Newbie with bunch' o questions

purchased my Cherokee last April with 216k. I have the 4.0 HO, and so far on it i have replaced:

front wiper linkage
front wiper motor
rear wiper motor
rear wiper arm
header panel and various trim accesories for header panel
radiator
too many other things to list

on to my questions. Recently I smashed into a deer, hence the most of the front end being replaced. I replaced everything except for the a/c condensor and the clutch fan shroud. My aux fan does not come on with the A/C or when it hits 210 degrees. I replaced the sending unit, and the relay. Is it possible I need to replace the temp sensor that is located in the thermostat housing or is it the fact that i have no a/c condensor??? right now its wired to an underhood toggle switch(not enough wire at the time). even with the fan on though i still see temps hitting 230 degrees and from reading on various XJ forums thats way too hot. I also need to replace my clutch fan its kinda warped frm the deer incident. not enough to hit anything as it rotates but noticable enough. besides the local dealer or a possible bad one at a junkyard, is there anywhere to get one of those? and if i go the dealer route, is there a clutch already on it, or do i have to buy one? Also, will running without the fan shroud cause any problems? I know the upper radiator hose is right there next to it, but my town is infamous for its washboard roads, and I havent sliced the hose yet.

I would like to mount fog/driving lights on my XJ, but I have no mounts suitable. I've noticed on the front bumper, there appear to be two plugs spaced about the usual distance apart for lights. How do I remove said plugs, and will I have to modify the grille to make the lights fit? I'm not buying massive Hella lights just yet, just some Wallyworld cheapies. If I would have to cut the grille, I'll just save up for a decent brush guard.

Sorry to appear long winded. i'm sure i'll have more questions in the future. if its any help in giving out part #s, next town over there is a:

VIP
Robbins Auto Parts
Sanel Auto Parts
Autozone
Napa

thanks again everybody!

just pop the plugs and drop them in took me about 20 minits to slap on a set of cheepys on my 96

Yeah, those plugs in the bumper are where the OEM fog lights mount. Go for it.

The aux fan should switch on due to temperature whether or not you have an a/c consenser. Don't know if replacing the temp sensor would do the trick, but it's a good place to start.

Replacement fan clutches are replacement fan clutches, they don't include a new blade. If your blade got mashed, you'll need a new one or hit the junk yards. You can get replacement fan clutches at all the parts stores, but I found that the Auto Zone heavy-duty one is slightly longer than the OEM and isn't a good fit. Other people have reported the same thing from Advance. The Hayden brand (which I think is available at Pep Boys) has been reported to fit correctly, and Delco made the originals so if you can find a Delco (Carquest?) that should fit correctly.

Be sure to replace the serpentine belt when you do the fan clutch.

I'll only respond to one of the "minor" issues you state:

Please DON'T use "cheapo Wally-world" foglights!

I had a set of "NightBlaster" (IIRC) foglights that I put on my first car...
and I liked to call them "occasional foglights". In a year, I went thru THREE
blubs (no, I wasn't touching them with my fingers), and they always had
a tendency to flicker, to be "bounced" out of alignment, and they began to
rust. They had cost me $30 for the set... plus three bulbs at $7 per...

I decided to blow $50 on a new set of Hella 550's after that. Mounted
them into the same holes on the same car. They went the next two years
without a single flicker or readjustment, never blew a bulb, never rusted,
and put out a LOT more light than the cheapies.

Den

Just adding to eagle's comment: When I yanked the condenser on my 95 the engine was very happy. It should not affect the cooling system except to make it work better.

But running without the shroud could be part of your problem. Because of air resistance through the radiator, without a shroud the fan will tend to pull air from its sides instead of through the radiator.

You definitely want the shroud! Matthew is correct. The best way to suck air through the rad is using the shroud.

You can definately use the plugged holes in the bumper for lights. Here's my 87 with a set of cheap-o KC's mounted in the stock driving light locations.



As far as the temp issues, I'd say what you should do is extend the wires on your fan switch so you can put it inside. I have mine wired up like this, and I turn it on when mostly when I'm 4-wheeling to keep things cool (think high rpm's in 4lo and slow speed = not much air flow over the radiator, so all the extra you can get will help). I turn it on in the city when it's hot as well, when I'm just in stop-and-go type situations. Also, like others have said, you really should put a shroud on for the main fan, you need that to properly pull air through.

if your fan blade is bent and you're running w/o a shroud you're gonna have problems, the fan needs to have the correct pitch to draw 'x' amount of air, plus the shroud allows the fan to pull from a larger area of the radiatior.

put what ever lights you want, what ever you can afford.

the 4.0's have been noted for clogging the radiator, it's a dirty running cooling system, you may need a new radiator if the new blade/clutch/shroud doesn't fix the problem, if you buy a new rad, call 1800RADIATOR, they'll ship a new GDI 3 core to your door for about $100.

DenLip said:

I decided to blow $50 on a new set of Hella 550's after that. Mounted them into the same holes on the same car. They went the next two years without a single flicker or readjustment, never blew a bulb, never rusted,
and put out a LOT more light than the cheapies.

Click to expand...

But were the Hellas you used fog lights or driving lights? Hella makes both in the 550 series. Most people on this forum never drive in fog and they seem to misunderstand what fog lights are designed for ... which is to project a very flat, wide, low, short beam that doesn't reflect back from fog to blind the driver. Most people interpret a correctly aimed fog light as not producing enough light.

"Driving" lights, on the other hand, are designed to push a lot of lumens far down the road ahead of the vehicle in a narrow, pencil-shaped beam. If that's what you want, buy "driving" lights and not "fog" lights. But be aware that the requirements for wiring are opposite. "Fog" lights are supposed to operate with the low beams (and may also operate with just parking lamsps if so wired) but must switch off when you go to high beams. "Driving" lights, on the other hand, may operate ONLY with the high beams and must turn off when you dip to low beams.

Having used both over the course of many years, IMHO unless you live in the midwest or southwest where you have long, straight stretches of highway with little on-coming traffic, driving lights are a total waste of money because 80% of the time or more you just can't use them (unless you're the obnoxious type who never dims for oncoming traffic).

Thanks for the tips and suggestions everybody. I will be going on vacation next week and will be scrounging the local junkyards(have about 4 in my general area) and will try to dig up a shroud. i know the junkyard i normally go to usually has a bunch of cherokees. only prob, i've noticed. the ones with 4.0s usually have smashed front ends, while the jeeps with 2.5s and 2.8s have intact front ends. lol

Thanks again everybody. somewhere in my parents garage are my fogs, and tomorrow before work will try to get those installed. Thanks!

Evil, you can get a shroud at the dealer, they're surprisingly cheap. The only reason I say this is becasue wtih age they get brittle and the liklihood of being able to get one out intact is rather slim.

Get a new fan cluts and find a straight fan, a shroud, and get that electric fan running, I personally think you'll still overheat...

As Fore Wheeler said, XJ's clog radiators, although I must disagree with him on teh GDI radiator, in my personal experiance I don't like them and would rather have just about any other radiator (I used to have a GDI 3 Row), I currently run an off-brand large core two row.

As for why the fan isn't turning on... When you directly wired it, how did you do so? Did you wire directly to the fan, or to the relay? You might be lucky and just have a bad relay (the relay is that lonely looking relay on the drivers side inner fender).

And last, the lights. I love my Hella 500 fog lamps, when properly aimed I can run them 100% of the time without ever blinding anybody and they give a terrific wide beam pattern (I light up from one shoulder of a 5 lane freeway to the other).

Sequoia

Eagle said:

But were the Hellas you used fog lights or driving lights? Hella makes both in the 550 series. Most people on this forum never drive in fog and they seem to misunderstand what fog lights are designed for ... which is to project a very flat, wide, low, short beam that doesn't reflect back from fog to blind the driver. Most people interpret a correctly aimed fog light as not producing enough light.

Click to expand...

Ha ha! Yes, I know the difference! (And I did THEN, as well!)

The Hellas threw a nice wide, low, short beam.

The Nightblasters lit up the road like a freebie flashlight with half-dead
batteries. Honest. There was, literally, NO comparison to be made!

Also had good luck with Bosch fog lights... but their case is REALLY tight,
and they can be fussier to aim...

Den

More on the bent fan. Most manufacturers and insurance companies will insist on replacing a fan with any damage, no matter how slight. Damaged fans have a nasty habit of coming apart and that gives their attorneys heartburn. Not wanting to be on the receiving end of an errant fan blade, I tend to agree with them.

YMMV

Spudboy