Auxiliary lighting affecting cooling

CherBear · Jul 25, 2010

I am reworking my front bumper, and am considering mounting my lights nearly directly in front of the radiator. Right now I have 2 hella 700s (7 inch lights) and am most likely going to add a third.

My question is that will the decreased air flow over the radiator affect the cooling capacity drastically?

carves · Jul 25, 2010

CherBear said:
I am reworking my front bumper, and am considering mounting my lights nearly directly in front of the radiator. Right now I have 2 hella 700s (7 inch lights) and am most likely going to add a third.

My question is that will the decreased air flow over the radiator affect the cooling capacity drastically?

At low speeds it wont make any difference ...

At highway speeds the third could well be an issue. A Headlight & Wiring upgrade would probably be more beneficial than the third driving light.

Basically tho .... the condition/effectiveness of your radiator and fanclutch will be the deciding factor.

2 x 7" lights and a mesh bug screen on the grille havent been an issue on mine.

CherBear · Jul 25, 2010

carves said:
At low speeds it wont make any difference ...

At highway speeds the third could well be an issue. A Headlight & Wiring upgrade would probably be more beneficial than the third driving light.

Basically tho .... the condition/effectiveness of your radiator and fanclutch will be the deciding factor.

2 x 7" lights and a mesh bug screen on the grille havent been an issue on mine.

I already have HIDs up front, I just liked the look of 3 on the bumper for some reason. :eyes:

Monkey55 · Jul 25, 2010

CherBear said:
....

My question is that will the decreased air flow over the radiator affect the cooling capacity drastically?

Short answer - Yes.

joe_peters · Jul 26, 2010

Yep, it will.

4.3LXJ · Jul 28, 2010

Yes, it will at road speeds. I have a Warn 9.5ti that I am going to lower because I can stay cool at any speed and any weather except at 65.

1990heepxj · Jul 28, 2010

leave the HIDs theyre way better then hella 700s

FlexdXJ · Jul 28, 2010

1990heepxj said:
leave the HIDs theyre way better then hella 700s

He already has both on his rig. I have HID's and Lightforces though! :laugh3:

oldmantompkins · Nov 27, 2010

Hello, Greetings, Hajimemashite. First post to the forums for a long time (since my old XJ years ago). Now that thats out of the way.

I Have been doing a lot of research on lighting, issues of lighting, mounting of bumper lights. I ran across this thread and noticed it was the only one on the topic of lighting affecting cooling.

I planned on Lightforce 170s but decided to go with 140s but before I changed my mind I cut out some cardboard the roughly the size of 170s and decided to test them so I did this -

Drove slow and fast and didnt notice any change in cooling. This is new territory so if you see a flaw in this idea please let me know.

The 140s are smaller so I believe they will not have any effect on cooling, any objections?

xcm · Nov 28, 2010

if you have a tendancy to overheat, obviously larger lights will make it much worse... i leave my 9's off 90% of the time because of this.

if you have a proper cooling system, you'll probably be ok... but you wont know till you try.

stewie · Nov 28, 2010

its a great time of year to try it out. you'll know right away! lol. i dont see a problem right now. in the spring if its an issue take them off

Jeepguy03 · Nov 28, 2010

Upgrade your current Hellas to HID. Pretty easy to do.

CherBear · Nov 28, 2010

jeepkid03 said:
Upgrade your current Hellas to HID. Pretty easy to do.

Its not that I dont have enough lighting! HID headlights + hella 700s = a crap load of light for driving country roads. I just like the look of 3 aux lights up front.

Jeepguy03 · Nov 29, 2010

CherBear said:
Its not that I dont have enough lighting! HID headlights + hella 700s = a crap load of light for driving country roads. I just like the look of 3 aux lights up front.

If you do three then get 500s. The 700s are big and will block almost the entire radiator. At least with 500s they won't take up the whole thing so you will still get some airflow.

korn9613 · Dec 1, 2010

the early xjs overheat anyway, i say go with the lights and then do the lebaron vents in the hood. thats what ive done and it works great.

ZipperheadXJ00 · Dec 1, 2010

Do the lebaron vents really help that much?

korn9613 · Dec 1, 2010

yes and they look good. just getting that hood liner off helped a little bit too. the early ones just run way too hot.

avengerdude27 · Dec 1, 2010

i had no issues with my hella 500s

anthrax323 · Dec 1, 2010

I have two 700s centered on my bumper (2001) and haven't noticed any impact on the vehicle's operating temperature at any speed, in any climate.

korn9613 · Dec 1, 2010

yeah i wouldnt really expect light to effect operating temp much, air will find its way around that stuff. i run a winch and lights in front of mine and it doesnt run any hotter than normal.

Auxiliary lighting affecting cooling

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