Hello there! I've been trying to get a good radiator/coolant system flush on my '01 XJ. I filled up the system yesterday with water and some prestone cleaner and took it for a drive around town. When I got back home and parked there was a huge noise and a lot of steam from under the hood. I assumed the radiator cap had popped and shot hot coolant into the overflow tank which was empty. Turns out the side of the radiator near the upper hose exploded. I need to replace the radiator and was planning to go with a MOPAR OEM. Any advice on replacing the radiator would be appreciated? Also any complication with the transmission cooler? Thanks in advance!

 

I've had good luck with Liland Radiator. They are reasonable and seem to have a very good product. I've bought several from them over the years and have one in my WJ at the present. They are global in reach and been around a long,long time. In 1965, they took the original radiator from my 37 Dodge apart, cleaned it, and put it back together! BUT that was solid brass! The problem with it was it was full of calcium from using well water.

 

Many here run the Spectra radiators. A Google search can get you one for under $100.

Tell me about well water! We can't EVEN use it in our Keurig coffee machine. After a couple days of using it the machine sounds like a 4.0 w/o oil.

 

The Spectra radiator works great for me, my temp hasn't gotten higher than 220, and that was when offroading in 90* temps with the AC on. My temp normally runs 190-200

 

I redid my cooling system in Nov. of 2016. All OEM or equivalent parts. Only "upgrade" was the NAPA #272310 fan clutch (still not sure if it's necessary) which I did a couple years before when the original failed. Spectra radiator. On the hottest days I can leave the vehicle idle with the a/c on for extended periods with no concerns. I am going to do a flush before this fall.

 

The town where my parents lived did some construction which seemed pretty far away, but whatever they did caused contamination in my parents' well. This was like 10 years ago. Today the water is "technically" safe to drink, but even today we won't. You can feel the hardness in anything they wash.

I had a well when I first bought my house, and it clogged up the tankless hot water system (hundreds in plumbing bills) with calcium deposits, but fortunately the guy who owns the adjacent property (where he used to run an oil company) had the water tested, it again, was "safe for drinking" but due to the minute petroleum particles, completely paid for them to run pipe and connect my house to the treated town water. And it wasn't a trivial project.. we're talking over 300 feet across his property, under a public access bike path and into my houses plumbing with a brand new pressure tank thing. Zero cost to me.

 

Thanks guys! NAPA carries the Spectra brand and it's about $130. We have really good water here in Seattle because it comes from a mountain reservoir. Hardness is 1 grain and PH is 8.0. Pretty good for a cooling system!

 

Hey Guys, now that I have the radiator out i'm thinking about adding a transmission oil cooler. Any thoughts?

 

Excellent idea! Save some money and find a ZJ with the tow package in the junkyard and buy that one. It fits perfectly and is easy the mount.