Hello,
When does the engine overheat, and when does it cool down?
This is the first step to understanding the issue.
If the temperature of the engine never decreases, and only gets higher no matter what, you probably have a bad thermostat.
In either case, with a 13 year old vehicle, the cooling system should be flushed, refilled, and the thermostat will likely need to be removed to accomplish the flush.
You can test the thermostat by placing it in boiling water to see if it opens.
ALL Jeep Liberty's have the exact same problems.
They through ignition codes, when in actuality, they rip out cam followers out from under the cams. This causes the computer to sense that one cyl. not running. I became really fast at changing them out, about every other month, about $250 in parts from Napa. There is NO fix, just run synthetic oil, with Seafoam, and change the oil no more than 3,000 miles or twice a year.
Now then, Liberty's and engine heads. Yep, that is your smoke, or just heating problem. They have a very bad design in the heads, and cannot hold gaskets. They also love to crack in the same places on all of them. We went through three sets of heads in one and a half years. It is NOT an engine block problem, warpage etc., so rebuilding the engine, or buying another, or used engine will not help you.
Run to the auto parts store today, right now, buy a few cans of stop leak, no, not just one can, put it into your radiator, then take a drive to the next city closest to you, and trade that thing off to the first dealer that will take it, It took us 6 dealers before one said yes, and we bought a RAV 4 Limited V6, Nav., back up cam and all. We get 24 MPG, the RAV has a higher towing capacity, and twice the power of the Jeep. In the years since doing this, we have paid less in car payments than the Jeep cost us in repairs. Our Rav is now at 75,000 miles with nothing but oil changes.
Go now, run fast, drive hard, and trade your Jeep off.
