I'm replacing my radiator. How hard is it. What am I in for

 

very easy to do
you will need to remove the grill and header from the front
after there is a section of the rad support in the middle that unbolts remove that and unhook the rad tranny lines and e fan needs to come out of the way oh yea the shroud for the mech fan if you have one it sounds harder and more evolved than it really is i can take pics of everything that you need to remove if you want

 

Super easy. I just did this a couple of months back and was terrified at the idea. I had a friend help me (to get the rad out and align the new one in). Here's what I did:

-Disconnect the negative and have a tray ready for various bolts
-If you have ramps, drive on them first, otherwise jack it up if you dont have any lift
-Take out the e-fan and pull the fan shroud back against the engine
-Take the bolts out of the top radiator support, and it should lift right out
-Drain the radiator through the petcock (you may need to remove the grille for this)
-Take off the upper and lower rad hoses; have a bucket for coolant catching ready
-Unthread the top tranny cooler line IF you have an automatic
-The bottom tranny line has little tabs on it: use needle nose pliers to squeeze these and pull out gently and make sure no little o-ring pops out
-Un-bolt the top supports holding the rad in place
-Un-bolt the radiator-to-condensor mounts
-The rad should now lift right out
-Have a friend help you lower the new rad into the little openings on the bottom support
-Then just put everything back together in the reverse that you took it out
-Take off the rad cap and fill with coolant. Another really good thing to do is take out the overflow bottle and rinse it out really well. Fill up the overflow to the FULL line
-Replace the cap, check to make sure nothing is being left out, and make sure no tools were left in the engine bay
-Replace the negative battery cable, and start her up; check for leaks EVERYWHERE

Viola, finished.

 

x2 on 1991jeepman's post..... so much easier to do it that way.

 

Ok. I was able to do the exhaust mani by my self. This doesn't sound too hard. I was lucky enough to find an all alluminum rad for less than 170$. Alluminum tanks fins everything. Also found a copper one but it was over 250$. Figured it wasn't needed for what I'm wanting to do. Thanks. Feel free to add any thoughts or ideas to this. Now to post a question about bushings replacement.

 

whats the ?

 

still waitin on that question.............

 

Search my posts

 

what bushings need replacing

 

its like 10 bolts i swapped mine in about 45 mins, only part is half of them are torx bits

 

I need to swap the radiator on my 99' XJ.

What radiator do I want to look for? aluminum? copper? what?
and what tools will i need? i'm a college kid with limited access to tools.

the process itself doesn't seem too difficult, but i want to make sure ive got the right radiator, size and material before i attempt.

 

You'll end up spending more money to get a better radiator. Copper is better and stay away from plastic tanks. But I know money dictates, so if it comes down to an aluminum rady with a plastic tank vs. dead Jeep...well, the answer is obvious. I went with an all copper 2-row radiator, so it should last a long while.

 

Spectra is what I am going to go with when I change mine out. Cheap and good quality:

 

T30 for the rad crossmember bolts, various mm sizes. Crescent wrench for the transmission hose connections. Vice grips for the coolant hose clamps. 8mm for shroud bolts. 10mm for rad crossmember nuts.
Be careful with the transmission lines, they will roll up like a thing of toothpaste.

 

FWIW, the FSM says plastic tanks r stronger than metal tanks but nothing is indestructible and it is well documented that modern radiator design (very wide aluminum tubes) is more efficient at dissipating heat than the old design (very narrow copper/brass tubes). Virtually all auto manufacturers have been using plastic/aluminum rads for 20+ years.....they're lighter, stronger, more efficient and cheaper than copper/brass.