Q's Jeep Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 wanting to go to open system. would like to find 3-4 core metal radiator what year do i need to go for ? mine is a 87 4.0L 4x4. Next can the heater valve assembly be removed going to the open system ? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banshee Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 i just did this yes you can remove the valve but it's going to get warm inside the cab 'unable to shut off the water' went to my local parts store got normal shut off valve and installed it, stopping the water when its closed, no issues thus far? I just bought a new 3cor aluminum radiator from champion around $200.. with A 15lbs cap... B... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 i just did this yes you can remove the valve but it's going to get warm inside the cab 'unable to shut off the water' went to my local parts store got normal shut off valve and installed it, stopping the water when its closed, no issues thus far? I just bought a new 3cor aluminum radiator from champion around $200.. with A 15lbs cap... B... A "normal" shut off valve? :huh???: The reason the cab got hot after your valve bypass ASSuming you did it correctly is because your HVAC door controls are not working, due to bad vacuum lines, bad vacuum/elec switches in the HVAC dash panel, rotted out HVAC door gaskets, or a a combo of all the above. Have to know though: what did you buy as "normal" shut off valve? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACKED88 Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 :rotf: When the heater control valve went out in my old Dodge I put a brass faucet in it's place. Total cost .... about $8 bucks. Being nice and toasty in my truck .... priceless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpnjim Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 I just bought a new 3cor aluminum radiator from champion around $200.. with A 15lbs cap... B... I did this too, but had to chop a little sheetmetal due to the location of the Champion Radiator's lower auto trans cooler line (interfered with the sheetmetal on that side). Also, the early 4.0L temperature sensor wouldn't mount to the radiator. The Champion radiator had a bung for it, but there wasn't enough depth to screw in the sending unit. I left the early 4.0L expansion tank mounted at the firewall for now, I mostly wanted the newer style radiator for ease of filling. Oh, and the cool looking checkered flag radiator cap they include free didn't work so great with the XJ upper radiator support. Since I still have the early expansion tank, I swapped on a higher psi cap (Durango/Dakota application). All complaints aside, The Champion Radiator was great, all aluminum, 3 core, nicely built & finished for around $200. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 I did this too, but had to chop a little sheetmetal due to the location of the Champion Radiator's lower auto trans cooler line (interfered with the sheetmetal on that side). I had that same problem on the lower coolant line with the aluminum FFD radiator I put in, but was able to bend the flare nut elbow adapter a little tighter with my tubing bender till it cleared. Also, the welded-on male flare fitting for the upper coolant hose was one size smaller than the flare nut on the coolant line, so I had to rework that too. Did the Champion radiator have this problem also Jim? You would think they could get these things right before they manufactured them......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banshee Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 normal on off not threeway i just did this yes you can remove the valve but it's going to get warm inside the cab 'unable to shut off the water' went to my local parts store got normal shut off valve and installed it, stopping the water when its closed, no issues thus far? I just bought a new 3cor aluminum radiator from champion around $200.. with A 15lbs cap... B... A "normal" shut off valve? :huh???: The reason the cab got hot after your valve bypass ASSuming you did it correctly is because your HVAC door controls are not working, due to bad vacuum lines, bad vacuum/elec switches in the HVAC dash panel, rotted out HVAC door gaskets, or a a combo of all the above. Have to know though: what did you buy as "normal" shut off valve? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motion Offroad Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 wanting to go to open system. would like to find 3-4 core metal radiator what year do i need to go for ? We've had great luck with the CSF 3-Cores. You'll want the one for '91-'97 XJ models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpnjim Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 I did this too, but had to chop a little sheetmetal due to the location of the Champion Radiator's lower auto trans cooler line (interfered with the sheetmetal on that side). I had that same problem on the lower coolant line with the aluminum FFD radiator I put in, but was able to bend the flare nut elbow adapter a little tighter with my tubing bender till it cleared. Also, the welded-on male flare fitting for the upper coolant hose was one size smaller than the flare nut on the coolant line, so I had to rework that too. Did the Champion radiator have this problem also Jim? You would think they could get these things right before they manufactured them......... Both my Champion radiator and the trans cooling lines used AN fittings, too bad the radiator fittings were both a smaller size than the lines. :doh: I considered adapters, but they would've moved the fittings out too far away from the radiator. I REALLY wanted to drop the radiator in without modifying anything, but I ended up cutting both lines (used the rubber hose trick :( ), and cutting a chunk out of the sheetmetal to fit the line. On the sub 40k mile Grandpa MJ :wall: :doh: Originally, I did get the radiator in place by modifying the lower line coming out of the radiator, but it was directly pushing against the sheet metal. A week of worrying about wearing a hole, or stress crack in the hardline led me to pulling the radiator out, and chopping some sheet metal out of the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpnjim Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Pics of Champion Radiator: Temp sensor threaded in till it hit trans cooler inside radiator: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Thanks for the pics Jim, the Champion radiator looks similar to my FFD. I thought the radiator line fittings were AN also, and was going to use an AN adapter to plumb it, but I couldn't start the AN flare nut on the radiator as the threads were different. Weird. So I had to do the cut and splice trick only on the upper line, the bottom line snapped on correctly. I couldn't get a pic of it, but I do have about 3/8" clearance between the lower line elbow fitting and the sheet metal so I think that's enough. Hope so anyhow. :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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