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XJ radiators, a review.

FrankGRUN;246740834 Then the new development! He then said that their engineers designed a new 1193 radiator ...This would appear to be an excellent solution to my problems of cooling and reliability with their lifetime warranty. [/QUOTE said:
I am not so sure their warranty will be of any use to most of us:

*This warranty applies only to those products which have been installed in accordance with accepted industry standards by a recognized professional service dealer.

And:

Warranty will be voided under the following nonexclusive conditions:
The vehicle is used for commercial or fleet, governmental, off-road or racing applications.

If you want the warranty you can't install the radiator yourself and you can't take it off-road. Not much value to that warranty.

That said, I am still ordering one. My Cold Case seems to have sprung a leak already, and it has not been off-road once yet.
 
Just ordered the BC1193 this morning. The tech again went into detail about how they reengineered their radiator for the stress of off road use and the twisting flex stress inherent (her words) in the Jeep design. I pressed for pictures of the core before welding to the end tanks but she said they are concerned about being ripped by clones. I see the Champion bar and plate radiators are appearing on Jegs and a Carid for the Wrangler listed as new product. The Wrangler description says row spacing is 3/8”. In industrial bar and plate heat exchangers, the liquid channel is often the same thickness as the air channel!
 
Appears to be in the core. I think it is at the very top. I have coolant all the way down in an area right in front of the AC compressor and alternator. I have not taken anything apart yet, so this is just the assessment I can make with all fans/shrouds in place.
 
In my discussion with them on warranty denial if owner-installed they said if problem is caused by incompetent install (their example: in sufficient fan/clutch clearance w bad motor mounts goring radiator) claim will be denied. Same language in all "Lifetime Warranty Exceptions" I have read. As per off-road, they say if problem is due to severe use that causes the body/frame to damage radiator (their example: severe competition rock climbing) claim will be denied. In my experience this is universal tail coverage. Seems to me they have to stand behind their product in this internet age for long term survival. A rash of problems suggesting poor design, materials or workmanship in the last few years would sure stop my purchase.
 
Today I received the Bar and Plate BC1193 radiator from Champion. To my untrained eye (no Aluminum welding experience) it looks rather impressive. I had been trying to get some technical detail from Champion about liquid core height. I was told that the core thickness was 2.125 inches and the tank thickness was 2.375 inches. Now with it in my hands, with my trusty digital caliper I can report that the air channels are 0.375 inches high and the liquid channels are 3/16 inches high or 0.1875 in. The plate making up the wall of the liquid channels seems to be about Aluminum gauge 24 and the internal channel seems to be about 0.140 inches high. I count 20 channels if there is a channel at top and bottom of the core.

Here, is the image of the radiator as received:


This is a view of the bar and plate structure:

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Here is a close-up of the external radiator channels:

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The following are a series of endoscope pictures taken inside the outlet tank through the port for the elder fan temperature switch. The titles describe the location.

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The dimensions estimated from the images give a core circulating volume of 179.24 cubic inches and a liquid contact surface area of at least 2,729.3 sq. inches. The surface contact area estimate is a minimum as I have not attempted to measure the folded internal fins (or possibly turbulators) as can be seen from the internal images.

Next to bolt it in!
 
Nice photos.

I also have mine in hand.

Mine got pretty beat up in shipping. I had to fix a couple of bent components. It is now in the XJ, but I haven't finished filling it up.

One other detail worth mentioning about this radiator is that it is heavy. Every time I pick it up I am surprised at the weight. It is about 20lbs.
 
I guess I was lucky, no shipping damage.

I can't get to the install for at least a week. How did the installation go? Any fitment issues? There haven't been any reports on Champion radiators in the XJ threads I could find since Cal's report in 2019. Hopefully they have had the time to address any major issues. My XJ is an AX4 so we differ there.

Looking forward to hearing how it performs!
 
Just a quick note ... Given the Aluminum radiator and all the dissimilar metals in contact with the cooling system liquid (in my case 50% water) I've replaced the side radiator drain petcock with an anti-corrosion anode (1.75 inches long and bonded to a brass 1/4 NPT hex fitting).
 
Just a quick note ... Given the Aluminum radiator and all the dissimilar metals in contact with the cooling system liquid (in my case 50% water) I've replaced the side radiator drain petcock with an anti-corrosion anode (1.75 inches long and bonded to a brass 1/4 NPT hex fitting).

I doubt that little anode will do much because the wetted surface area of the radiator is so much larger. Why not electrically isolate the radiator to prevent galvanic corrosion of the radiator? The upper radiator mount is already isolated. The metal-to-metal path to the body (and therefore the engine block) is via the AC HX that mounts to the radiator.
 
Very interesting idea. I was only focussing on the effective electrical conductivity of the glycol/water mix. The various additives in the commercial solutions are designed to minimize Aluminum galvanic corrosion, but their effectiveness rapidly degrades at sustained temperatures above 210 F. I only assume that the larger surface area would aggravate the condition, so the sacrificial anode approach would help. The real cooling system resistivity change accelerates after a couple of years w/o changing out the coolant mix, since the additive package degrades with higher temperatures.
 
Besides water temperature (which is somewhat out of our control) conductivity of the water is probably the biggest factor in driving galvanic corrosion (when a galvanic corrosion cell exists). The wetted surface area of the radiator is a fair bit larger than the wetted surface area of the motor, and that ratio tends to spread out the loss of aluminum across the radiator rather than make it worse.

But none of this matters if you electrically isolate the radiator because then there is no galvanic corrosion reaction between the radiator and anything else. If you decide not to electrically isolate your radiator, then be sure to use distilled water and change the coolant yearly. Changing out the coolant routinely also maintains water pH which plays a factor in general corrosion.

With that said, I'm not sure that galvanic corrosion of the radiator is a big issue. Aluminum heads are routinely used on cast iron blocks, and there's no stopping the galvanic reaction there. And your water pump body and thermostat housing are both aluminum with metal-to-metal contact with the block, and they don't get horribly corroded, at least when the coolant is maintained.
 
I have the Champion BC1193 installed. Install went fairly well, and I have taken it for a quick drive and everything seems fine. My biggest challenges were dealing with the damage from shipping. I will start with that:


The first problem I noticed was a bent mounting pin:


ChampionRadiator21OPT.jpg



I had ordered the radiator from Ledfoot Racing, so I called them and was told to first photograph the damage and then try to fix it. They seemed to think a hammer/mallet would be the way to go, but I opted to use a piece of DOM steel as a handle to bent the pin back. One thing I noticed while doing this is there is a good amount of flex possible in the upper and lower shrouds of this radiator. The Cold Case had straps welded from top to bottom which would restrain this flex.



The next real problem was a bent inlet tube:


ChampionRadiator30OPT.jpg



This was harder to figure out how to fix. I needed something that would taper from 1 1/16" to 1 5/32" over a relatively short distance, but not too short. I have some old sockets that have a taper to them but none of those were the right size, not even if I used several of them in the process. I was at the point of trying to make my own tool when I found a Morse Taper adapter in my lathe tooling. I don't have anything that runs this large of a taper, so it wasn't something that initially came to mind. I think it is an MT3, but it could be an MT4. At any rate, it was the perfect taper for the job:


ChampionRadiator37OPT.jpg



In addition to those problems the draincock had both tabs bent in towards the tank and one tank was a good bit scuffed up. These issues do not matter to me, but they could have mattered to someone else. I don't use the draincock. I just remove them and install the flushest possible plug. And I am not building a show vehicle, so I am not too concerned about a smudge on the polished finish. But that could have meant a return for someone else, and I could understand why.


If Champion is paying any attention I would like to suggest they step up the game on their packaging. This is all the packaging that came with this radiator:


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And this is the amount of movement that was possible for the pins:


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In comparison, here is the Cold Case packaging:


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Cold Case is kind of on my excrement list at the moment (no plans to ship my replacement for another 4-6 weeks), but they do at least know how to package something.



If I recall correctly, my Mopar HD came with those plastic covered styrofoam pieces that expand and mold themselves around the radiator. That system would probably work much better than what Champion is currently doing. For a good quality radiator someone should look into some better options. If time were not of the essence to me I would have shipped this radiator back.
 
Moving on from packaging and shipping damage...


It appears they have enough quality control to identify any leaks. My radiator came with a weld repair:


ChampionRadiator15OPT.jpg



I would rather they find it and fix than find it myself.


The Champion radiator comes with the same plug for the Renix temperature sensor that the Cold Case came with, and with an O-ring to seal it. There are a couple differences that are to Champion's benefit though: They are using a thinner O-ring and they are lubricating it so they can tighten it down better. This should mean less chance of it blowing out.


ChampionRadiator47OPT.jpg



Given my experience with the Cold Case I am not taking any chances. I replaced the O-ring with an M22 aluminum washer and sealed everything up with The Right Stuff:


ChampionRadiator48OPT.jpg



Installation went fine once I fixed everything to my liking. It should be noted that I already modified my AC Condenser brackets to fit the Cold Case, so that could be an issue for others, and I already ditched my ZJ fan clutch and went back to an XJ fan clutch for the sake of clearing the Cold Case. However, lacking the straps from top to bottom, there is more fan clutch clearance with the Champion. I have in excess of 1/2" of clearance now:


ChampionRadiator70OPT.jpg



I did run into one detail I had to address. With the Cold Case I had to make up for 1/4" of lost height in order to get the nuts onto the upper isolator mounts. I took those spacers out and put in the Champion and was happy to find that the total height was spot on. No need for those spacers. But then I noticed I was 1/4" too tall on the AC condenser. If I tried to install the screws for the condenser I simply pulled the threaded inserts out of the condenser's rubber isolators. So I had to make a pair of spacers to fill that gap:


ChampionRadiator68OPT.jpg



Beyond that, everything fit fairly well. The AC condenser is pretty tight up against the tanks:


ChampionRadiator74OPT.jpg



Another detail I was surprised by is the overflow nipple. It is 5/16" rather than 3/8". At first I thought Champion made some sort of mistake with that one. The Cold Case I just took out had a 3/8" nipple and the Mopar HD that the Cold Case replaced also had a 3/8" nipple. How could Champion have gotten this wrong? But then I measured the nipple on the plastic overflow tank: It measures 5/16". I would now say that everyone else, Chrysler included, has been doing it wrong and Champion got it right. So I am going to swap out my overflow hose with a piece of 5/16" line. Also not that Champion doesn't even pretend to seal that nipple to the radiator. It is just threaded in loosely. Make sure you seal it properly.



One other thing I will mention, since it sounds like Champion is trying to find ways to cope with body flex: Properly mounted these radiators should be sitting on rubber isolators for the pins at the bottom. I have not managed to find a source for replacement rubber isolators. The top ones can be found, but no one seems to make the bottom ones. I have sourced my replacements from the junkyard, but they are still old and probably harder than they should be. They are not a particularly complicated piece. It might be in Champion's best interest to contract these parts out and include them with the radiator. I have no doubt some folks are running radiators without these isolators. I know that was the situation when I bought my XJ.


All in all I think this is a well made radiator. It is not full of aluminum shavings. It looks like there is a functional quality control system in place. It just needs better packaging.
 
Moving on from packaging and shipping damage...

Installation went fine once I fixed everything to my liking. It should be noted that I already modified my AC Condenser brackets to fit the Cold Case, so that could be an issue for others, and I already ditched my ZJ fan clutch and went back to an XJ fan clutch for the sake of clearing the Cold Case. However, lacking the straps from top to bottom, there is more fan clutch clearance with the Champion. I have in excess of 1/2" of clearance now:

...

I did run into one detail I had to address. With the Cold Case I had to make up for 1/4" of lost height in order to get the nuts onto the upper isolator mounts. I took those spacers out and put in the Champion and was happy to find that the total height was spot on. No need for those spacers. But then I noticed I was 1/4" too tall on the AC condenser. If I tried to install the screws for the condenser I simply pulled the threaded inserts out of the condenser's rubber isolators. So I had to make a pair of spacers to fill that gap:

...

Another detail I was surprised by is the overflow nipple. It is 5/16" rather than 3/8". At first I thought Champion made some sort of mistake with that one. The Cold Case I just took out had a 3/8" nipple and the Mopar HD that the Cold Case replaced also had a 3/8" nipple. How could Champion have gotten this wrong? But then I measured the nipple on the plastic overflow tank: It measures 5/16". I would now say that everyone else, Chrysler included, has been doing it wrong and Champion got it right. So I am going to swap out my overflow hose with a piece of 5/16" line. Also not that Champion doesn't even pretend to seal that nipple to the radiator. It is just threaded in loosely. Make sure you seal it properly.

There might be an MY difference between the AC HXs because the AC HX in my 2000 fit perfectly with the Cold Case.

My XJ came with a 5/16" hose overflow line. I'm the third owner, so I don't know if that was the stock size, but as you say, it fits the overflow tank nipple perfectly. And the CSF radiator that was in my XJ also had an overflow nipple that was sized for 5/16" hose.

I'm curious to hear if you can identify a difference in cooling efficiency between the Cold Case and Champion.

Did you find the leak source in the Cold Case?
 
Anak, very helpful information. The shipping damage was rather significant to me. I would not have been able to repair the port. As for shipment packing, my BC1193 was packed identically to yours. Apparently, the transit from SoCal to Northern Nevada is a bit softer!

As to the lower bushings, I purchased the Dorman 926281 bushings. They are a tight fit on the bottom posts, but I reamed out the top to a depth of a bit over 1/8 inch and they are easier to start.

I'm off looking for M22 gaskets as I intended to buy a M22-1.50 to 1/4 NPT adapter and install a mechanical water temperature gauge there - mounting the gauge itself in the engine compartment for diagnostics.

Anxious to hear about the cooling comparison result!
 
I haven't played around with the Cold Case to see where it leaks. I have way more on my plate than I can handle at the moment and that isn't on the priority list. However, with it out of the vehicle it does appear that my initial diagnosis is correct. It is in the core, somewhere in that vertical line that matches the AC compressor and the alternator. There is very little staining besides that column.

And I doubt I will be able to offer much in terms of comparison. Temperatures are in for a substantial drop here real quick. Daytime highs are supposed to drop 20 degrees next week, and nighttime lows are supposed to be in the high 30s. I won't be seeing weather that will tell me anything for another 8 or 9 months.

In terms of looking for gaskets, the aluminum washer I am running is M22 ID, M29 OD. And M22 is virtually identical to 7/8".
 
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Some recent feedback on my Ron Davis radiator setup. I am running the Ron Davis without a built in tranny cooler, stock fan clutch on my 4.7L Russ Pottinger stroker. I was in Yuma AZ a couple of weeks ago, where they said it was 107, my overhead said 115. Drove around in town, AC on, it never got above 210. I also drove through the desert from Yuma to SD, during the middle of the day, and the temp stayed below 210 with the AC on.
 
Any update on how the Champion BC1193 is working out? They are local to me and I’m considering driving over to talk to them.
 
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