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Cooling system conversion finally done... :)


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I finally got around to doing this as I have had all the parts for about 3 months now :oops: .

Anyway...Tina (my wife) came home from work on Thursday and parked the MJ having no issues, but by the time I got home about 30 minutes after her, it was pissing anti-freeze all over the carport from the water pump...so I knew what my project for Saturday was going to be :D .

 

Time to install this...new 3 row cooling :D

 

 

and this...

 

 

Old radiator out...

 

 

What the hell is up with the allen bolt in the t-stat housing...real great idea :nuts:

 

 

New WP, t-stat, t-stat housing and fan temp sensor installed...

 

 

New 3 row radiator in...

 

 

AHHHH... the rewards of a successful job and NO MORE CLOSED COOLING SYSTEM to deal with... :cheers:

 

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OH...I forgot to mention... BE SURE TO DOUBLE CHECK ALL BOLTS THAT YOU TOUCHED.

 

I went on a test drive of about 8 miles after letting it sit and run in the carport for about 15 minutes. About 6 miles in to the drive I started hearing a very odd noise (other then the loud belt sqealing). It was like something rattling and when I got home and opened the hood it kept getting louder and louder. I did the screwdriver to ear thing against the t-stat housing and it was definitely coming from that area. My fear was that something had gone wrong with the new WP...BUT, upon shutting off the engine and taking a good look over everything...I found this... :oops:

 

 

 

I had forgotten to tighten the WP pulley bolts. I had only put them in finger tight so one fell out, one was about halfway out andthe other two were still all the way in but obviously loose. I tightened up the three that are left and I will get another one to replace the one that is gone.

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That looks great man. I have always kind of figured I would do that when something went wrong with my cooling system, but nothing has so far. How much $ did you have into the conversion when all was said and done?

 

I'm sorry to see a diet beer there, a project like this deserves some real beer ;)

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Yea, I'm wondering if the Bud light bottle has something to do with the "new" over flow recovery??? :hmm:

 

I don't ever remember seeing any allen head bolts for the thermostat housing?? Could be the PO did the same thing you had happen on the test drive.......bolt lost :dunno:

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:cheers: Gotta drink the "light" stuff...regular gives me a headache ;) .

 

I spent about $350 on everything.

 

I re-used the old pressure bottle for hte recovery bottle until I find something better. It is working fine for now though. I just plugged the bottom hole and ran the recovery hose in the smaller connection on the end.

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:cheers: Gotta drink the "light" stuff...regular gives me a headache ;) .

 

I spent about $350 on everything.

 

I re-used the old pressure bottle for hte recovery bottle until I find something better. It is working fine for now though. I just plugged the bottom hole and ran the recovery hose in the smaller connection on the end.

 

I have a couple coolant overflow bottles from a 95/96 era xj...and the mounting hardware and relay/fuse box to boot. shoot me a pm if interested...i'm cheap

 

n69205416_32174845_7965.jpg

it's on the passenger side

n69205416_32777488_2755.jpg

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I'll think about that. I am not sure I want to get in to having to change the relay/fuse box just to add a bottle. I hate messing with electrical stuff as it can become a real PITA in a hurry.

 

:P

 

you don't HAVE to change that out...I'd use it to run any offroad accessories that you're planning on adding (relay some fogs, whatever)

 

just run it in tangem to your factory system. only thing you'd have to do would be relocate your coil since the bottle sits down there...and the coil can be moved easily

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can't you just put the overflow bottle where the old pressore bottle was? Did you change out the heater control too?
RIght now I am using the old bottle as the overflow and it seems to be working just fine.

 

Yes, I did change the heater control valve as well.

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where'd you get the radiator?? thanks!

 

-if that was answered....sorry

I got it on eBay from a company in New Jersey called Radiator Express. I got it for a little less than $150 including shipping.

 

The price has gone up a little bit, but here is one of their current listings... Click Here

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Not to hijack the thread but just for all that read it in the future. You can delete the heater control valve without any adverse affects. I have also deleted my snazzy gas tank overflow bottle at this point. This was my before and after...

 

 

 

Again not to hijack, just showing the different options out there.

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Not to hijack the thread but just for all that read it in the future. You can delete the heater control valve without any adverse affects. I have also deleted my snazzy gas tank overflow bottle at this point. This was my before and after...

 

Again not to hijack, just showing the different options out there.

 

Let's continue the highjack :D . I have also eliminated the water control valve, actually the heat seems to work much better now. And what is your gas tank overflow bottle? :eek:

 

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I don't fully understand what the benefits of changing cooling systems is.

 

I am kind of a Newb when it comes to beefing up XJ's and MJ's and such. I have probably had ten XJ's through the years but never did any real mods to them just maintinence. TJ's and CJ's are another story :brows:

 

Is there a drawback to the closed system? Or just because it is a bit of a PIA to get all of the air out of it when replacing the coolant?

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I don't fully understand what the benefits of changing cooling systems is.

 

I am kind of a Newb when it comes to beefing up XJ's and MJ's and such. I have probably had ten XJ's through the years but never did any real mods to them just maintinence. TJ's and CJ's are another story :brows:

 

Is there a drawback to the closed system? Or just because it is a bit of a PIA to get all of the air out of it when replacing the coolant?

It's just the PITA thing for me. There is no real performance advantage or anything like that other than being a little more dependable IMO. Issues on the trail/road are easier to fix with an open system too.
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