is the tstat on a jeep? And this happens all the time, the water pump was replaced earlier this year under warranty, my rad hasnt been completely thrashed by rocks and such, ill call the dealership tomorrow, its still under warranty

 

i brought the jk to the dealership this morning and the results were returned to me as follows,
the heater core is clogged with sandblasting media from the factory, it's obstructing the driver side vents and has made its way into the rad and into the block's coolant passages.
apparently they are going to flush out the entire system, hopefully this fixes the problem.

 

Good luck. My 2011 is on its third trip to the dealer for the same issue. They claim that casting sand is clogging the heater core. The cooling system has already been flushed several times and the problem still exists. They are afraid to change the heater core because they think it will just clog again. They are talking about pulling the freeze plugs and rinsing out the whole system. Check the other wrangler forums there are some other guys with the same problem.

 

So latest update on this issue, last week the local dealership installed a new heater core in the jeep and an in line filter to catch the block sediment travelling through the jeeps coolant system. I got the jeep back after 6 days and had heat for a few hours and it went back to cold air from the vents, this time all of them not jist the driver side, so i dropped my jeep off again this morning at the dealership and they just phoned me to inform that they will be installing a new short block in the jk... I asked them for a pentastar but they said no.... Hahaha

 

ive been having this same issue w/ my 08JK. im sitting here laughing to myself because the dealer told me the same story(sand & such) they flushed it yesterday getting it this morning. hope its fixed but having read MANY threads on this im almost betting it wont just like yours didn't. previous threads say heatercore flushed ,replaced no luck.Then they check the blend doors & find one or more have been warped and thata the REAL prob.dealers i hear dont want to do this 1st because it involves removing the WHOLE dash.if mine still doesnt work they will be checking the blend doorshope ive been helpfull i will sub. 2 this thread 2c how we all make out

 

FWIW, depending on the weather, at times I get a boatload of steam out the front of the radiator. Usually when I come to a stop within the first 10 minutes of my drive. I've been waiting for someone next to me at a stop light say something.

From what I understand, thats normal. Until the fan kicks in, heat from the engine bay can flow backwards through the radiator when you're stopped.

 

^ive seen the same steam, its just condensate from when the radiator cap starts flowing, putting hot coolant through the cold radiator. Thus causing a little steam from evaporation. No worry.

 

i just picked up my jeep two hours ago, and yes i get the steam as well... so here's the breakdown, my jk has 40,000 km it has a new rad a new heater core and a new short block and i have heat again! warranty... what can be said about warranty... im glad chrysler is footin the bill on this one. my jeep was away for nearly 3 weeks while all of this was being rectified. i am a bit dissapointed with the whole process, i only had a curtosy car the week they replaced the heater core, for the last week and a half i was without a vehicle and i run a business that is 100% on the road, so it's been a tough go. i'm not impressed with the dealership or chrysler corp but i love my jeep. so if any of you are having this issue with your jeep, learn from my experience and just have the rad, short block, heater core, tstat and water pump replaced.