[theXKbuild]

Thanks for taking the time to read.

Dad bought his commander back in 2008 as a used vehicle. Long story short He's not with us anymore and I inherited his XK. It was a day away from the scrap yard when I stopped in to lay my claim to it, why wouldn't I, It my dads old truck!

Getting in to the history I know, dad was in town running errands one day and the truck ran hot and blew the radiator. When the new radiator was installed, the vehicle presented it self with the famous rocker noise and was left for dead.
It has been dormant for three years.
Its a 2006 XK with 170K on the ODO>
I've done the following to revive the old girl:
Rocker/roller reinstall ( just to get it running)
water pump
thermostat
heater and rad hoses
valve cover gaskets
battery
radiator
new fluids all the way around.

today I had it back together and was taking it around the farm a couple laps and she over heated, any thoughts, ideas, or criticisms?

 

[rblapham]

When you did the work on radiator and water pump etc. Did you burp the air out of the system?
If you didn't it's probably your problem.

From the service manual -
REFILLING COOLING SYSTEM - 3.7L
1. Tighten the radiator draincock and the cylinder block drain plug(s) (if removed).
CAUTION: Failure to purge air from the cooling system can result in an overheating condition and severe
engine damage.
2. Fill cooling system with the antifreeze mixture (Refer to LUBRICATION & MAINTENANCE/FLUID TYPES -
DESCRIPTION). Fill pressure bottle to service line and install cap.
NOTE: The engine cooling system will push any remaining air into the coolant bottle within about an hour
of normal driving. As a result, a drop in coolant level in the pressure bottle may occur. If the engine cooling
system overheats and pushes coolant into the overflow side of the coolant bottle, this coolant will be
sucked back into the cooling system ONLY IF THE PRESSURE CAP IS LEFT ON THE BOTTLE. Removing
the pressure cap breaks the vacuum path between the two bottle sections and the coolant will not return to
cooling system.
3. With heater control unit in the HEAT position, operate engine with pressure bottle cap in place.
4. Add coolant to pressure bottle as necessary. Only add coolant to the pressure bottle when the engine is
cold. Coolant level in a warm engine will be higher due to thermal expansion.

 

[theXKbuild]

So i followed the steps, and no success. I'm pretty mechanically inclined so I started checking a few things. relays tested good, coolant level good, the only thing i could think of after that was the cooling fan or the fan harness extension/ resistor. Quick trip to the ole parts house and 30 minutes later i repeated the process with success! ran around the farm a few times and up the road about a mile and she did great!!

 

[jeep5253]

So i followed the steps, and no success. I'm pretty mechanically inclined so I started checking a few things. relays tested good, coolant level good, the only thing i could think of after that was the cooling fan or the fan harness extension/ resistor. Quick trip to the ole parts house and 30 minutes later i repeated the process with success! ran around the farm a few times and up the road about a mile and she did great!!

@theXKbuild I'm glad you got it fixed, but it would be nice if you would tell us what the problem was and how you fixed it. It might help others.

 

[theXKbuild]

@theXKbuild I'm glad you got it fixed, but it would be nice if you would tell us what the problem was and how you fixed it. It might help others.

well, after burping the system i let it run at idle and the temp just kept climbing. so i shut her down and pulled the fan and gave it a hand twist. Its sat for 4 years. So it was a little rusty. I Then decided to put a 12v current direct to the fan just to test, and with out a helping hand it was done for. I then did the same test on the new unit and it started immediately. So after about a 15 minute install on the fan and installing the upper coolant hose, i Burped the system for good measure and started it up and let it idle for about 45 minutes with no issue.

 

[theXKbuild]

just an update on dads old rig, engine is sound other than a valve cover leak on the driver bank. beings the old truck sat for so long i went ahead and done a pad slap just to make sure she'd stop. and I'm running into an issue with the right read just getting hot beyond handling. So I bled the brakes down today and drove around for thirty miles and success. i plan to take the old girl to work tomorrow so yall pray for me and my 45 minute drive. I've put it through the ringer the last couple of days and i think all the bugs are gone but you never know what's going to happen until you get it on the open road.

 

[jeep5253]

@theXKbuild Thanks for the update. You seem to have covered all the bases. But like you said, you never know. Good luck with you drive to work and keep us updated.

 

[theXKbuild]

From the 26th of August until today its been an uphill battle. As I said until today. From some braking issues, to cooling issues, and getting a fresh set of tires under her, she made her first hour long commute to work and back and I could not be happier. Yes I still have a lot to do to the old girl but just to be able to drive around today in dads old XK meant the world to me. Also these are not the original wheels on this truck, can anyone identify what they may have come off of ?

 

[jeep5253]

From the 26th of August until today its been an uphill battle. As I said until today. From some braking issues, to cooling issues, and getting a fresh set of tires under her, she made her first hour long commute to work and back and I could not be happier. Yes I still have a lot to do to the old girl but just to be able to drive around today in dads old XK meant the world to me. Also these are not the original wheels on this truck, can anyone identify what they may have come off of ?

To me they look like the wheels that some Commanders came with. Maybe base model wheels.

 

[theXKbuild]

This

To me they look like the wheels that some Commanders came with. Maybe base model wheels.

The first wheel is the wheel that was installed. A standard HK wheel, so I thought. The second set were clean and come as part of the tire deal. The second Ive never seen on a commander