I really feel for you on this project. I went through something similar with it overheating when the A/C was on, it ended up being electrical. Obviously this is not your situation, but I did try five set ups, three electric fans and two different clutch fans.

I'd guess water pump at this point, too. Changing all the fans I had made very little difference in temp if any in my '03.

 

Yeah I've seen impellers slip at higher RPM's on the 05 Jeep Wranglers I used to own.

I even knew of one guy that slapped a new water pump on, had drastic cooling issues, replaced everything else with no change, finally pulled the pump to find the impeller loose on the shaft. Then another guy that was out on the trail and BOOM instant overheating issues on his 97 TJ. Nothing helped so we towed it back to camp. First thing he went for was the water pump as he happen to have a trail spare. Sure enough when he removed it the impeller was basically gone!! It had been eaten up by corrosion over the years and finally it gave up the ghost out on the trail. He swapped it out, and finished the weekend of wheeling without anymore issues.

 

I'm leaning towards the water pump now as well. I was really thinking about when each event happened, and wrote it all down in a time line. Basically on 5/13 is when the high temps started, and two days later I noticed the fan clutch being toast. I put on a new clutch and fan combo, and did have a god feeling about. The blade didn't want to stay centered on the clutch, but I put it on anyways. After just two day I took it back off since temps were getting higher, and it was spinning off balance too. After looking at the clutch it looked like it had been filed on, and that caused the blade to shift. Both of these fan where on the same water pump, and that's technically 2 failures on one pump. New fan on again, and temps kept going up. So with new fans, new t-stat, and a great running system it was still getting worse.

I'm will to bet if I pull the fan, and belt off that the water pump will have a wobble to it. Either way I'm going to slap on a new water pump, and since I already have I might as well.

 

The fan clutch and fan should always be replaced together. If one fails, replace both.

 

I had the water pump issue myself and i wasn't proactive as I should have been and it went out on me going down the interstate. Thank god for a ultrguage!!! I changed it out and the fan and clutch and new t stat and radiator BC when the pump went bad, it wobbled and nicked the radiator and it a hole in the thing

 

Fan clutch and fan were replaced at the exact same time. You don't have a choice on the 03-04 D2's

I'm thinking you meant fan clutch, and water pump though?

 

Thank you. Haste makes waste.

Yes, I responded hurriedly and made a mistake. I meant to say fan clutch and water pump should be replaced together.

As long-time contributor Savannah Buzz said - "An important point, if clutch or WP is changed at this point, (180,000 miles) the other will likely fail soon after. Both have been bonded together and danced around the floor for millions of spins, and have grown used to each other's warts. The will be micro imbalances with just one new part, and the old one doesn't like it. If you can, change both. Or budget for second one."

 

Likely a good idea to change all three at once to lessen the chance of an old plastic fan disintegrating.

IMO the best fan/clutch combo is a new earlier D2 fan with new clutch of choice as cost much less than the 03-04 combined unit.
......

 

And if you can't find the OEM 99-02 Fan Blade cheap the 25.00 Dorman 620-112 works great. Darn 03-04 one piece unit goes for 200.00-300.00 and for that you can spend it on a new fan blade, clutch, water pump, and fan belt easy.

 

My new fan will be in today, and I have the water pump in hand already. I'm hoping to get started on this project tomorrow, and also hoping for good news after I'm done.

The wife and I decided if this doesn't fix the issues that we're going to put the Rover aside for the time being. We have just about 2 weeks before we leave with or without the Rover.