[Sienile]

Hitting 234, you probably blew the heads. Need to find where the leak is coming from and fix that. If it continues to overheat, then the head gaskets went.

 

[Sienile]

...
For the Pentastar engine, I believe the normal range is up to around 230 although Jeep JK Owners are mentioning 240, even 245. The engine tends to like higher temperatures. Well, maybe not so much when it comes to the needle bearings in the rockers.
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So, 234 was ........not so bad??

230 is the peak of the normal range. Beyond that is an issue.

You're missing one of the posts in that Jeep thread. Those guys hitting the 240s must have their radio up too loud to hear the boiling.

My 2012 had an issue getting 236+. My alarm I have set at 235*. I flushed the cooling system, replaced the water pump, and installed a 180* t-stat. After ever wheeling trip I hose out the radiator from both sides till the water runs clear. And she was still getting hot... 3.6, auto, 33s and 3.21 at the time, 115* ambient air temperature, running down the road and in 4low.

Attached is a pic of what my radiator liked like when I pulled it out. You have to remove the radiator to truly get it clean. After I got that clean no issues... 117* air temp, 4low, 37s with 4.88s, 45 min at 1200 rpm high idle pulling winch operations, and temps never went over 226*.

Not saying that your issue is the same but it's only going to cost you some time and a jug of coolant to find out. Which is cheaper than a new radiator.

 

[Sienile]

That's the code for the cam actuators. You may have bumped one of the connectors loose while doing the thermostat.

 

[Sienile]

Contact cleaner wouldn't hurt, but probably not necessary unless coolant got inside the connectors.

 

[Sienile]

HOAT is fine, just avoid the Dexcool branded junk. It turns to mud faster than the rest. Prestone universal yellow is a good one.

The connector left off the actuator wouldn't have caused an oiling issue. All it was doing was preventing the cam from coming off of its base position.

Tick is usually rockers... a few people have done them lately and I can't keep them straight. Are you the one that did one head and not the other?

 

[Sienile]

If the cooler is leaking, that's your first priority. Get the all metal Dorman one. What kind of a crack in the intake? If it's drawing air you would have high idle and probably codes for throttle control and MAP.

While you have the intake off to do the oil cooler, pull the valve covers and look for the bad rocker(s) and see if it damaged the cam yet. (Or since you already know it's an issue, just order all 24 and do them and the cooler at once if you can afford it.) If it hasn't eaten the cam, you should order parts and drive it as little as possible until you put them on. If it has, you're going to be replacing the cam anyway. Cams aren't too hard aside from holding them while putting on the torque for the OCV.

 

[Sienile]

Doesn't make sense to change it for a cooler and a tick. Fix those, and if it has issues you can transfer the parts to a new one.