Coolant system upgrades

Blazindevl

Blazindevl

LOSER
It's starting to get hot here in phoenix with temps in the 110-115 range this last week. Went for a little drive in the mountains today and noticed the temp gauge started to crawl a little north of centerline so i checked and the digital gauge read in the 250's. When I turned my a/c off, temps went back down to normal in the 220 range. Being that this will be the first summer here since going to 37's and adding all the extra weight... I started thinking maybe upgrading the radiator wouldn't be such a bad idea as a precautionary measure.

Question is what are everyone else's experiences with this? A quick search thru the internet and I found this site:
http://www.mishimoto.com/jeep-wrangler-jk-radiator-07-11.html

What really appealed to me was "lifetime warranty" and the extra cooling capacity... Thoughts? BTW, before anyone chimes in and asks about my jeep and possible coolant issues I have a 2015 JKUR with 6500 miles
 
Haven't had any experience with JK radiators, but have used performance aluminum radiators in muscle cars with fantastic results. I'd say an aluminum rad with 160% more capacity and a lifetime warranty is a good gamble for sure.
 
I suggest doing a little research before pulling the trigger on that one. I remember where but not too long ago I ran acorss a thread on another one of the forums from a user that was having all kinds of issues installing one of the Mishimoto radiators in his JKU. There was something about an issue with something with the welding around the cap area leaking, first radiator was replaced and the second had other issues etc. etc. It was one of those complete nightmare type threads. Not trying bash the product and have no first hand experience with them but again just remembered reading about the level of issues that the person had hence the recommendation for some further research.
 
Thanks for the replies... I will definitely be doing more research before pulling the trigger on anything. I know that many have complained about RCV not standing behind their axles even though they advertise a lifetime warranty as well. Those words are meaningless unless the manufacturer actually stands behind wht they sell.

If anyone else has upgraded their radiator or cooling system, I'd love to hear the what when where how and why on it. I have a feeling there aren't really too many options for JK's here and would hate to have to go custom as I'm sure the price would be astronomical.
 
AEV hood? Or poison Spider louver thing. Might help a little.

Griffin makes nice stuff. They are not cheap. I have an off topic car with a Griffin radiator and no complaints.

I also like using Water Wetter or Purple Ice from Royal Purple. I noticed a 5 degree drop when I added it. Who knows how that stuff works with modern engines and electronics tho. I've only used it in my old junk.
 
I am not trying to be the smart one here but are you sure your radiator is clean from the outside? I had the same problem when i cleaned the radiator with a hose the whole mountain came down! A single mud run can cause this.
 
I would clean your radiator then look into a way for the heat to escape from under the hood better. So pull the front fender liners, aev hood, mopar 10a hood, hood louver, etc. I wouldn't look into a cooling system just yet.
 
cozdude said:
I would clean your radiator then look into a way for the heat to escape from under the hood better. So pull the front fender liners, aev hood, mopar 10a hood, hood louver, etc. I wouldn't look into a cooling system just yet.
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Radiator is spotless, could prolly eat off of it. Front fender liners are already gone, did that when I trimmed my fender flares. I have tossed around the idea of getting the 10a hood but with a few of the things i have left to do, it wasn't really high on my to do list.

Ddays said:
Did you re-gear with your 37's? If no, your motor is workin harder than it used to.
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I have not re geared yet and am still using the factory 4.10's. I'm doing dynatracs this summer, prolly a pr60/80 combo and was planning to regear then. I can definitely feel the motor working harder at times but it didn't really seem to be straining when this all happenned. I was on a stretch of road, cruising at about 65mph, rpms were at about 2600 and the a/c was on high... When I noticed the temp starting to climb i shut a/c off and it immediately started to drop.
 
Blazindevl said:
I have not re geared yet and am still using the factory 4.10's. I'm doing dynatracs this summer, prolly a pr60/80 combo and was planning to regear then. I can definitely feel the motor working harder at times but it didn't really seem to be straining when this all happenned. I was on a stretch of road, cruising at about 65mph, rpms were at about 2600 and the a/c was on high... When I noticed the temp starting to climb i shut a/c off and it immediately started to drop.
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Gotcha. From the first post I thought you were driving in the mountains when it happened.
 
Blazindevl said:
Radiator is spotless, could prolly eat off of it. Front fender liners are already gone, did that when I trimmed my fender flares. I have tossed around the idea of getting the 10a hood but with a few of the things i have left to do, it wasn't really high on my to do list.



I have not re geared yet and am still using the factory 4.10's. I'm doing dynatracs this summer, prolly a pr60/80 combo and was planning to regear then. I can definitely feel the motor working harder at times but it didn't really seem to be straining when this all happenned. I was on a stretch of road, cruising at about 65mph, rpms were at about 2600 and the a/c was on high... When I noticed the temp starting to climb i shut a/c off and it immediately started to drop.
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have you checked to make the radiator fan is turning on as it should?

flushing out the system as mentioned earlier may help as well.
 
Ddays said:
Gotcha. From the first post I thought you were driving in the mountains when it happened.
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I was, but the stretch of road where it happenned was relatively flat.

jeeeep said:
have you checked to make the radiator fan is turning on as it should?

flushing out the system as mentioned earlier may help as well.
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The fan runs constantly from a little after i start the jeep until i shut it off which is why I felt a little extra cooling capacity wouldn't be a bad thing.

The hood is definitely a good idea and I'm sure the gears don't help any... I guess ill just keep an eye on it for now and see if it happens again. I am a little discouraged because I was hoping to do an ls swap at the end of the year, but in the back of my mind I keep wondering if the heat we get here in phoenix would be a problem.
 
Gonna ask a silly question here... Has the coolant been topped off lately? And if so was the correct coolant used? Could the cooling system be all gummed up?
 
JeepJeep75 said:
Gonna ask a silly question here... Has the coolant been topped off lately? And if so was the correct coolant used? Could the cooling system be all gummed up?
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Not a silly question at all... Only has about 7000 miles, only thing I've ever done under the hood to this point is change the oil once. Went out a little bit ago just to double check and coolant is at the proper level.
 
After reading everything I bet it's just that your jeep is working extra hard because of the lack of gearing. I really wouldn't worry about it to much till you get your prorocks ordered and installed.
 
I'd try letting it idle with the AC on and watch the fan, even with the hood up the fan should engage to the faster mode and disengage once the temp drops.
you may have a sticking thermostat or bad temp sensor on the fan if it doesn't cycle
 
Clean your radiator, remove the grill and get the bottom. I had mud caked there. Also remove one gallon of coolant and replace with one gallon of water. Water. You can run 20/80 coolant to water ratio and be fine in the summer so 40/60 should be more than enough. I wouldn't switch the radiator under factory warrantee...
 
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