So the family and I were at a lake for memorial weekend ( I hope everyone else had a good one!) and I had an unfortunate experience.
Lets rewind to Friday..... The family and I did some minor off roading. Some slow 1st and 2nd gear climbing and and rough trails made a 130 mile trip out of it on that, day. Only once did it get to 210* when it was idling in the hot sun for a while. While driving though and getting good air flow across the radiator, it always runs between the 1/4 and 1/2 way mark on the gauge. So anything over half way peaks my interest, although most of you seem to say 210 is just fine.
Anywho, we loaded up and drove 160+ miles to the lake. Made it just fine, always running cool. Set up camp and I hopped in and drove to the gas station for a few more supplies and then back to camp and it ran great, needle below half.
Finished dinner and loaded the family up to make a trip to the bathrooms about 1/4 mile up from the camp site. Again, still running cool. Got back to camp, turned the jeep off and got out. I heard a hissing from the engine bay and by the time I turned around and locked eyes with it...... BOOOOM! Psshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! Steam everywhere.
I put my gloves on and popped the hood and of course there is coolant all over and pouring out on the ground. Once the steam cleared up, I found the top of the plastic tank on the passenger side split wide open. My heart fell into my stomach in disbelief.
My first thought was oh crap, how am going to get my family home. All I have to say is thank god for good friends. I called a buddy of mine at 10 p.m. and explained what happened. Without a second though, he got up at 7 a.m. the next morning, hooked up his car hauler to his truck and drove out to get us. Can't thank him enough.

So it is time for a new radiator. Let me start off by saying yes, I will be off roading in this, but it is also a daily and I will not be turning it into a slow speed crawler.

I did a search and found a lot on many styles. But I'm trying to narrow it down.
I can replace it with a factory plastic/aluminum unit, a copper/brass unit, or all aluminum unit. I prefer not to spend over $300 on a radiator. I don't need the absolute top of the line high dollar radiator, but I am hoping for a little better than stock. I have seen a few aluminum radiators and copper/brass radiators for under $300 but I'm not sure if they are any good.

Is there any of you out there that have an budget friendly upgrade that you would recommend?

Thanks in advance.

 

Better in what way? Frankly, unless you have a specific and acute need for an "upgrade," there's no reason. Good plastic+alum rads are NOT as short-lived as so many want to believe, and they can handle cooling just fine for 90%+ XJ owners. IMO, a quality plastic+alum rad IS the best radiator for most people---will cool the 4.0 no problem, lasts as long as any other, and they're very affordable.

CSF is a popular copper+brass rad, but if you really look into them with an open and uncommitted mind, you'll find they have some pretty spotty quality--very hit or miss. BTR also makes copper+brass rads for XJ, but they're... so-so as well all things considered (I had a review of the one I had on JeepForum once upon a time if you care to dig it up).

All-alum rads, good ones, are super expensive and the good ones I've see are overkill. Many I've seen haven't been perfect fits, too.

I have a Spectra that cost me less than $80 from Amazon and is doing a fine job. I did the BTR thing with my old XJ, and it didn't do anything this Spectra isn't doing, and it cost 2.5x more.

 

When I have had tank/core separation of the radiator, it has always been the original equipment which was 15 years old. Have not had any plastic tank replacement radiators fail in that manner. What has happened is the drain plug blew out once. I plugged it with marine epoxy putty and kept running it.

 

A stock one from AutoZone under a $100 does a great job my son and I both have them mine on for almost 4 yrs now his over 3, lifetime warranty in house.

 

I can't emphasize enough the importance of sticking with the original direct replacement. I tried two-row, three-row, brass, aluminum, and a variety of brands only to come back to the regular 1-1/4" single core radiator. The other ones had so much core that airflow just didn't happen unless I was at highway speed. Going two years now on a $100 radiator without any issues. That's with 35's climbing the roads of CO's front range.

The other critical part of your system, and the one that may pertain to your unfortunate situation, is the radiator cap. The 16lbs of pressure they're rated for is to relieve enough PSI that the system doesn't rupture elsewhere.

Not to mention, you're getting a part that can easily be warrantied if it does fail. And you won't be waiting a week for it to arrive in the mail.

 

I run a Spectra branded one from Advance Auto or somewhere.

Good quality, does the trick. I did want to go for one of those CSF radiators but was afraid of shoddy quality. Increased heat dissipation capacity is never a bad thing

 

My factory radiator died as well during some trail riding (2/3 of my e-fans died because of crappy connectors). Just celebrated its 4-year demise.




Replaced it with an all-metal CSF 3-row w/copper core (#2671) that's just like factory -- footprint, fittings, etc. Fits like a glove. I think I got it for $175 shipped. The only bad thing I've heard is shipment, as they can take a bit of a beating depending on the carrier and how the distributor packages them. Seems that they usually ship out in the factory box; mine arrived with no problems. Used a CSF several years ago in my YJ as well.

 

Thanks for all the responses! Looks like going with the OE plastic/aluminum will be the best choice. After a couple of days of research, I have run into another issue. This XJ came from the factory with the Max Cooling package/tow package. I found the radiator part number from Jeep for this VIN. # 52080104AC
Turns out that radiator or the equivalent that cross-references to that part number tends to be on the more expensive side, no matter where it comes from. FML

JK253 -- That is exactly what mine did, in the same spot.

 

You don't HAVE to use the HD radiator if the price is such a downer. I doubt it even make much difference if any at all in the end.

 

That is good to know. I was trying to search for the difference, but I could not find any solid conclusion. I suppose if the rest of my cooling system is up to snuff, which I believe it is, considering it always ran way under 210 consistently; I should be ok with a regular radiator.

 

Most of the rest of us have the standard radiator and do all sorts of stuff beyond factory vision without cooling problems. You'll be fine and save some bucks.