[Jakobie]

Hello everyone, this is my first post. I am a huge Toyota Lexus fan and decided to go to the darkside with a 2014 grand Cherokee eco-diesel overland. 124k miles I was able to get a good deal on this SUV as I am a mechanic and needed some refurbishing. I got the maintenance up to par on this vehicle. I bought this intended to tow with as diesels are good to tow. (supposedly). Well not so much with this vehicle. I am in Phoenix Arizona and was towing up the 87 highway 7 percent grade i believe with a 3500 pound camper trailer. Just started my trip going uphill and all of a sudden the heat gauge is starting to climb up. All the way into the hot. So immediately I pull off and check everything out and the fans are working everything is good. I start to drive again and it’s starting to overheat again. So I pull off and I’m thinking the thermostat is bad so I remove the thermostat in a nearby city and fill it back up with coolant. Start to drive again uphill and it’s still overheating. So I look online and I am consistently seeing that quite a few people are having overheating issues. So now on my way to my trip of course frustrated I am worried about this vehicle now. After my trip I took it to the dealer and they replaced the thermostat under warranty.
Seems to be there is no solution as I did extensive research. There is no radiator upgrade BUT Thinking about it more, Mishimoto makes a thicker radiator for the SRT 8 grand Cherokee. It looks identical to the eco-diesel except it has a radiator neck. I took the chance and bought it. Finally got to replacing it and it fits exactly into the frame and core support of the vehicle. Only thing is the radiator neck is in the way of the reservoir. So what I do? I cut it off and leave a little bit out. Thinking I was going to weld it I found a company called HPS that makes heater caps that are reinforced and buy that on Amazon next day shipping and success it fits perfect. 27mm heater cap. You could also use a 28mm cap. I reassembled the vehicle back together also installing the CX racing intercooling pipe and intercooler upgrade. CX racing only gives you picture instructions and I’m not a huge fan of metal piping but it’s bigger and the inner cooler is bigger so I know it will cool better. I also plan to do a sofa king tune with stage one and stage two delete. I also Installed a new AC condenser.
The vehicle runs and drives great but I have not towed with it YET to see if that fixed the issue. but I will give an update as soon as I tow with it uphill. Please give me your thoughts and here are some pictures of the project as I don’t think anyone has done this yet.

Off the subject about the project. I also replaced the interior leather skins from katskin and did a front suspension leveling kit and reroute the suspension numbers to give it a small lift. Has 33" tires. The coil spring leveling kit fits exactly on the air struts. Vehicle rides perfect.

 

[Jakobie]

 

[BikePilot]

Awesome mod, how is it working out?

 

[jhm64152]

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I’m getting ready to do the same mod but instead of cutting the fill neck on the rad I’m going to swap out my expansion tank for the srt8 overflow tank to make it an open system instead of a closed system. Hope it improves my cooling for towing

 

[ausjohn]

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Hi Jakobie, Did you over come your over heating problem. Is it worth effort i like what you had done

 

[Luke Waite]

Following! Having the same issue…no problems towing except when going through the mountains.

 

[Nick65284]

Hi.
Great write up.
Only Fiat could produce a large, diesel suv that overheats when towing within its design parameters.

 

[SteveO]

Following this as well. Looks great!
Curious if I would be able to still fit a winch in there with that phat intercooler and radiator?

 

[AKDieselGC]

So im not overheating, but my oil gets very hot, anyone encountered this? I mean its the strangest thing the coolant gauge literally doesn't change but when towing the oil gets above normal band every time.

 

[capttedd]

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I know this is an Old post but i was wondering if this helped or has anybody else done this and did it help ?

 

[jc33777]

I’m getting ready to do the same mod but instead of cutting the fill neck on the rad I’m going to swap out my expansion tank for the srt8 overflow tank to make it an open system instead of a closed system. Hope it improves my cooling for towing

Did you ever swap it to an open system?

 

[jc33777]

View attachment 809 View attachment 810 View attachment 811 View attachment 812 View attachment 813 View attachment 814 View attachment 815 View attachment 819 View attachment 817 View attachment 818 Hello everyone, this is my first post. I am a huge Toyota Lexus fan and decided to go to the darkside with a 2014 grand Cherokee eco-diesel overland. 124k miles I was able to get a good deal on this SUV as I am a mechanic and needed some refurbishing. I got the maintenance up to par on this vehicle. I bought this intended to tow with as diesels are good to tow. (supposedly). Well not so much with this vehicle. I am in Phoenix Arizona and was towing up the 87 highway 7 percent grade i believe with a 3500 pound camper trailer. Just started my trip going uphill and all of a sudden the heat gauge is starting to climb up. All the way into the hot. So immediately I pull off and check everything out and the fans are working everything is good. I start to drive again and it’s starting to overheat again. So I pull off and I’m thinking the thermostat is bad so I remove the thermostat in a nearby city and fill it back up with coolant. Start to drive again uphill and it’s still overheating. So I look online and I am consistently seeing that quite a few people are having overheating issues. So now on my way to my trip of course frustrated I am worried about this vehicle now. After my trip I took it to the dealer and they replaced the thermostat under warranty.
Seems to be there is no solution as I did extensive research. There is no radiator upgrade BUT Thinking about it more, Mishimoto makes a thicker radiator for the SRT 8 grand Cherokee. It looks identical to the eco-diesel except it has a radiator neck. I took the chance and bought it. Finally got to replacing it and it fits exactly into the frame and core support of the vehicle. Only thing is the radiator neck is in the way of the reservoir. So what I do? I cut it off and leave a little bit out. Thinking I was going to weld it I found a company called HPS that makes heater caps that are reinforced and buy that on Amazon next day shipping and success it fits perfect. 27mm heater cap. You could also use a 28mm cap. I reassembled the vehicle back together also installing the CX racing intercooling pipe and intercooler upgrade. CX racing only gives you picture instructions and I’m not a huge fan of metal piping but it’s bigger and the inner cooler is bigger so I know it will cool better. I also plan to do a sofa king tune with stage one and stage two delete. I also Installed a new AC condenser.
The vehicle runs and drives great but I have not towed with it YET to see if that fixed the issue. but I will give an update as soon as I tow with it uphill. Please give me your thoughts and here are some pictures of the project as I don’t think anyone has done this yet.

Off the subject about the project. I also replaced the interior leather skins from katskin and did a front suspension leveling kit and reroute the suspension numbers to give it a small lift. Has 33" tires. The coil spring leveling kit fits exactly on the air struts. Vehicle rides perfect.

Any update???

 

[capttedd]

Well, I bought one of these radiators but wont be able to install it till after the first of the year. I planed on taking it to a rad shop and just have the "Rad cap pipe" cut off and welded shut. Seems like the best way to go. But i am opened to any good ideas .. Maybe jhm64152 "s idea is better .. Haven seen where or how the Srt8 bottle mounts.

 

[jc33777]

Well, I bought one of these radiators but wont be able to install it till after the first of the year. I planed on taking it to a rad shop and just have the "Rad cap pipe" cut off and welded shut. Seems like the best way to go. But i am opened to any good ideas .. Maybe jhm64152 "s idea is better .. Haven seen where or how the Srt8 bottle mounts.

Yeah I don't want to switch it from a closed system to open and be the guinea pig. I do definitely plan on doing the radiator "mod".

 

[capttedd]

Yeah I don't want to switch it from a closed system to open and be the guinea pig. I do definitely plan on doing the radiator "mod".

If you do it sooner then me let me know how its working out. I will do the same..

 

[jc33777]

If you do it sooner then me let me know how its working out. I will do the same..

I live at the grand canyon so it's pretty cold here in the winter. Plus that radiator is like $650. So I might wait on it a little. Maybe in the summer time. I want to do an oil cooler first. But I will make a post when I do it.

 

[capttedd]

I live at the grand canyon so it's pretty cold here in the winter. Plus that radiator is like $650. So I might wait on it a little. Maybe in the summer time. I want to do an oil cooler first. But I will make a post when I do it.

Same here .. I live in Phoenix. The only time it get hot is when i work it Hard in the Mountains. Other then that this thing Pulls like a Freight Train !

 

[jc33777]

Same here .. I live in Phoenix. The only time it get hot is when i work it Hard in the Mountains. Other then that this thing Pulls like a Freight Train !

Mine is deleted and tuned. She definitely pulls.

 

[Bounty Hunter]

I also plan to do a sofa king tune with stage one and stage two delete.

All that good hard work and you're gonna install a shit tune with no customer support. It's clear you don't research much or you would know SFT is problematic. They delete many of the trouble codes from the tuning so users get a check engine light and the dreaded "Service Electronic Throttle" message only to scan for trouble codes and find none. Reaching out to SFT is of no help. They either don't reply, or they're unable to help because they are tune sellers and not tuners.

Had you done your research you would know the Jeep Ecodiesel is largely limited in towing due to the limited frontal area for the coolant stack. You would also know from research that temps while climbing grades can easily be controlled with limiting throttle use. You basically let the temp dictate your climbing speed. You can't run full throttle climbs while towing with any Ecodiesel platform.

Someone above mentioned high oil temps. One method this engine uses for cooling is squirting oil at the bottom of the pistons to help remove heat from the cylinders. This high EGT under throttle is transferred to the oil and eventually transferred to the coolant via the oil cooler.

This same style radiator can probably be found on Ebay in the 3-350 range. Not the same brand, but same type and quality.

 

[capttedd]

Just finished this yesterday. I wont know of any improvement until it gets hot. Install was straight forward. I chose the Mishimoto radiator. I don't know if its any better than the ones on E-Bay or not ? i have nothing to compare it too. I can say it is Top quality, Great welds and has a Lifetime warranty . Not that it matters since i cut the neck off. But it instilled some confidence that it is offered. I also went with the larger intercooler and glad i did. Otherwise i don know how you would mount the stock one ? Since it snaps onto the stock Radiator. No provisions for that on the new one. All in all am very pleased with the fit. Stock radiators in most cars in AZ last about 10 years (dam Plastic tanks) so was glad to get ahead of it anyway. Changed the belt and some pulleys wile i was in there ( preventive and easy) Fresh 10 year 100,000 mile coolant and we will see what happens this summer Too date this JEEP has been trouble free "Except the recalls" and a Joy to own. And always 30+ mpg while traveling i feel lucky to have one since they are discontinued...