Mjjust

Having overheating issues. New 180* thermostat, housing, water pump, flush, new overflow hose, new temp sensor at housing, clutch fan working as it should, electric fan comes on with ac. Factory fan shroud is in place and in good condition. Ambient Temps anywhere from 80-100*. If on the highway, is running around 230*. Around the neighborhood runs 210-250ish. Will get to 230 or above within 5-6 miles from a cold start. Hell, I even tried a bottle of Water Wetter to see if that would help. Nothing.

If it tries to go into the red, turning on the heater brings it right down. That tells me it needs more surface area to effectively cool.

So, next step is to replace the cap even though it looks pretty new. It's cheap and one of the few things not replaced yet, so why not. Beyond that, it leaves the radiator. Stock replacement is relatively inexpensive, but I don't like the plastic tanks it has. For not much more, you start looking at all aluminum 3 row units that are direct replacements. My thought process is 3 rows means more overall surface area and potentially additional coolant capacity, but I have seen a lot of guys on here advocate for the factory style only. I plan on keeping the stock fan set up either way.

Can anyone give me some pro/cons either way?

BruceB

Just as a suggestion, I would make sure that the temp gauge is correct....
You have done much work to the cooling system already.

TrailerTrash

I agree.
use an infrared thermometer at multiple points and see if it is actually getting that hot. The gauge can malfuntion high or low just like an electric oil pressure gauge.

If it is running that hot, an OEM equivalent replacement radiator should cool the engine without any trouble.

tech

If you are going to use a OEM style equivalent radiator check how thick the core is because some are thin a factory heavy duty radiator had a 1 1/4 inch thick core .

Roler

Not even single cores will be the same as you can see, outer dimensions being the same; let alone 2 vs 3 core rads. Pics to demonstrate, you decide which would be best for heat exchange. Surface, tubes, fins, materials used...so many options and opinions.

I have an old skool heavy duty in there. When I brought it in for review, it was blocked for 70% and had 3 leaks, and yet it only overheated once and that was under the heaviest of circumstances. Rad guy said they don't make 'em like that anymore.

00t444e

A lot of people have issues with overheating after switching to an aluminium radiator, they aren't all the same some work and some are cheaply made and don't work well at all. I have redone the cooling system on 4 Jeeps using nothing but factory replacement radiators and none of them overheat even in 95 degree weather.

awg

I agree the plastic tank rads seem to last a long time, and I used one when I replaced my pinholed one.

Coolant temps fell somewhat

They have a better chance of fitting straight in without hassles too

The inexpensive Chinese alloy ones have **** welds

Old Man Minimalist

The auto industry has been using plastic tanks for years. People who are resistant to them are usually just resistant to changes in general. Plastics have proven their value since the 1960's. Have plastic tanked radiators failed? Yes. Did radiators fail when they had brazed on metal tanks? Yes.

True, you can't take the radiator apart and rod out the core or replace it, but in today's market that wouldn't be prudent to do anyway. The cost would be higher than purchasing a new radiator.

Disclaimer: I work in the plastics industry, lol.

Mjjust

Just to be thorough, my son and I went back over everything just to make sure we didn't miss anything. Did find a small leak where the heater hose pipe screwed into the water pump. Also found a hose clamp that needed to be replaced on one of the heater hoses. We thought we were smelling coolant but didn't see the leak at first. Took care of the leak and bad clamp, topped it back off, and cleaned out the nipple for the overflow hose on the filler neck because we saw some build up. Son took it for a test drive, started out ok, but after about 15-20 min, temp spiked into the red and it started puking out of the overflow bottle.

So, he let it cool off a bit, and was able to get it back to the house. Was starting to get close to the red by the time he made it the 5 miles back home. We did check with an infrared thermometer early on, measuring at the back of the head and thermostat housing and it was close enough lfor government work.

All this to say a new, OEM heavy duty style radiator is ordered and should be in hand this afternoon. Will get it put in within the next day or 2, depending on weather. I'll update once it is in and tested. If this doesn't fix it, not sure where to go from there.

IJM

Where did you find the OEM HD radiator? I thought there were NLA.

Old Man Minimalist

I could be wrong but I read it as OEM "style" radiator meaning not actual NOS, but an aftermarket one that matches.

Mjjust

Correct, it is an aftermarket OEM style that claims to be heavy duty. I would imagine that a true OEM heavy duty is unobtainium by now.

tech

I have a Champion Radiator 2 row that has two .75 of a inch rows of tubes and it was 104 the other day and my XJ did not go over 210 in traffic but I also run a 1998 4cly. heavy duty fan clutch that will pull more air . I would like to change the OEM engine fan because the blades are cut smaller on the ends that makes it a smaller blade I want to go to a pick an pull yard and see if I can find a fan blade from a newer car that has a lot more blades to it , like that do to the grand cherokee to pull more air and keep those cool . If some one has done this I would like to know how it worked out and what fan you used .I'm not talking about the electric fan .

Lynn Gräber

I got a 01 with 250k+ miles. I just replace the radiator preemptively every spring with a Napa one. At some point they just become a sludge filter. Lol

its an easily enough job and I stay pegged right around 210 oven in 100+ temps on hiway, hills, and crawling trails on 31s

Old Man Minimalist

Will you pass last years onto me? I know a guy who lives along one of your routes!