Well... I got the ambition this weekend to cross a few things off my Jeep work load.

Wrenching on Bobbi's Max got me back in the spirit... Plus Black N Blue was jealous I was spending time with another Jeep, so he peed coolant all over my parking lot...

So Sunday I blew the dust... err... mud off my tools and started wrenching.

Pulled the Radiator, Fan, Thermo housing, and Water pump in no time flat (thanks to practicing on Danny's last year). Surprisingly there was no mud in the coolant... so I guess the leak also flushed most of the system over the past few months (about a gallon a month of coolant).

Found the only "clean" part of the radiator was the fan area... on the engine side... the rest was coated good...

I guess pressure washing with it installed doesn't work all that well... front side blocked by A/C radiator... back blocked by fan shroud.

So while it was out I took it to the car wash and pressure washed both sides clean... no obstructions this time.

New pump... new lower radiator hose... new thermostat... sweet...

While refilling I got a little upset with the beasty... He spit out the coolant at the thermo housing as quick as I was pouring it in...

Tore it apart for round 2... re scraped and re sanded... this time I tried some Isopropyl Alcohol to clean both surfaces... resealed and re torqued, then tested by pouring down the upper radiator hose instead of waiting for the radiator to top off... no drips or gushes...

Sweet...

Ran it for an hour straight trying to get it to overheat (used that time to install the Mirror relocation/spotlight mounts on the windshield, and wire back in my driving lights)... even with the A/C it only got to 210 on the gauge (used to overheat after 5 minutes with A/C at idle)



Unfortunately I fixed it too good according to the ECM (stupid emissions computer)...

I figured since it is warmer here than my former blizzard zone home of Buffalo... I would get a lower thermostat... 160 degree (old was 195).

Between the new thermostat, new water pump, fresh coolant, and clean radiator... it now runs too COOL according to the computer...

P1281 - Engine not reaching normal operating temperature...

This was after my jog home from work... took the top down to enjoy the weather so no A/C

With A/C it runs at temp... just below 210... without... P1281 zone...

Oh well...

Not gonna make adjustments just yet...

1) REALLY don't wanna mess with more gaskets and coolant any time soon.

2) Replacing the engine driven fan with a Flex A Lite Black magic... would have done it during the rest of this, but when I opened the box I learned it didn't include the bracket for the overflow tank to mount on... no stock fan shroud means no bracket.

Of course as with any work on a Jeep, I found other things that need work now too...

one is serious enough to force me into a lift and SYE kit to get that lift.

More on that later...

Glad to hear you finally tore into it.

Keep us up to date on your plans. Its been sometime since I have done a SYE on a jeep so I'm ready when you are. Also, please go find yourself a mud puddle and get the jeep dirty. I saw it the other day (we are doing the work at J. CREW in A mills mall) and it was a shock to see it so clean.

Shoulda stopped by D&B for lunch on me Nester =-)

Still looking for that mud puddle...

I will stop by next time dude. Last time it was 7 or 8 in the morning.