ParadiseMJ

The rubber "seal" AFAIK is just trim. It looks like a seal, but the "seal" is the polyurethane goop on the inside. My XJ just has the metal trim. There are spaces that look like they'd leak, but don't. When I removed my trim I could see that the seal was on the inside, not outside.

Those look great, good job! I've never liked the gold (personal preference) unless all the badging is also gold like on some ZJ's

Though it may make you feel better to do them damage, property or personally, like needles in the @$$ which could be a felony all on it's own, you could incur liability or jail time yourself. Ain't right...but it IS the law. If you feel that you have a good reason to suspect these guys vandalized your vehicle, call the police. I work for County Probation. I am NOT a cop, but I have friends on the PD that would gladly set up a camera trap to nail some scumbag.

Sorry the previous sentence is so long, but you asked for it. ;P You're right...I did. So, I thank you for your interest and investment in this thread and my problem. Frustration has a way of affecting me in a cynical way. Sorry if it sounded like I was mocking you but, for what it's worth, your knowledge and "figuring" is, admittedly, over my head. No hard feelings. That said, I found something "physical" on the Jeep that could explain part my cooling problem. As I was taking everything apart to replace the radiator I had to unbolt the A/C condenser to separate it from the radiator. This has given me pause about replacing the radiator at all. If I'm right, I may not need to replace the radiator at all. Previously I have thought I could just spray off the condenser and backflush it from the engine side as well...and it would be all good. There was no mud, no grass, no cow manure (I got it off a farm, yknow), no mouse nests, bees etc etc. Well....out here in CA, we don't use salt on the roads in the winter, part of the reason we don't have rusted vehicles. It gets snowy and slippery in the mountains, but the rest of the state might see an inch of snow all winter, if that. Wisely IMHO, CalTrans, DOT, whatever, uses what we got...either sand or DG (Decomposed Granite) which is a kind of rough angular sand that provides traction and leaves no chemical residue. What with me being a bonafide Senior Citizen and sight-challenged as well as crippled up with what seems to be the onset of arthritis, I've never really gotten "up close and personal" with my A/C condenser. I did today!! When I did, I found that my condenser is FULL of DG. Again, not meaning to be a D**K, my condenser is about 75-80% clogged with freakin' MF'n DG. Every single slot has at least 4-5 grains of this stuff, some slots are completely clogged. Each "grain" is about 1/32". It seems each slot is double folded for maximum effectiveness and the stinkin' sand is even stuck in between the folds. So, tomorrow I'm going put off the radiator job and clean the crap out of my condenser, with water, soap, compressed air as well as 409 and Purple Power until it's clean as a whistle and I can see through it...right now, I can't see the light of a 3D Mag light through it. Then I'm going to fill it with water and go for a 3rd gear drive. Who knows, maybe I can get my $$ back for the radiator. It also may explain why the solution to this has been so elusive. Thanks again.

Well, I'm about 17.3% convinced that at least 1/2 of the stuff I've done might fix 88.9% of my problems. I'm sure that if I reduce my speed by 14% I'll probably get .00397% benefit in my tire wear. If I reduce the tire size by 22.496% I'll probably take the Ranger to Jackson Hole...depending on the size of the first pot hole I hit on Hwy 97. EDIT: What I really meant to say was ... Duh! What?? So, In one sentence, what should I do to fix that...in another sentence...Why is it that I see completely neglected P'sOS driving down the highway doing 75 with a meth head behind the wheel with all their windows rolled up and their A/C blasting towing a fishing boat with 4 inner tubes tied on top and they are NOT over heating?!?

I corrected the speedo for the tire size when I put in the t-case with the AW4. As far as driving style and speed goes...I'm pretty conservative. I take it rather easy on the skinny pedal...I don't drive like a teenager...but I don't drive like an old lady either. :thumbsup: During all of this I relocated the trans cooler to just above the front skid plate (that post is 2 mos. old). I'm not really worried about whacking it there, "since I won't be doing the Rubicon anytime soon"...and it actually works fine there and eliminates it as an issue in the cooling system. I am replacing the radiator today or tomorrow. If the radiator doesn't do the trick...who knows. :???: Maybe I'll get a Toyota :yes:

This threw up a red flag for me. Are you sure the torque converter is locking up? A slipping torque converter will add slot of heat to the system. Regardless, all of the hot transmission fluid is heading straight for the radiator. No I'm not absolutely sure that the TC is locking up, but like I said, the tranny temps are good according to my trans temp gauge. I have the tranny "cooler" in the radiator bypassed...as in, the tranny fluid does not go thru the radiator since I live in sunny California and it rarely gets colder than 30F here even in the dead of winter. The aux. HD tranny cooler is installed remotely, away from the radiator, so I don't believe the engine cooling system is affected at all by the tranny fluid temps.

I was thinking that when I had some extra $$ laying around (as if) to take it to the shop. Seeing as how it's younger than my last set pair of shoes. Back in the Old Days I used to just take my Chevy C-10 to the rad shop and have it "rodded out" and re brazed for $40. Do they still do that, or just replace it with an aluminum OEM model from AutoZone? Had that truck when I was 16 until I was 30

I bought a new radiator yesterday

I looked high and low for an MJ 3-4 yrs ago. Had to go about 500 miles...now this!! http://chico.craigslist.org/search/sso?=sss&query=jeep+comanche&zoomToPosting=&minAsk=&maxAsk=&hasPic=1&srchType=T

There is a small paper/fabric type seal...looks like a washer...for $2. Of course the difficult part is re-indexing the dizzy once you have it out. Not too bad, might take a couple stabs.

Just to clear the air here. I thank you all for your attention and suggestions. I would have never even gotten this far without the sage wisdom, knowledge and experience. I am not lugging it. I know lugging. I'm not running 33" tires, they're 31's (that measure out at the curb to an "actual" 29.75) I normally run in 3rd unless I'm on the freeway going 65-70. Always have with the 3.07's... My immediate need to get smaller tires (235's) until I can re-gear is being worked on. The RPM's normally run ~2200 to 2400 at 65 on flat ground (just like my XJ with AW4, 231, 265's and 3.55 gears. Running up the hill in 3rd the tach gets anywhere from 2800 - 3200 or so...certainly not overtaxing the engine OR the tranny and my MPG's are really fine. The tranny temps are fine...130-170 and all the way to 250 if I'm pulling a load or driving slow up a steep hill (10-11% grade). The cat is new, the exhaust is clear. My brakes aren't dragging, my bed is empty, my shocks are in good shape, all my lights, accessories and my radio works...and I just washed it. P.S. Keyav8r I don't have a pressure bottle. It's an been open system conversion since day 1. The picture in the pic section is a closed system Renix. Thus the confusion.

Thanks for researching for me. Read the below after the second quote. Si...correct. The heater valve has been gone for a couple years. Whether I routed the hose correctly, and whether it matters The reason I ask the question is: I seem to have a flow problem. The coolant exiting the t-stat nipple makes sense since INSIDE the small hole in the water pump there is a deflector which is apparently there to deflect coolant DOWN into the pump. That deflector, on my pump, is corroded and therefore not necessarily directing the coolant the right way. I don't know if that matters either, but it's the ONLY odd thing I've been able to find. So, if routing the hoses correctly eliminates the possibility of any air pockets in the core and any cavitation at the pump or at the compromised "deflector" that's one less possibility to eliminate. My next step is to replace the pump with an OEM pump (can't justify the Hesco) and take the flippin' radiator to a shop and see if a.) it's clogged or b.) if they can do anything about it (cost effective). Thanks to everyone adding their input here and in my previous uber long thread.

Thanks fellas, the only reason I ask is to figure out which hose goes OUT of the t-stat and/or WP TO the core. In other words if the hoses were off, where would coolant come out of the engine? The water pump pipe...or the small t-stat fitting? Weird question but it is relevant

No Heater Control Valve Does it matter which heater hose goes from/to the t-stat/water pump...top or bottom. Which way does the flow go? t-stat to heater to water pump OR water pump to heater core to t-stat?

Anything is possible. The plugs are good, the mileage is OK, 15+/20 town/highway. Temp at head is about 240-250 when "overheating" and close to the red on the gauge. Have good acceleration going up the hill in 3rd. Not so good in D, until I punch it and it downshifts (kicks down), but when I know it's going to be pushing it I'll manually shift to the lower gear. When I was driving it around the last 2 weeks it was mostly under 45 mph except for a short trip to the dump, with a trailer...only got a bit warm. When I was blasting up the highway at 60-70 is when it was overheating. ...any comment on the water pump??

The wires were freshly exposed, likely I twisted them too much while removing the CTS yesterday. I replaced the CTS back in 2011 when I was putting the truck back together just as a matter of course. I don't believe it's been running that way. My plugs look new...as in brown/tan with no gunk, in the good to better range per the chart. They're gapped and re-gapped at .35 and they are only a year old. I verified the temps with my HF IR gun on the first go around. When the gauge is at 210...it reads ~200+ at the t-stat. ...and I AM exasperated, but that's not the word that comes to mind.

I have already removed the CTS AND the block drain and sent clear water thru it...nothing came out but clear, clean water. The area I can SEE just behind the water pump is clean. No rust, sludge, crap or otherwise came out...not even dirty water. So as it sits the entire engine is flushed, but still no sign of any sediment anywhere. So, blockage and/or crap in the block, the head, the core and the hoses is ruled out in my mind. Any comment on the pump picture...or speculation the radiator. The radiator has also been flushed 3 times without producing a bit of rust or crud. And by the way, the CTS wires are crusty and kinked with a couple bare spots. I don't think that's an issue but that will be replaced as well. It CANNOT be this complicated.

OK, so I removed the water pump...here's what it looks like. Looks like there's "water line", one side of the line is nice n' clean...the other side of the line is crusty. The crusty part does not look like anything inside the engine, which is clean behind the pump. There is no sludge, rust or calcification around the cylinder walls. Also I know that the coolant has not been 2/3 empty as the water line might indicate as it's been up to the tippy top and burped. Even though the pump turns, it's the correct rotation, and it's been full of coolant almost constantly, the vanes are solid, the bearing is not wobbly, it's not weeping. Is this cause to think it wasn't working properly (e.g. cavitating)?? ...AND is it likely that the inside of my radiator looks like the crusty part (it's a 2-3 yr. old 2 row all metal CSF with ~3K miles on it).

The MAP sensor line doesn't have anything to do with the vac ball. It ONLY goes from sensor to throttle body. I'd look at the vac source line at the rear of the intake manifold. It could still pass emissions if the line was compromised and would still supply some vacuum to the HVAC system & cruise) The "double" ball (football) is usually only present with cruise...which I don't have. AFAIK it's not "double the capacity" it two separate chambers with a wall(septum) between them, and two separate in/out lines (that may or may not T together. In general, even a disconnected vac ball won't affect the engine performance much. How's the idle??

Here's my XJ w/TJ flares. Just a word of warning. Once done, you can never go back to stock... or even Bushwackers since fitting the TJ flares requires some serious cutting of the fenders, including cutting the pinch seam in the rear. After doing it, I had to rebuild the seam with some extra steel & a good biy of welding. If I had it to do again...I wouldn't. They look fine, but I'd drop the money on some Bushwackers or remove the flares altogether

I have a hex head in the block drain, I've had it out before. Might pull them both. I'm puttin' this to bed for the rest of the week. Going camping for 5 days without my truck. :fs1: Thanks for the suggestions, be back in a few days.

I have a new hose WITH a used, but newish condition spring I got from a member here 2 mos. ago.. No corrosion anywhere I can find what I really need is Voodoo!!

I have yet to find any junk, crud, crap, chunks, sludge or anything else that should not be in the engine, pumpkins, cooling system or tranny...anywhere that one would normally find said goo on a 25 yr. old truck. I guess that's the beauty of regular maintenance. Just some of the pictures I see of "other guys" rigs make me anal about it. Not that it's helping me any.

As I said the water pump is only 2K miles old...but...it's been in there for 3-4 years. It's actually the first thing I'll be looking at, since it's the easiest to remove. As far as the question on how to get the plug out...it's not 3/8" and it's not 5/16". I ground down a sacrificial rachet extension, until it fit. I tried the extension by itself, too big, I tried some 5/16" square stock, too small.