2007 Jeep Compass, 2.4L, Front WD, 5-speed manual

Wife's Compass is overheating. No blown hoses, no busted belts. Lost very little fluid. Appears only steam coming out of rad cap. Sat for a couple hours. I went out and drove it. Needle popped back up inside a mile. I shut her down and had it towed home.

Thinking thermostat(s) or water pump. Engine Light is on but I have no way of reading it. Was thinking of just changing out the thermostat housing (with the two thermostats in it) and see if that solves the problem. Part not very expensive and not very hard to do. If that isn't it then I'm guessing water pump. That's a bit more complicated.

Any thoughts? Thinking the thermostat(s) are a common problem on these engines. Thank you!

 

Best way is to get the code read so you are not throwing parts at it. Code readers are cheap and you can get them just about anywhere. Not sure of the "no way of reading it". Start there, or you can try the thermostat and see if that solves it.

 

I found the problem. Cracked radiator fill neck. The plastic tee piece the radiator cap screws into. Drained radiator and was alarmed at how little coolant came out. Maybe a pint. Went to refill and saw coolant coming out the side of that tee. Sure enough, it was cracked. New part ordered off Amazon for $14. The dealer wanted $85. OEM might be a better part but 7x better?

Strange design. My filler neck is not mounted to anything. Instead, it just sits in a cup-like bracket unfastened. Can that be right?

 

Glad you found it. Aftermarket will probably be better than OEM anyway.

 

I usually prefer OEM. There are some good aftermarket parts to be sure but some of them are also crapola. It's hit n miss whereas usually you can count on OEM. But $14 vs $85? Come on!

 

Received aftermarket radiator fill neck yesterday and installed it. Problem solved.