I just replaced the cooling system ( radiator..water pump..thermostat/housing). The car runs great!!...drove down the beach the other day and was 92 degrees out and temps were rock solid on 210...yay...so my question is should I replace the stock clutch? This is on my 1990 xj with 204k miles

 

for $37.99 It not gonna hurt.

 

Of course why leave a weak link...

 

If you don't have temp creep at idle, really no reason to replace it. Personally I would, but I'm weird that way. Cheap and real easy to do.

 

I don't mean to jack.... but would you go with the ZJ fan clutch or just a standard xj one? I don't really care about noise that much I just don't want to get the ZJ one and be undercooling.. Currently while sitting at idle for extended times it slowly gets hotter. The second I hit the throttle as the light turns green it goes just under 210 again. And the other time it get's hot is while going up a steep hill for extended periods of time mainly because the engine is revving at close to 3000 rpm. Thanks..

 

In your case, yes I would get the ZJ clutch. It's larger and will pull more air and therefore cool better.

In the case of the OP, I would replace it with another OEM one. If your overheating issue seems to be gone with the maintenance you've already done, no need to put in the larger fan clutch and create that louder noise of the larger fan clutch. Not to mention the decrease of about 1 MPG that is caused by the larger fan clutch. But the cooling system is not something you want to cheap out on. If you have no record of it ever being replaced, I'd replace it.

 

Thanks guys...went to Napa and got a OEM replacement and took all but 45 min to install the new clutch

 

If u have a properly functioning/correct temp t-stat, the system will not "under cool" regardless of what fan clutch is installed.

 

Very true.

 

X2