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Quick replacement radiator question

N8N_99xj

NAXJA Forum User
So my alternator went out last week... went to drive the heep after it'd been sitting for about a week and the alt was locked up SOLID as in the serp belt wasn't even moving. Put a new alternator in, all good. Since I had my tools out I figured I would go ahead and drop the skidplate and install the front lighting wiring harness that I'd got from another NAXJA member a long a$$ time ago so I could install some fog lights before winter, and also finally hook up my outside temp display (aftermarket mirror.) Well while I was under there I think I figured out a) why my alternator died and b) the persistent smell of coolant even though I could never find a leak - rad was leaking on the pass side at/near the seam (that is, directly in front of the alternator.) I probably never would have seen it had I not pulled the Jeep in the driveway and immediately pulled the skid plate and looked underneath, but I have a new rad on order and should have it tonight (friend owns a shop and he'll bring it to me)

So the question. Does a new replacement radiator typically come with the steel mount pieces top and bottom and the two straps in front of the core, or is it just the bare core and two tanks? Reason I ask is I've got the rad all but out, I just need to find my QD tool for the lower trans cooler line and then disconnect the two rad hoses and I'm done. But if it doesn't come with the steel pieces I'll go ahead and pull everything out now and start cooking the steel bits in the electrolytic tank because the top one's a little rusty and I bet the bottom one is really rusty because of the leaky rad. If it *does* come with those pieces, I'm not going to waste my time cleaning spare parts...

thanks!
 
A few things can be different between a replacement radiator and the original. Sometimes the small studs for the top isolator(mounting rubber) are too tall and hit the bottom of the top (hood latch) cross brace. I'm really glad I noticed that before I tried to force the top cross brace down with the bolts and farked up my new radiator. I've had to shorten them twice now (two different radiators).

You have to remove and keep the top isolators (rubber mounts) and the bottom doughnut rubbers.

I've also had to slightly modify the top A/C condenser mounts. On one I had to rebend the top OEM condenser mounts a little. On another replacement radiator the top condenser mounts were welded to the top radiator mounting plate and the top OEM mounts for the condenser were not needed.

I've also had to slightly bend the tranny cooler lines a couple of times, as they didn't align exactly and/or touched (possibly rubbed) in places they shouldn't.

All but one of the replacement radiators I've seen come with the straps. All came with the top and bottom mounting plates.

Last tip, measure and match the distance between the bottom mounting rods (studs) from your old radiator and your new radiator before you try to stick the rods from your new radiator through the holes in the bottom cross brace (bottom radiator mount), chances are they aren't going to align well. I've yet to get a radiator where the rods on the new radiator lined up well with the holes in the bottom cross brace. I just measure and tap them sideways a little, with a plastic hammer, to get the right distance between the bottom mounting rods (studs) before lowering the radiator in.
 
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Rad just showed up... at a glance it looks like the only things I need to transfer over are the two rubber mounts on the top. The bottom donuts stayed in the frame as the tabs for the condenser sat on top of them. Excellent! Too dark to drop it in tonight but hopefully this will be an easy morning project, as I've already got the old one out. It is a "Spectra Premium" brand rad FWIW.
 
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