Looking for cooling system set up experiences. I have an all aluminum champion 3-row radiator that gave up the ghost after only 3 years and the "lifetime" warranty is void because I took my jeep off the pavement god forbid. Anyways what set up are you guys running in your rigs? Looking for a direction to go with my TJ like the idea of an upgrade but didn't work the first time around. I am leaning towards getting an OEM radiator and new fan shroud(mine is super broken) sticking with the mechanical fan, a system I know works.
i have a 94 wrangler with a 4.6 stroker, i put on a cj front clip and it has a mike's steering box relocation bracket that interferes with the lower radiator hose. the radiator is a champion aluminum, ford contour dual electric fans and a spal pwm controller. radiator has a warn 8274 in front of it. it cools fine at slow speed but overheats in the summer on freefreeway. i will probably on a US radiators optima 3 or 4 core and modify the lower hose fitting to clear the steering. Tim
i have a 94 wrangler with a 4.6 stroker, i put on a cj front clip and it has a mike's steering box relocation bracket that interferes with the lower radiator hose. the radiator is a champion aluminum, ford contour dual electric fans and a spal pwm controller. radiator has a warn 8274 in front of it. it cools fine at slow speed but overheats in the summer on freefreeway. i will probably on a US radiators optima 3 or 4 core and modify the lower hose fitting to clear the steering. Tim
Champion is crap. I also found out the hard way. I think all the cheapish aluminum ones are Chinese and you might get a year or two out of them. I just found my "Wizard" rad has a leak in it. I think it's been a little over a year and a half. If I have to do it again, I will probably suck it up and spend the bucks for a CBR, Novak or some other reputable brand aluminum job.
They are crap indeed. The transmission cooler fittings wouldn't fit. Their after sales dept. is a joke. I had to sand down the transmission line end to make it fit.
A good radiator will cost $600 alone for a copper brass, I have found that the cheap aluminum ones are cheap quality and dont cool as good as a good copper brass radiator. I run them behind 600+ hp engines without problems where the aluminum ones overheat. Tim
I've had a Novak and a Champion and about 2 other el cheapo aluminum radiators. My '98's stock radiator went out at 40K miles. Fast forward after running numerous expensive but leaky radiators, I finally went back to OEM (they no longer leak). It doesn't cool as well, but it doesn't leak either! I still run the flex fan I installed with the novak years ago. should probably go back to a stock clutch fan too.
I finally went back to OEM. It doesn't cool as well. I still run the flex fan I installed with the novak years ago. should probably go back to a stock clutch fan too.
A lot of people have had good luck mounting up electric fans from the first-gen Ford Taurus. They're just the right width and easy to wire up, and then you have the capability of wiring them to a switch to shut off if you need to cross a particularly deep section of water. You just have to definitely remember to do so, or those plastic fan blades will tear themselves apart in the water.
Otherwise, the OEM fan and fan clutch are really hard to beat.
Some homework on the thermal dynamics of heat transfer is well worth your time.
Things like the ability to conduct heat vs. the ability to dissipate heat are prime examples.
Surface area and fin counts are another good area to study. Look for honest SAE engineering papers not some magazine writer of web site advertiser.
There is a reason things work as they do. It might not be apparent or obvious. It may even go against what you`ve learned on the internet .
I run a 2-row copper/brass radiator, 2-speed Volvo electric fan, Volvo fan controller wired to manual switches, and a BMW 2-speed fan switch. My shroud consists of a piece of aluminum plate bolted to the radiator... no "ducting", just a big hole cut it in. 30,000+ miles and I haven't had a single overheating problem - except when I forget to turn on the fan in manual mode. Doh!
I have had really good luck with a couple of Mishimoto radiators, the right model for your TJ shows up as MMRAD-WRA-87. I see it on Amazon for $305, free shipping on Prime. Put one on a 2008 F-550 at work, the OEM radiator is crimped plastic tanks on an aluminum core, seems like a poor design for us. The Mishimoto looks to have nice welded tanks, for not too much more than stock. Use that with the stock fan and shroud, probably the last radiator you would ever have to buy.
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