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XJ radiators, a review.

I'm really happy to hear that you guys do honor Amazon purchases. I had read somewhere that you won't. I'll get mine registered shortly.


Now I just have to send the rest of these back and hopefully get refunds before I'm paying interest on $1000 in radiators. ;)
 
Thanks for the feedback, Cal. I'll definitely pass it on.

It looks like we do specify M5x0.8 for the upper mounting hardware. I know we were able to reuse the stock hardware on our test vehicle, but I'm having trouble finding an official spec for those. Do you know what the OEM spec is?

The engineer for this project is out right now, but when he gets back, I'll run that spec by him and see if we should be including nuts with the radiator.

Thanks again, and have fun with the returns :D

-Steve
 
I have no idea what OEM is. Hell, OEM could be M5. The griffin uses a much larger stud, maybe 1/4". The Mopar unit had slots on top and runs a carriage bolt upside down, and its entirely possible I had the wrong hardware there - I bought this car used and someone had really worked it over. I moved those bolts over when I swapped the Mopar in and re-used the existing hardware.
 
FYI, your site has failed to let me register about 5 times now. I'll try it again in a couple of days.

mishireg-me.jpg
 
Seems like I'm late to the party but just to throw my 2 pennies in the mix... I had a CSF 3 core years ago that was highly recommended on a local forum I used to frequent. It was garbage honestly. Temps wouldn't stay down even in easy driving and cool ambient temps. Then the thing cracked on me after only about a year. I went to a 2 core aluminum. Don't remember the brand honestly, but I remember it was only around $150 and i haven't had a single complaint to lodge about it. Works great even when being taxed quite a bit on hot days in the mountains. I think sometimes simplicity truly wins out.
 
I had excellent luck with the later model OEM single core HD radiator. It's just a thick single core instead of 2 or 3 cores. It was on a largely stock Jeep but still keept the Jeep cool even in the Summer out in the desert of SOCAL with the AC on.
 
Any idea how hard it would be to have an -AN 6 male adaptor soldered onto the trans cooler inlet on that Mishimoto? I recently replaced the entire cooling system on my 98 with a stock style radiator and added an external trans cooler, gauge, and spin on filter. In the process, I switched most of my quick disconnects to -AN 6. I am still getting a little hot for comfort in the city (it's also Arizona so there is that) so I was thinking something better than the stock radiator is in order.
 
Any idea how hard it would be to have an -AN 6 male adaptor soldered onto the trans cooler inlet on that Mishimoto? I recently replaced the entire cooling system on my 98 with a stock style radiator and added an external trans cooler, gauge, and spin on filter. In the process, I switched most of my quick disconnects to -AN 6. I am still getting a little hot for comfort in the city (it's also Arizona so there is that) so I was thinking something better than the stock radiator is in order.

There is a AN fitting just for that.......see post#10
https://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1148286
 
I just got my mishimoto all aluminum installed. Temps are great for the most part. I’m idling perfectly. My old mopar was hitting 220 at idle and I’m lucky if I can sit for 10 minutes with the ac on and hit 212. Cool! But—

sOgkDpr.jpg


this little plug is leaking. It’s above the lower road hose and below the fill neck. Just noticed it right now and had to leave the house and will be away this weekend. I’ve lost a good amount of coolant just from this little plug over the past couple days. I had it installed at a mechanic. Is this a threaded plug that I can just screw in to tighten? Hijacking the thread a bit just don’t want to clutter the forum and this is kind of relevant.
 
looked at the docs this morning and it appears to be a temp sensor port for older cherokees, with a plug in it for newer cherokees that use the thermostat housing for temp sensor. was really difficult to tie down without taking out the efan again, so i did, and used a big channel lock to tie it down real good. think the leak it gone. but it did take some muscle to tighten the plug and eliminate leaking. i'm worried this will eventually begin leaking again if road and trail vibration loosens it again.
 
looked at the docs this morning and it appears to be a temp sensor port for older cherokees, with a plug in it for newer cherokees that use the thermostat housing for temp sensor. was really difficult to tie down without taking out the efan again, so i did, and used a big channel lock to tie it down real good. think the leak it gone. but it did take some muscle to tighten the plug and eliminate leaking. i'm worried this will eventually begin leaking again if road and trail vibration loosens it again.

You should have at least pulled if out for inspection and then re-sealed it.
 
I wouldn't worry too much about it leaking in the future. If it does, just pull it, throw some locktite in it and reseal.
 
I put one a few days before heading to the Moab 35th Anniversary run. I have had CSF, and just replaced a Champion that I had no issues with. I wanted more cooling capacity since I was pulling a trailer with extra gear for the misses and kiddo and running one of Russ' deluxe strokers. I should have weighed it at the scale but didn't make the time. I have installed Mishimoto radiators, aftercoolers and oil coolers in Kawasaki Loaders and Link-Belt Excavators as they are OEM and have been consistently impressed with their quality.

My initial impression of the build was an improvement over the Champion but would hope so at 2x the price. Fit was off a bit, but was within adjustment of factory radiator support/ header mount. Just seemed torqued over to driver's side compared to how the Champion radiator was installed. I was a bit irritated with the A/C condenser brackets and lack of nuts since I was on a time crunch. I ended up cutting and drilling some 14g sheet metal brackets with proper size holes so I wouldn't have to use fender washers. I wish the cap was standard size, now I will need to get another adapter to pressure test my cooling system. Speaking of pressure, since it runs at a higher pressure I see coolant weeping at the factory spring clamps and will have to change them out. The threads on the neck for the overflow nipple ended up galling and had to be chased with a tap and die on the nipple to save them. I'm not sure if there was a burr or what, but was happy I didn't have to go to an oversize hole or something else.

Performance, ambient temps were 80 or less, so no where near extreme but had several long grades to climb and had no issues. Between higher cap pressure and greater cooling capacity it definitely ran cooler than experienced previously especially with the trailer. Coolant temps on oem gauge indicated 215 max. I did change from the conventional ethylene glycol based coolant to a OAT coolant after several coolant flushes. I would guess weight of loaded trailer/ gear at 1800 lbs. So far, I do like it.


PCQpd0qh.jpg
 
Interesting. I experienced the same problem with the top mounts being about 1/8-3/16 too far to one side and had to really push to get it all together.

I'll bring this up with them. We're talking about the issues I came across too.
 
If you find the right adapter for the pressure tester let me know - I need to get one as well.
 
this little plug is leaking. It’s above the lower road hose and below the fill neck. Just noticed it right now and had to leave the house and will be away this weekend. I’ve lost a good amount of coolant just from this little plug over the past couple days. I had it installed at a mechanic. Is this a threaded plug that I can just screw in to tighten? Hijacking the thread a bit just don’t want to clutter the forum and this is kind of relevant.

looked at the docs this morning and it appears to be a temp sensor port for older cherokees, with a plug in it for newer cherokees that use the thermostat housing for temp sensor. was really difficult to tie down without taking out the efan again, so i did, and used a big channel lock to tie it down real good. think the leak it gone. but it did take some muscle to tighten the plug and eliminate leaking. i'm worried this will eventually begin leaking again if road and trail vibration loosens it again.

Hey MickeyS,

That plug has an O-ring seal so it should be good with just being tightened down. It was likely just a little under-tightened from the factory; we typically recommend giving the fittings on our rads a check at install. If it isn't leaking now, you should be good, but just let me know if it starts leaking again and we'll get you taken care of.

My initial impression of the build was an improvement over the Champion but would hope so at 2x the price. Fit was off a bit, but was within adjustment of factory radiator support/ header mount. Just seemed torqued over to driver's side compared to how the Champion radiator was installed. I was a bit irritated with the A/C condenser brackets and lack of nuts since I was on a time crunch. I ended up cutting and drilling some 14g sheet metal brackets with proper size holes so I wouldn't have to use fender washers. I wish the cap was standard size, now I will need to get another adapter to pressure test my cooling system. Speaking of pressure, since it runs at a higher pressure I see coolant weeping at the factory spring clamps and will have to change them out. The threads on the neck for the overflow nipple ended up galling and had to be chased with a tap and die on the nipple to save them. I'm not sure if there was a burr or what, but was happy I didn't have to go to an oversize hole or something else.

Performance, ambient temps were 80 or less, so no where near extreme but had several long grades to climb and had no issues. Between higher cap pressure and greater cooling capacity it definitely ran cooler than experienced previously especially with the trailer. Coolant temps on oem gauge indicated 215 max. I did change from the conventional ethylene glycol based coolant to a OAT coolant after several coolant flushes. I would guess weight of loaded trailer/ gear at 1800 lbs. So far, I do like it.

Interesting. I experienced the same problem with the top mounts being about 1/8-3/16 too far to one side and had to really push to get it all together.

I'll bring this up with them. We're talking about the issues I came across too.

Thanks for the feedback guys, I'll be sure to pass this on to our engineering team and make sure QC is aware. Chasdb were the holes on your A/C condenser brackets too big? We slotted the holes on the brackets to allow for some variation in the front end of the truck, as we had a few XJ's in during development and they each had different clearance in the front. I am glad to hear that it's performing well though!

Thanks again,
-Steve
 
I put one a few days before heading to the Moab 35th Anniversary run. I have had CSF, and just replaced a Champion that I had no issues with. I wanted more cooling capacity since I was pulling a trailer with extra gear for the misses and kiddo and running one of Russ' deluxe strokers. I should have weighed it at the scale but didn't make the time. I have installed Mishimoto radiators, aftercoolers and oil coolers in Kawasaki Loaders and Link-Belt Excavators as they are OEM and have been consistently impressed with their quality.

My initial impression of the build was an improvement over the Champion but would hope so at 2x the price. Fit was off a bit, but was within adjustment of factory radiator support/ header mount. Just seemed torqued over to driver's side compared to how the Champion radiator was installed. I was a bit irritated with the A/C condenser brackets and lack of nuts since I was on a time crunch. I ended up cutting and drilling some 14g sheet metal brackets with proper size holes so I wouldn't have to use fender washers. I wish the cap was standard size, now I will need to get another adapter to pressure test my cooling system. Speaking of pressure, since it runs at a higher pressure I see coolant weeping at the factory spring clamps and will have to change them out. The threads on the neck for the overflow nipple ended up galling and had to be chased with a tap and die on the nipple to save them. I'm not sure if there was a burr or what, but was happy I didn't have to go to an oversize hole or something else.

Performance, ambient temps were 80 or less, so no where near extreme but had several long grades to climb and had no issues. Between higher cap pressure and greater cooling capacity it definitely ran cooler than experienced previously especially with the trailer. Coolant temps on oem gauge indicated 215 max. I did change from the conventional ethylene glycol based coolant to a OAT coolant after several coolant flushes. I would guess weight of loaded trailer/ gear at 1800 lbs. So far, I do like it.


PCQpd0qh.jpg
What's the benefit of switching to OAT vs Ethylene Glycol or even a HOAT coolant?
 
I have a Napa autoparts Spectra it seems to work good just took it through the rubicon and a few other trails no issues.
 
What's the benefit of switching to OAT vs Ethylene Glycol or even a HOAT coolant?

Silicate drop out. Ethylene or Propylene Glycol has a two year shelf life from the date of manufacture. There is a date code on the bottle. When the coolant is spent, it degrades and the corrosion inhibitors can contribute to
cooling problems by plugging cores and preventing heat transfer.

OAT and Hoat have a 5 year shelf life, I haven't seen any issues with them yet and cooling systems look pretty darn clean.
 
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