Topic: Radiator busted

[TexWalther]

Jeeps been parked for around a year now. Unfortunately when i parked it I forgot the radiator had only water in it, and it stayed that way for the winter. It's leaking now. Am planning a V8 swap a few years down the road after i get my truck paid off. Was curious as to if i could take this opportunity to upgrade to a bigger radiator to keep from buying another one. Also any suggestions as to a vehicle to steal one off of would be great. would like something with an electric fan, but am blanking on V8s that come stock with one.

[jfrabat]

Jeeps been parked for around a year now. Unfortunately when i parked it I forgot the radiator had only water in it, and it stayed that way for the winter. It's leaking now. Am planning a V8 swap a few years down the road after i get my truck paid off. Was curious as to if i could take this opportunity to upgrade to a bigger radiator to keep from buying another one. Also any suggestions as to a vehicle to steal one off of would be great. would like something with an electric fan, but am blanking on V8s that come stock with one.

I am using a big Griffin one on mine; way more cooling capacity than the 2.5L needs, but all that capacity helps a lot when half the radiator is clogged up with mud...

IIRC, this is the model I have:

Thinner, lighter, and cooler the Griffin Off Road Series aluminum Jeep radiator will keep you wheeling all day long. Engineered and manufactured to drop right into your Jeep Wrangler YJ or TJ (1987-2006) this high performance product is prepared to cool your stock 4.0 litter or your custom V8 swap. Constructed from Griffin exclusive Extreme Cool 1.5" tubing, hand formed tanks, and heavy duty mounting brackets this Griffin product is ready to conquer the toughest trails. Simply top it off with a Griffin Logo radiator cap and your cooling system is complete.

[Jeffy]

Jeeps been parked for around a year now. Unfortunately when i parked it I forgot the radiator had only water in it, and it stayed that way for the winter. It's leaking now. Am planning a V8 swap a few years down the road after i get my truck paid off. Was curious as to if i could take this opportunity to upgrade to a bigger radiator to keep from buying another one. Also any suggestions as to a vehicle to steal one off of would be great. would like something with an electric fan, but am blanking on V8s that come stock with one.

A 3-core from a 4.0L is a no brainer.  You can get one for an automatic and get the oil cooler built in.  You can also get them as all metal isntead of having the crimped on plastic tanks.

http://www.quadratec.com/products/51210_6221.htm (I have one of these since I got it on trade.)

Otherwise there's a plethora of alinumum radiators out there.  That's the big thing these days.

http://www.quadratec.com/products/51210_2101_07.htm
http://www.quadratec.com/products/51210_7000_07.htm
http://www.quadratec.com/products/51210_300_07.htm

There's a bunch of decent ones on ebay as well.

Although if I was going to go with an aluminum radiator I'd probably splurge for a cross-flow.

http://www.quadratec.com/products/51210_509.htm
http://www.quadratec.com/products/17800_1100_07.htm

If you're sure you'll be doing an engine swap I'd get an all metal OE 4.0L radiator.  You'll be replacing it most likely when you do an engine swap.

[jfrabat]

A 3-core from a 4.0L is a no brainer.  You can get one for an automatic and get the oil cooler built in.  You can also get them as all metal isntead of having the crimped on plastic tanks.

http://www.quadratec.com/products/51210_6221.htm (I have one of these since I got it on trade.)

Otherwise there's a plethora of alinumum radiators out there.  That's the big thing these days.

http://www.quadratec.com/products/51210_2101_07.htm
http://www.quadratec.com/products/51210_7000_07.htm
http://www.quadratec.com/products/51210_300_07.htm

There's a bunch of decent ones on ebay as well.

Although if I was going to go with an aluminum radiator I'd probably splurge for a cross-flow.

http://www.quadratec.com/products/51210_509.htm
http://www.quadratec.com/products/17800_1100_07.htm

If you're sure you'll be doing an engine swap I'd get an all metal OE 4.0L radiator.  You'll be replacing it most likely when you do an engine swap.

Excuse the ignorance, but what difference does cross flow make?

[Jeffy]

Excuse the ignorance, but what difference does cross flow make?

Instead of having the radiator flow from the top to the bottom it flows from side to side.  Cross-flow is more efficient.

[aka-justin]

I was getting ready to post my 4.0L radiator on CL. I just replaced it and the original didn't leak. PM if you're interested.

[neale_rs]

Excuse the ignorance, but what difference does cross flow make?

Here is a good link:  http://www.carsdirect.com/car-repair/pros-and-cons-of-a-down-flow-radiator

[jfrabat]

My fear in cross flow is that when the bottom half of the radiator is clogged in mud, those rows would not be cooled at all, whereas a down flow rad would at least get SOME cooling (in my case, I got an extra large radiator thinking of excess capacity to cool even if part of the radiator was clogged; I still think I would overheat with half the radiator clogged, but I can probably get by with a third of it clogged).

[sharpxmen]

I bought a new, all aluminum one off ebay, 4.0L thickness (double compared to the stock one i had), it has the trans cooler in it and was dirt cheap (little over $100 shipped which is what the stock like goes for), been working great

My fear in cross flow is that when the bottom half of the radiator is clogged in mud, those rows would not be cooled at all, whereas a down flow rad would at least get SOME cooling (in my case, I got an extra large radiator thinking of excess capacity to cool even if part of the radiator was clogged; I still think I would overheat with half the radiator clogged, but I can probably get by with a third of it clogged).

they are usually split tank which means top flows one way and then bottom comes back the other way

[jfrabat]

they are usually split tank which means top flows one way and then bottom comes back the other way

That makes sense...

[Jeffy]

Here is a good link:  http://www.carsdirect.com/car-repair/pros-and-cons-of-a-down-flow-radiator

Not really a good link since it's not difficult at all to switch between the two these days.  I think most cars have done away with the top down as they take up too much room.

Here's a better link that covers a little of everything.  http://www.billavista.com/atv/Articles/Cooling_Bible/index.html

My fear in cross flow is that when the bottom half of the radiator is clogged in mud, those rows would not be cooled at all, whereas a down flow rad would at least get SOME cooling (in my case, I got an extra large radiator thinking of excess capacity to cool even if part of the radiator was clogged; I still think I would overheat with half the radiator clogged, but I can probably get by with a third of it clogged).

All things being equal, the top down wouldn't cool as well if the bottom was clogged.

they are usually split tank which means top flows one way and then bottom comes back the other way

The problem with the double pass design is that you extend the path of the coolant by decreases the flow rate.   I know BeCool is a single-pass.  Most OEM's are as well.  I tihnk Griffin is too.

[sharpxmen]

for the height of the Jeep one it will have to be split to have efficiency, otherwise you run into the siphon issue where you'll have cooler liquid on the bottom with no actual flow and only 1/2 or whatever part of the radiator would be participating (same reason for which you don't push the hot coolant into the bottom tank but always in the top tank, otherwise you'd have cooler liquid returning into the bottom from the top tank and only some of the tubes would actually get fresh hot liquid) - you need to have enough flow from the pump to support a large vertical tank so that all tubes get coolant flow.

[Jeffy]

for the height of the Jeep one it will have to be split to have efficiency, otherwise you run into the siphon issue where you'll have cooler liquid on the bottom with no actual flow and only 1/2 or whatever part of the radiator would be participating (same reason for which you don't push the hot coolant into the bottom tank but always in the top tank, otherwise you'd have cooler liquid returning into the bottom from the top tank and only some of the tubes would actually get fresh hot liquid) - you need to have enough flow from the pump to support a large vertical tank so that all tubes get coolant flow.

Well, like, I said they're single-pass.  They would have to be single or triple pass as the input and the output are on opposite sides.

[sharpxmen]

Well, like, I said they're single-pass.  They would have to be single or triple pass as the input and the output are on opposite sides.

you can have an "S" hose though or a custom thermostat cap pointing the other way or forward.

[Jeffy]

you can have an "S" hose though or a custom thermostat cap pointing the other way or forward.

See now you're getting silly.