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A/C condensor removal?

Jeepguy03

Jeepguy03

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Connecticut
2000 XJ 4.0L

My jeep has had the entire cooling system replaced within the last few months. It runs around 207*-209* most of the time (according to scan guage II). During these recent summer heat waves the temp will creep up to 215-218 and stay there after a few short trips. I think this is mostly due to the heat building up under the hood while its parked.

I talked to a fellow XJ owner the other day who had a 2001. He said he had the same problem as me, the Jeep would run perfect but a little warm once temps got above 75* outside. He said that he removed the A/C condensor infront of the radiator, and now on hot days his temps stay right at 200*.

My A/C has never worked since I bought the Jeep. The compressor doesn't even kick on so I never really investigated it.

My questions are:
-How hard is this to do, and is it something I can do myself? I know there are laws concerning the gases used in A/C systems leaking out.

-Should this even be done or is it a really bad idea?


I'd rather do something like this than cut vents in my hood. Its only hot in CT a few months out of the year, but I hate driving to the beach and watching the gauge sit at 215*. Is a 3 row radiator from CSF a better idea?
 
Probly not your hood's fault bud, more like your electric radiator fan is probly not runnning at all. they are bad for going out.

On the A/C side of things the compressor is not going to turn on if your A/C system isn't charged up enough, it doesn't even bother if the pressure isn't high enough. (protects the compressor from burning up) Try getting your A/C checked, it is free (usually) if it's low you can get a recharge kit for $25 from Autozone, and the A/C will work again. The electric fan is easily replaced, but is expensive from the dealer. You can find them in the for sale section pretty regularly. or you can replace with an aftermarket one from the parts store (around $60ish). Don't ditch the A/C without checking charge, the fix may be really easy. Don't know about you but I love my A/C!
 
taking the a/c condensor out is easy but why are you complaining about your temps being 218 after you turn it off? e-fan doesn't kick on until at/after 220 and I cruise around at 235 most of the time =).

I wouldn't really worry about it, could also be faulty info, some people have reported problems with the scangauge II reading wrong, I'd recharge the a/c and put tape over the temp gauge

doug
 
I just ripped out my entire AC system, was so happy to get the air blocking condenser out of there. Was real easy to take out, you just need to unbolt the upper radiator support, basically you just keep unbolting stuff till you can pull the rad up enough to get the lower condenser brackets to slide out. oh you need to remove you front grille too.

mine was dead since I got it too, looks so much cleaner now (under the hood that is haha)
 
Thanks guys for the replies. My AUX fan does work. Since my jeep is a 2000 is doesn't even click on until 218*. The temp doesn't usually go any higher than that. When the e-fan clicks on, the temp stops going up, but it also doesn't really get any lower. All components of the cooling system are a few months old including the fan clutch. I've gone through 3 different ones just incase they were bad out of the box. I put the e-fan on a switch, but I feel like thats a bandaid. My 2000 has the California emissions package with the two pre-cats on the manifold and I believe thats the reason for the excess heat build up underhood. I've owned a 1990 XJ and a '97. Both ran under 210* or right on the dot year round with properly maintained cooling systems.


I'm going to get my A/C checked out first though. I never thought about that with the pressure not being enough to allow the compressor to kick on. Anyone have good luck with the 3 row CSF radiator? If my A/C checks out good I might throw one of those in and see if it helps. My friend has one in his '89 and it runs nice and cool.

Edit: and to H8PVMT; the temps will go down after a hot start for a period of time. The fan clutch will roar and the e-fan will be on, but then later down the road it will slowly creep back up to 218* and stay there.
 
jeepkid03 said:
Thanks guys for the replies. My AUX fan does work. Since my jeep is a 2000 is doesn't even click on until 218*. The temp doesn't usually go any higher than that. When the e-fan clicks on, the temp stops going up, but it also doesn't really get any lower. All components of the cooling system are a few months old including the fan clutch. I've gone through 3 different ones just incase they were bad out of the box. I put the e-fan on a switch, but I feel like thats a bandaid. My 2000 has the California emissions package with the two pre-cats on the manifold and I believe thats the reason for the excess heat build up underhood. I've owned a 1990 XJ and a '97. Both ran under 210* or right on the dot year round with properly maintained cooling systems.


I'm going to get my A/C checked out first though. I never thought about that with the pressure not being enough to allow the compressor to kick on. Anyone have good luck with the 3 row CSF radiator? If my A/C checks out good I might throw one of those in and see if it helps. My friend has one in his '89 and it runs nice and cool.

Edit: and to H8PVMT; the temps will go down after a hot start for a period of time. The fan clutch will roar and the e-fan will be on, but then later down the road it will slowly creep back up to 218* and stay there.
Click to expand...

E-Fan bypass switch is not really a band-aid. Its much better to have it operating and cooling the radiator to help prevent overheating .... rather than have it react to overheating.

2000 / 2001 models have a dealer flash apparently - to change fan operating temps ... Its a TSB mentioned a few times on NAXJA .... seems having the fan on sooner IS a good idea ... ;)

You might also want to consider a new thermostat ... If the one thats fitted isnt opening fully / or is fully open at too high a temp .... It will keep your temps up.
 
carves said:
E-Fan bypass switch is not really a band-aid. Its much better to have it operating and cooling the radiator to help prevent overheating .... rather than have it react to overheating.

2000 / 2001 models have a dealer flash apparently - to change fan operating temps ... Its a TSB mentioned a few times on NAXJA .... seems having the fan on sooner IS a good idea ... ;)

You might also want to consider a new thermostat ... If the one thats fitted isnt opening fully / or is fully open at too high a temp .... It will keep your temps up.
Click to expand...

I had mine flashed and it doesnt turn the fan on sooner. If I sit there and let the jeep idle when hot it will turn on at 218* every time. What the flash DOES do is that every time the jeep is started hot (even if the gauge reads 180*) the fan will kick on. This is to help with the "heat soak misfire" common on '00-'01's along with the injector shield. I brought mine to the dealership for the misfire and they said as part of a recall they put the injector shield on and did the flash. Probably the only time I could go there without paying anything. :laugh:
 
jeepkid03 said:
I had mine flashed and it doesnt turn the fan on sooner. If I sit there and let the jeep idle when hot it will turn on at 218* every time. What the flash DOES do is that every time the jeep is started hot (even if the gauge reads 180*) the fan will kick on. This is to help with the "heat soak misfire" common on '00-'01's along with the injector shield. I brought mine to the dealership for the misfire and they said as part of a recall they put the injector shield on and did the flash. Probably the only time I could go there without paying anything. :laugh:
Click to expand...

Not paying at stealerships is always good :laugh:

Thanks for the definitive description on what the flash does ....

Seems the word "sooner" mentioned in other posts is only in relation to startup ... not general operation then ...
:cheers:
 
Wait there WAS a recall for the 2000/2001's?

Mine has a 97 engine, but just for kicks should I go and ask them for a flash and a shield?
 
carves said:
Not paying at stealerships is always good :laugh:

Thanks for the definitive description on what the flash does ....

Seems the word "sooner" mentioned in other posts is only in relation to startup ... not general operation then ...
:cheers:
Click to expand...

I had thought the same thing, that it would turn on sooner during normal operation. I asked the tech about it because I thought maybe they forgot to do it but then he explained how it works.

austinaubinoe said:
Wait there WAS a recall for the 2000/2001's?

Mine has a 97 engine, but just for kicks should I go and ask them for a flash and a shield?
Click to expand...

It would be worth a try. If your '97 engine still has the components of a 2000 such as coil pack ignition and the correct PCM then I don't see why they would question it. :D
 
I think I might have that heatsoak issue. Maybe I should roll over to the stealership and see if they'll give me a flash.
 
Have you tried reducing your coolant mix for Summer driving:

"The standard recommendation is to use a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water. This represents a compromise between cooling efficiency and the ability to prevent the mix from freezing during cold weather. After all, the initial purpose of antifreeze is to prevent freezing.
But a 50/50 mix does not give the best cooling. For improved cooling in hot weather, we should use less antifreeze and more water, perhaps going to a 25/75 or a 20/80 mix ratio.
Everyone knows antifreeze prevents corrosion, and corrosion is bad. True enough. But, even a 10/90 ratio of antifreeze to water will serve the puproses of inhibiting corrosion, at least according to one source of information."


From: http://www.challengers101.com/CoolantMix.html
 
austinaubinoe said:
Wait there WAS a recall for the 2000/2001's?

Mine has a 97 engine, but just for kicks should I go and ask them for a flash and a shield?
Click to expand...


Worth a try ... my local dealer down here told me it was probably V.I.N. related and wouldnt work on my 97/98 ... and didnt mention what the flash actually did. :rolleyes:

Would be interesting to hear what a U.S. dealership says about it being applicable to earlier models ....

Till then ... I have the over-ride switch.... :)


X 2 ... on the anti-freeze mixes ....

Easiest way to reduce overheating issues ... is to turn down the heat.

More suitable anti-freeze mix for the vehicles use and climate,
Lower thermostat ... Not less than 180' IMHO ... 185' or 190' is enough to help along with a few other simple changes.
Removing the A/C can make a huge difference depending on the radiator type fitted .... and may even nescessitate fine tuning any mods previously done - as the cooling effect can be too much over all.
 
Last edited:
Fix any REAL problem that you have.Ive owned my 2K since day 1,they are supposed to run at 210*.My fan kicks in at about 200*(no flash has ever been done).You guys actually crack me up since I live in AZ and see extreme temps for about 2/3's of the year(real temps,not pu$$y temps)!
 
jeepkid03 said:
It would be worth a try. If your '97 engine still has the components of a 2000 such as coil pack ignition and the correct PCM then I don't see why they would question it. :D
Click to expand...



Yep It looks just like a 2000 engine. Been thinking about it some more and I have zero issues with cooling. Run right at 210, and my tranny runs at 150 on the freeway.

Basically what im getting to is it might not be worth the risk of some other guy messing up my junk.
 
austinaubinoe said:
Yep It looks just like a 2000 engine. Been thinking about it some more and I have zero issues with cooling. Run right at 210, and my tranny runs at 150 on the freeway.

Basically what im getting to is it might not be worth the risk of some other guy messing up my junk.
Click to expand...


Yeah if it runs fine then I wouldn't touch it.

I'm beginning to think that 2000's are just pieces of junk. The older ones are made better. I've owned a '90 and a '97. Both had no issues with running hot as long as the cooling systems were maintained. My 2000 has the California emissions package with the two pre-cats on the manifold. These create lots of heat under the hood, especially during the summer. I had my whole cooling system flushed and replaced last summer, and it still runs at 215-218* after a few short trips. I ordered a 3 row rad from Dirk at DPG (awesome guy to deal with) and hope the improved cooling will lower the temps somewhat. Otherwise I'm ripping out the A/C condensor and running the ZJ fan clutch. I've had a ZJ clutch in before, and it seemed to run cooler... the noise just annoyed me.
 
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