I think it's time to change my radiator, lots of green..... I don't have any overheating issues, and just use the Jeep for road use. What's the best I can get for ~$200 or less that is as drop in as possible? I've searched everywhere for one of the lower cost Mopar ones to to no avail.

My Jeep is a 97 XJ Country, has the max cooling radiator with a separate tranny oil cooler. Old one is a 5202-8133, which cross references to 5191929AA... Anyone know if a 5191930AA with work? Or what other ones should I look at (Crown, Spectra, other)?

And as a sanity check, is the thermostat for this XJ supposed to be 195 degrees?

Thanks!

 

I wanted an upgraded when I got a new one. 01 heat soak issues and all that lol. I had looked at this one. The reviews for radiator express seem decent. https://www.radiatorexpress.com/prod...221504/1180370
It's near the top of your price point. I eventually decided on a Mishimoto performance one but the one in the link looks similar. The Mishimoto made the stock one look rather pathetic. The stock tstat is 195°
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00...b_b_asin_title

 

I tied that RE one, and was not impressed. One of the holes for the fan was out of place, some holes on the top were too. Ended up putting in the high capacity OEM one. The original lasted 17 years, hopefully this one will last the same.

 

Spectra factory replacement radiator.

 

X2 works great

 

I needed extra cooling and went with a 3 core ebay unit. The cap that comes with it is probably not even worth running. The top isolators needed to be offset to clear an oem cap by the upper support. It has met my expectations. If its 20*f or lower the entire thing needs to be blocked off or I dont reach operating temp.

 

Did you put one in your 97 XJ? Was it drop-in, or have to fudge some stuff?

 

If you can find one. OEM Mopar, the thick single core used in the later model HD cooling package is pretty good. If you can't just buy a spectra. It works. You can search around for people that chased their tails on cooling system problems putting fancy part after fancy part in the Jeep being told over and over again to go back to stock, and when they finally went back to a fully stock cooling system all of a sudden their cooling woes are fixed.

 

Yes it was a direct drop in, no problems at all. I also have a 4 cyl XJ fan clutch, 180* thermostat, and the electric fan wired to a switch. On the trail it has never got above 215*, and will stay around 190-200* if I leave the electric fan on.

 

Got and installed this one last year from Rock Auto. Still choochin fine. All metal, made in Indonesia.
https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...1180314&jsn=22

 

Did yours originally have the max cooling radaitor (52028133) with separate transmission cooler, or the standard radiator? Thanks!

 

It had the cooler in the radiator and an auxiliary cooler, I removed the factory auxiliary cooler and installed a larger one.

 

X3 on the Spectra. Fit great. Works great on my 91.

 

So I went with the Spectra.. only thing I had to change was I had to take the brackets off the old radiator that connected to the ac condenser. The ones that came on the Spectra were 'straight', and the originals had an 'S' shape. Couldn't get the bolts on otherwise. Was an easy swap and all else worked fine. Jeep does run about 10 degrees warmer though according to the guage. Swapped the Stant thermostat out with another 195 degree one.

 

My radiator was replaced at a shop about 2003ish iirc, and they didn't bother attaching the condenser to the radiator. They didn't bother getting both of the pegs on the bottom into their grommets either. When I replaced that one last year, I had to transfer anything that bolted on onto the new all metal radiator and there was nothing to attach the condenser with. Zip ties did the trick, at least as far as I could tell.