Ok so I have an 01 and have replaced the rad 3 times! (thankfully its not my 0331 head) and its getting annoying. These cheapo parts store versions have plastic side tanks that are crimped on and keep leaking after a lousy month of use!

I was looking on quadratec and all their rads (even the heavy duty ones) look like they have plastic side tanks. I am a drag racer and I know Champion makes good affordable rads! I found this one

http://www.championradiators.com/Jee...-row-1991-2001

anyone use it before to comment? if not can anyone recommend a good quality rad I can put in and not worry about again for a good price?

thanks

 

I have no good things to say about cheap radiators with plastic tanks, but...

BUT!

Your problem might not be the cheap radiators. You might be suffering from galvanic corrosion, which is often mistakenly called electrolysis. I've even seen that incorrect term used in some formal papers, by people who ought to know better.

For the record, electrolysis is breaking down compounds into their constituent elements via the application of electrical current. (Like breaking water into hydrogen & oxygen.)

Galvanic corrosion is the unwanted removal of metal due to induced electrical current in a system. That's what happens to radiators.

What this means is, you have a cooling system with a nice conductor (dirty water) running through it, and some dissimilar metals at different places. If the water gets a bit acidic (which is almost always the case) you basically have a battery: two different metals and an acid. This creates an electrical current, which carries metal out of the anode (your radiator or heater core!), and into the solution (coolant), and deposits that metal on the other cathode in the system (the inside of your block, usually.) This makes pinholes in your radiator or heater core.

Galvanic corrosion can kill a new radiator or heater core in a matter of a few months. A bad case can do it fast enough to make you wonder who is sneaking around punching holes in your radiator late at night!

Here's how to tell if this is your problem:

Get your voltmeter out, set the scale to the lowest DC measurement. Put one end in the coolant at your fill cap, and connect the other end to a clean spot on your battery negative (ground) terminal. Go straight to the battery terminal, not some other place on the body.

In a perfect world, you should see ZERO volts. If you see even a few tenths of a volt, you have a problem, and you need to fix it before you drop any more money on new radiators.

How to fix it? Two things:

1. Bonding. Run a ground wire from your radiator and heater core to a good ground. Run them both to the same place. A good location is where your battery grounds to the body. The purpose of this is to "short out" the battery that your cooling system has created. If there is no electrical difference between the different parts of your system, there will be no galvanic corrosion. Also make sure your block is well grounded.
2. Install a sacrificial anode. This is a lighter metal that will get eaten before your radiator. They are usually made of zinc or magnesium, but you can also find them made from aluminum. For automotive use, you MUST use zinc or magnesium. Aluminum will do you no good at all. It's the same as what you are trying to protect, so it won’t protect anything. You can buy radiator caps that have a sacrificial anode built in. This is a good way to go. I’ve also seen a gizmo that splices into your radiator hose, which has a replaceable “zinc”, as they are called in the marine world. (This is a big problem for boats.)

Now, all that to say, check this before you buy a new radiator. The check is quick and free, and if you have a problem, the solution isn’t difficult or expensive.


If you do have this problem, even the very best radiator is not going to last very long.

 

Don't rule out faulty installation or rad support is bent/twisted/tweeked from an a wreck......I mean 3 rads leaking after a months use?.....really?

 

...and did you replace the rad caps with those cheap radiator installs???
Could be you have a bad radiator cap that is not releasing hot coolant pressure into the overflow tank. Plastic side tank on the rad may be the first item to leak under high pressure. Get a new cap.

 

......and the FSM says plastic tanks r stonger than metal.

 

Just a little tip boys. Sometimes you can re-crimp the rad and it will stop leaking.

Worth a try

 

That's where I'd be looking. If the radiator is flexing, even a little bit, it'll leak quickly.

Champion radiators- I have experience with one in a different make vehicle.
The one I purchased was all aluminum, fit well and had pretty good workmanship. No problems with it.

 

I installed a Champion radiator in my dads XJ a few months back and it started leaking from the center of the core a few weeks later. Ive read mixed reviews on them. The overall build quality of the radiator seems pretty good though. Check the rad cap or just replace it. Its possible its not releasing pressure and allowing the system to over pressurize. Are the rubber grommets below the rad still in place? How about the ones on the top? Ive run a fair share of ebay rads and never really had problems, besides the occasional fitment issue.

 

something is definitly going on. it isnt the rads. ive had one of those cheepos for 7 years and even overheated a few times. as mentioned have you replaced the cap? sure all the mounts are straight and true?

 

I see three possibilities:

1. Defective radiator.
2. Flexing.
3. Galvanic corrosion.

It's free, quick, and brain dead easy to check for voltage at your fill spout. Do it. If it's good, you can move on to checking other things.

 

CSF radiators from radiatorbarn.com are worth their weight in gold. I've put them in every XJ I've ever known and have never had a problem.


Edit: Looks like radiatorbarn.com has been bought out and is something completely different now.

 

HUH?....
You still can't fix a plastic radiator tank on the trail or in the middle of nowhere, like hunt section A at Terlingua ranch. Plastic may be stronger but when it breaks it's broken.

 

Thanks! will try this!

wow your a genius! But I see no point in that when they're all free under warranty. Nor do I see a point in re-crimping cheap thin metal to cheap plastic when there may be a better option instead of constantly re-installing a POS part.

hmm, that blows. My drag racing buddies have used a bunch with no issues!

my supports are fine. vehicle has not been in a "wreck" or accident ever and my rad cap is a new one in perfectly good shape. I am going to check this galvanic corrosion deal, it sounds like it may be a problem because when I first bought this thing the coolant was disgusting and FULL of rust! I had to flush the living heck out of it and it still doesn't come out perfectly clean when I do maintenance flushes.

 

Yeah, I saw that recently. Some folks on another forum had dragged up an old thread, and several people chimed in to say that the new company was not putting out a quality product.

 

One would think the FSM would have a warning about driving in those scenarios with a rad that has plastic tanks. LOL