kusman

Hello,

I am new here and just recently (3 days ago) bought a 1992 cherokee limited 4.0. The guy who sold it to me said it is in good mechanical condition and runs perfectly, so I decided to give it a go an do some light offroading.
Basically, after a while, the radiator blew up in smoke due to overheating. It was my bad I did not notice the gauge go high, but it happened.

Now, I am looking for a new radiator and due to the fact that I will be offroading I would need one capable of cooling the engine in the summer (c.a 35 celsius ambient temp) and when I am revving the engine under load without the vehicle moving (like sand hill climbing).

The original heavy duty one costs 350 euros new, which is ridiculously expensive, so I found an aftermarket one: http://www.go-part.com/9101-jeep-che...3-p-24772.html

The question is will it work out for me or should I just buy the genuine part?

Thanks.

1991Jeep_Man

If you overheated that badly, I'd be more concerned about my head and head gasket than the radiator right now...

waltermitty

The radiator barn offers a brass tank, copper core radiator for $200.00 US. You can check what's left of the coolant for hydrocarbons to determine integrity of the head gasket. Also check the oil for presence of coolant. I would consider replacing the water pump, thermostat, and hoses along with a a heater core and block flush as long as the vehicle is down anyway. The mentioned parts are cheap and much easier to replace with the radiator out of the vehicle.

kusman

Thanks for the answers. The head gasket looks ok. The reason the radiator blew is because it was apparently welded before in the same place. The leak in the radiator is also huge and easily testable.

The reason it was so badly overheating is because some rows on the radiator were missing the small leaflets that go in-between and dissipate heat. I would say about 20% of them is either missing or damaged, so the water pump should be alright. I will have to check the mech. fan and the electric fan for correct operation, but the radiator is the first thing that is broken now.

Since I do not live in the US I cannot really get those cheap parts that you have access to. I have access basically to only the original heavy duty one and a couple aftermarket ones.
From what I read there are different options for radiators (thinner and thicker). I would like to know if the one on the link I found (I have access to this one) would have the capacity to cool the engine properly when offroading.

djb383

As suggested, if u replace the 4 main components (rad, water pump, fan clutch, t-stat) u only have to drain/re-fill once. U also virtually eliminate overheat guessing. Plenty of room to work when u take ALL the old stuff out. The rad in the link u posted should be fine.

kusman

Thanks, I will inspect and replace those things as necessary. I just wanted to know if this particular radiator would provide adequate cooling provided other components are working. Now, that it is confirmed I will order it.

BuckB91XJ

Kusman, I bought my 3 core radiator from CFS Radiator, after one of the POS plastic side tanks blew out of my stocker. It's been going strong for 4 years now.

A couple of other tricks that work for me when the temperature guage starts climbing when trail crawling in the heat of the summer:

1.) Put a jumper wire in place of your auxilliary fan relay. This will make it run constantly as long as the key is turned on. (Bypasses) the normal temp sensor that turns it on. The relay is located inside the black plastic relay box on the passenger side front fender well.

2.) As dumb as this sounds when the weather is hot, turn the heater on. This causes the heater control valve to open sending water through the heater core, which is nothing more than a small auxilliary radiator and fan. I just open all the windows and put the heater blower on the 2nd notch and direct the air to the floor vents. I don't even notice it's on and it gets rid of just a little more of the engine heat.

kusman

Thanks Buck.

I will double check if I would need to make electrical changes so the fan always runs when I get the new radiator. I would not say that the climate here is so harsh, so maybe I can get away with stock fan configuration.

The second idea is actually great for emergency cooling and it is simple to do.

I will also check if there is some overheating warning lamp on the dashboard. I did not see anything light up last time. I may add it just in case because in the excitement of hill climbing it's easy to forget to look at the gauges.

BuckB91XJ

You are correct. there is no light that lights up on the dash when the Jeep gets hot. You just have to keep an eye on the guage.

Yeah, that heater trick is what got me to my destination in California driving from Washington State, when my stocker radiator started leaking, halfway through the trip. definitely good for emergencys.

Since I live in Washington state now I rarely need to put the jumper wire in place of my aux. fan relay. I think the last time I can remember doing it I was actually wheeling in the Nevada desert in the summer time. It's really easy though. I built up a 1 inch wire jumper with two male connectors. Just pop the relay out and the jumper in. Takes just a second to do.

srt4geezer

Is there any aluminum radiator out there that would work? Like from summit?

Gee oh Dee

Moved to advanced tech.

kusman

I see, I will think about maybe adding such a light if it is not too complicated using a wiring diagram. I think this can be pretty useful considering overheating can do a lot of damage.

The heater switch is a nice one, I remember a few years back we had old soviet busses here and in summer the drivers were putting the heaters on to maximum to cool the engines. All passengers were toasty, but the engines were ok Too bad I did not think of it while driving back after the radiator was heating - that would have saved some time with stopping for an hour after 4-5 km to let the engine cool completely.

I have ordered the radiator now and they said it will arrive next Wednesday. Hopefully it would solve the overheating issue. I inspected all lines and they are in good shape with no leakage, so only the radiator was at fault.

The relay jumper could be a good idea in summers also. I don't much care for the fact that the electric fan engages only at 105C (which seems quite high). If I see it going over that even with the new radiator I may have to add the jumper until the weather gets colder.

@srt4geezer: I think the one I am getting is aluminum, but as I understand it the number of cores and thickness makes all the difference. Aluminum or brass would not be so much different I guess.

BuckB91XJ

Yes, Summit does offer an aluminum radiator for the XJ. My son bought one and has it in his 87. It works like a champ!

BuckB91XJ

Kusman, you are correct again. The stock radiator for the cherokee is a 2 row/core radiator. My radiator I bought from CFS, is a 3 row/core radiator and it was a direct bolt in place of the old radiator. The 3 row/core radiator makes a HUGE improvement over the stocker 2 row/core. I hope the new radiator fixes your problem.

kusman

Thanks, I will now wait for the radiator to arrive. The stock one I took out had some 15-20% surface damage, so I think a brand new 2 core one without damage (basically a clone of original part) will work in my climate.