YJ/TJ for Desert Overlanding? Have you experienced heat soak problems?

[DesertDreaming]

I'm shopping for an overlanding vehicle, and am strongly looking into jeeps, and right now my "sweet spot" for simplicty vs modernity are the YJs and TJs.

I've read alot about their dependabilty, common issues, etc... and the biggest concern I have is the common "heat soak" issue. According to my understanding, a design flaw put the exhaust manifold too close to the fuel injectors, and after you turn off the vehicle, on a hot day, the vehicle will not start or rough start, due to a vapor-lock condition. The solution seems to be installing heat shields around the injectors, but especially #3. Other solutions include using ethanol-free gas, Replacing/heat shielding the PCM, and replacing the fuel pump. I've read dozens of forum posts, and for every person who says "such and such solution worked for me," there is someone who pipes up that it did not work for them.

So I want to know if there is anyone regularly putting their TJ or YJ to use in the desert? Have you had heat soak problems? Did you solve them? If so, how?

I want to do most of my overlanding in a desert environment, so this is a pretty critical detail to have sorted out before I purchase a vehicle.

 

[Hegear]

1990 yj owned for 20 years, over 70000 miles in Utah deserts and mountains. Never any problems like that. Honestly it never left me stranded.

 

[TripLeader]

Jeep put out a bulletin about it years ago.

 

[NatersXJ6]

Although I don’t have specific experience with TJs, and my YJ experience tells me to never buy one, I keep a practice of turning off my JK as little as possible when running hot, especially off-road, and there are more days over 100 here than I care to think about. The basic idea being that an engine at idle is producing very little heat, yet is still running fans, circulating coolant, and pumping oil. The side benefit is that the AC stays on!

Of course, there are a few places where leaving your rig running means you get to watch it drive away without you…. That is why it’s a practice not a rule!

I would still do all the heat shielding discussed above.

 

[smbisig]

I have a 93 YJ with about 300k miles on it and have never experienced heat soak. My 2001 XJ however, doesn't like to be restarted when it's really hot outside. It will start but runs a little rough before clearing out the hot fuel from the system. From what I know, this was more of a problem with the generation of 4.0 after the YJ. I believe there's write-ups or maybe even a kit on the market that applies heat shields to the fuel system. At least that is what all my TJ friends have done.

 

[deserteagle56]

Been a TJ owner since 1998 (two different ones) and I live in the desert (Nevada). Never experienced the heat soak problem.

I would own one of the new Jeeps but am staying with my 2006 after all the horror stories of electrical problems with the new Jeeps. Only thing I've had to do to my 17 years old Jeep is rebuild the CV joints in the driveshafts (4-1/2" lift so drivelines are at a pretty good angle).

 

[DesertDreaming]

Thanks for all the feedback. I feel a little better about the situation after seeing the responses here. I think at this point I have my eye out for a TJ Unlimited.

Speaking of which, how much would you all feel comfortable trailering these things? If we get a standard short-wheelbase TJ or YJ, I have thought about restoring an old Bantam trailer to take off-road. I'm pretty sure the TJs/YJs have a tow rating of around 2000lb. The Bantam weighs 500 itself and can carry a 500lb load... 1000lb over country seems reasonable to me for a vehicle with a 2000lb tow rating on roads, but I wanted to see if you all thought that was feasible.

I've seen a tow rating of 3500lb for the TJ Unlimited, which again sounds high to me. If it could tow 1700lb over country without getting into trouble I would be pretty happy with that but I wanted to see what people here have had experience with.

 

[Somecallmetimm]

I tow my small TSC+ 4x6 with rtt on a regular basis. Mostly with my XJ, but on occasion with the TJ. Both jeeps have similar drivetrains. I've had no issues at all.

Heading home... by Tim, on Flickr

Not sure of the trailer weight. I imagine it's south of 1000# loaded. But it's easily handled everything I've thrown at it. Tons of highway miles and the occasional technical track. I imagine a LJ will do just fine.

Since you're primarily a desert dweller, you might want to put a temp gauge on the tranny cooler line just to keep an eye on things.

 

[DesertDreaming]

I tow my small TSC+ 4x6 with rtt on a regular basis. Mostly with my XJ, but on occasion with the TJ. Both jeeps have similar drivetrains. I've had no issues at all.

Heading home... by Tim, on Flickr

Not sure of the trailer weight. I imagine it's south of 1000# loaded. But it's easily handled everything I've thrown at it. Tons of highway miles and the occasional technical track. I imagine a LJ will do just fine.

Since you're primarily a desert dweller, you might want to put a temp gauge on the tranny cooler line just to keep an eye on things.

Thanks for the feedback! Nice looking setup you have there. By the way, what roof rack is that... that thing looks nice!

 

[Somecallmetimm]

Thanks for the feedback! Nice looking setup you have there. By the way, what roof rack is that... that thing looks nice!

Thank you. I don't know... I bought it used and the closest thing I found that it resembled was a Rampage JK rack with different cross bars. I ended up selling it a couple months after buying it because it cons outweighed the pros in having it. Mainly since the TJ is my daily driver (mall crawler) and the my XJ is the main adventure vehicle.

Looking toward Colorado by Tim, on Flickr

 

[WSS]

Our TJ runs really slow. A two hour trail takes us 4hrs. Lunch, hiking, etc.. When I bought the TJ 4years ago, I put on a vented hood cowl/louver. Not only does it look cool, it does actually cool. I figured since we were going slow on the trail, the known heat soak may be a problem. I don't think it is.

 

[DesertDreaming]

Thanks for all the input and discussion. We just bought a 2005 LJ for a great deal. It's been well cared for, and not only does it already have heat shielding installed, but it has been out on several desert expeditions with no problems. We had to fly across the country to get it, but she purred for 1000+ miles on the drive back. There are a few small issues to sort out, but really quite minor things, and after that we'll be looking to find the ideal overland trailer, as we would like to do longer trips out into the wild. Finding the right payload will be interesting. The LJ is rated to tow 3500lb... I don't expect that figure applies cross country, but if we could get 2000 down some mild to moderate two-tracks I would be happy. I'm sure there's more info on this elsewhere in the forum, but anyway, this thread helped us hone in on the right vehicle for us and we're very happy with it. Thanks for the discussion. Looking forward to our first overlanding adventures!

 

[ThePartyWagon]

I've been chasing heat soak issues for years in my 2000 XJ w/ 4.0/AW4. Ultimately, it was attributed to the disintgrated head shield above the intake manifold and lack of injector insulators.

I replaced both with the kit from DEI, along with the fuel rail insulated cover. This has helped a lot with heat soak but it still happens periodically in Salt Lake summers.

Common issue in 4.0 Jeeps.

 

[1stDeuce]

My TJ (well, really an LJ, more or less...) will occasionally run rough when first started if I shut it off right after working it hard when it's hot out. It cranks for a few seconds extra, and stumbles a bit, but it smooths out quickly so I don't worry about it. If I remember to key it on for a few seconds first to re-pressurize the fuel rail, it starts much better when hot (or cold).

The cause is a bad check valve in the fuel tank lets the fuel pressure drain off when you shut off the Jeep. This allows the fuel in the lines to boil at a much lower temp. Replace the in-tank fuel pump and it'll hold pressure better and you'll have less issues. Keying on and waiting a few seconds before cranking ensures that the injectors are spraying fuel instead of vapor...

I would also recommend against electric fans in TJ's. A good heavy duty clutch fan will move air ALL THE TIME, which helps keep things cooler under the hood, even when the engine doesn't necessarily need the extra cooling from the radiator. Most XJ's that I've dealt with that had cooling issues had a toasted clutch on the engine driven fan, so only the electric fan was doing any good. Or they had radiators so plugged with crud from splashing through puddles that no air could get through them...

As for trailers, I have towed my ~4000lb boat down the highway with my TJ once. It did not like it at all. Towing it a few miles to the lake was far less of a problem. A sub-1000lb motorcycle trailer with two dirt bikes is no problem. My experience is that "offroading" with a trailer sucks, but if you have a small cargo trailer that stays in camp, that seems like a great way to have a bit more space than a TJ or LJ have inside...