My 2004 XJ8 402 has an intermittent overheating issue that has me confused. Prior to buying the car it had recieved a new water pump and thermostat amongst other sensors. The only trip I have taken was a 160 mile thruway drive in about 60 degrees F weather. No issues. A couple of days later I was idling in the driveway and she overheated. Further investigation indicated that the cooling fan was not operational and it was somewhat low on coolant. The fan was apparently burned out as it would not turn on when hotwired. The AC also is not blowing cold even after being fully charged.
in desperation I pulled the cooling fan and replaced it with an aftermarket fan which fit nicely into the stock shroud. As a precaution I wired it to fun continuously with the key on. I drove it around town and it seemed to be OK. Still no AC. I decided to take it on a long 7 hour drive which was OK the first hour.
Well, it started overheating and after several stop, cool downs and goes I found a mechanic who was nice enough to remove the thermostat, fill it up with coolant, check for air bubbles in the system and send me on my way. I got 10 miles down the road and it started overheating AGAIN. I parked it and took a rental car to my destination.
Why is my loveĺy new used car overheating?