Autozone. lifetime warranty. short trip to replace it if necessary? I have gotten two from Autozone as replacements. One was in a wreck. They repalced it, no questions asked. Can't beat that.

 

Thanks for all the thoughts. I do plan on having the rig a while longer, maybe a 2-3 years? Just depends. I think based on this advice I'll do the Autozone thing and just knock it out. I do have torx, and will be ordering the disconnect tools mentioned above.

Now I just need a warm day in the parking lot. Too bad this couldn't have happened in my last place where I had a garage.....

 

You could do what I did. Use a blue tarp as a tent and a kerosene heater under it. Worked well.

 

If you are only keeping it 2 or 3 years, literally any of them should be fine. But the Autozone deal is convenient and safe.

 

I changed my busted radiator with a spectra in the parking lot at my job on lunch break. Do yourself a major favor and remember to replace thermostat and gasket at the same time. Water pump if you wanna be super secure. The cooling systems on XJ's have been one of the most forgiving on all the cars ive worked on over the past 20 years.

 

I'm in NC, so probably not required, and that's not exactly a low profile setup for an apartment complex parking lot!
Fortunately, later this year I'm contemplating a move to MA, and my sister's place has a nice garage.....

Water pump got done about 6 years ago, maybe 40K miles ago? Not terribly worried on that one. What's the consensus on proper thermostat temp for a stock XJ?

 

If it came with a catalytic converter (didn't look up thread for your year, sorry) then it is 195F.

 

So I want to check in with the brain trust...… getting into the project, old radiator is out, it's getting dark and threatening rain, and I wanted to make sure what I'm looking at is normal.

The history: Stock XJ, 4.0 I6, 4WD. Was a daily driver for a LONG time, but driven pretty sparingly the last year and a half. Last time it was driven it did end up overheating, but no running rough, etc, I just pulled over and let it cool for a bit. Been sitting about 2 months since then. Pulled it open and this is what I saw:













So I'm hoping all this yellow gunk is normal? Oil dipstick is coming back clean, although it has been sitting a bit.
I wish I had a way to flush it out before putting it back together, but I may be limited to taking it to a Jiffy Lube or something similar and paying for a coolant flush or two.

Thoughts?

EDIT: After perusing the forums, looks a lot like this thread.

So, finish the job, new coolant, go get it flushed. Man I wish I still had my driveway and garage.....

 

I did mine at an apartment complex....wasn't that big of a deal. I dropped in a desert class high flow one...fitment was a bit tight..but well worth it IMHO.
I would highly recommend you get yourself a quick disconnect tool the right size from your local auto parts store for a couple bucks before you start. It will save you a world of grief for the transmission cooling lines that connect on the driver's side of the radiator. You can do it with out one, but it would be a total PITA. It looks similar to the one below. Think I got one for like 2 bucks at o'riellys. I could be wrong, but I think on my 99 it was a 3/8" size tool. Definitely a life saver on these kinds of fittings. Other than that... the install was pretty straight forward. Also if memory serves... I think t came in handy to hold on to (I want to say) guide pins/hardware as the new unit didn't have it included. So when you take the old one out, just hold on to anything that comes off of it for reuse mounting the new one.

 

Looks to me since your oil is normal (not a milkshake)...that maybe a PO had put some stop leak into the radiator at some point... that color makes me think of the Bars brand. Just flush all the crap you can get out of it.
And I would recommend like I did... replace the upper and lower hoses... don't reuse them unless you had just recently put them on. Like 25 bucks for both...that's cheap insurance when you're replacing with a new radiator. IMHO
also obviously a new t-stat and housing are in order too...both pretty cheap. I think less than 20 bucks for both of those too.

 

Well, I bought it in 2004, so any PO would've been a LONG time ago.... Pretty sure I haven't put any stop leak in it myself, but it does look like what apparently happens when you mix two incompatible coolants?
And I've got two new hoses. Might as well get the new housing..... I kinda want to pull the water pump as well, but I also kinda don't want to put in the work......

 

Green coolant should be changed every 3-4 years, if not the corrosion inhibitors in the antifreeze break down and it causes rust and other deposits to form.

 

Fortunately with our old XJ's there are only a few things that are ultra expensive to replace.... most stuff just nickels and dimes ya. (Welcome to JEEP) lol

00t444e had a good point too.. I was just going with what I said at first because that's the exact color I've seen from that Bars stop leak. Could be corrosion too.

If you're replacing the other stuff... I think a couple years ago when I did my water pump, t-stat and housing... I think a brand new OE style replacement pump was less than 50 bucks... so not a huge investment if the rest of your system is crudded up like that. Why risk it for an hour's work and 50 bucks when you're already doing all the rest?

 

My Spectra from Auto zone lifetime

 

My 1996 XJ 355,000 miles (American) 242 cui never looked like that no matter how long I waited between coolant changes. Actually, my past coolant changes occurred with radiator replacements, so one at around 250,000 miles in 2003ish and one this past summer at 352,000 ish. (New regimen is every other year, am tired of buying radiatiors) That said, it looks a lot like the YouTube rigs, especially Bleepin Jeep.

Might as well replace that housing and thermostat (check thermostat for proper operation before installing), maybe even the sender too. I used a FelPro gasket, dry. Pull the water pump if it is cruddy replace it also. My original water pump was replaced a few years ago and the thing that failed was the factory gasket. A FelPro gasket there is cheap insurance too. If you are in an area that freezes this time of year you can't really do a week long flush, so might as well do a Royal Purple Royal Flush all day. If you are not expecting freezing temps for a while, you can flush it for a week with that stuff (read and follow bottle directions).