I guess if that math checks out it will work. Most would shoot this down. There are a number of “high performance” radiators (if you will) by themselves that get the job done. Cal is currently testing two of the many choices for a radiator that performs well in adverse conditions.
For that specific example I feel the fluid is going to travel to fast through the radiator that it won’t cool down fluid much. The tubes on radiators are a fraction of the diameter than an oil cooler for a reason. I’m no expert though.
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Didn't think of fluid speed. The reason I'm considering this is the stock coolant loop recirculates hot coolant back into the motor. Wheel to wheel racing 90s Nissans (which used an almost identical coolant loop for the heater/thermostat bypass), I learned that getting rid of that coolant loop solved problems that no amount of radiator could fix (at one point, we had fitted a Griffin 3" road racing core for a Mustang 5.0 and still had temp issues with our 2.0L 200hp all aluminum 4-banger). We were also able to run a much more aggressive timing curve since head temps were lower.
Since this is a vehicle where a heater is useful, my thought was installing a heat exchanger on this loop so the motor was no longer recirculating 220* coolant. The fan would be slaved to the existing fan control to reduce the potential for overcooling. A little cooling here goes a long way and is probably more effective than a larger radiator since you can't really increase area, just volume, and the hotter coolant in this loop will shed heat faster.
It would have the same effect as turning the heat on while overheating, so it would help. You'd probably have to plumb it inline with the heater core or have a separate water pump. Plumbing it inline with the main radiator might cause too much backpressure that the HP requirements would go up enough (backside of the belt) that you'd wear out other bearings in any of the accessories. You can get fluid coolers rated for the flow, but they'll be as much $$ as a 2-core XJ radiator. Or you could just shift the radiator forward a little bit and at least fit a 2-core. Why is your's so close? There is a whole list of things that can be done to improve cooling. What have you done so far?
Things done so far:
ZJ clutch
New OEM radiator
Hood vents
Brown dog motor mounts (to keep from eating another radiator)
It's close because the previous owner of this Jeep liked the sauce and attempted to defy physics. The passenger side of the front clip is pushed back juuuuust enough that the fan clutch is 1/2" or so away from the stock-sized radiator. Figured this out when I pulled a stock fan blade from a junkyard (when I went E-fan, I tossed the stock stuff, whoops) and saw how much more room there was.
That being said, my Jeep generally stays cool enough (215-220*) so long as I don't try to run 2WD too much at lower speeds (lunchboxed front/rear make 4LO annoying when not rock crawling). I have had to shut down the AC and crank the heater climbing a steep fireroad in 2WD. Maybe I'll just get a 2LO kit instead.
And yes, plan would be to install in-line to the heater hoses. Will probably re-bend the inlet to the water pump to point downwards so I can mount it behind the stock front "crossmember" and minimize tight bends.
