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Arizona + A/C + Highway= Overheating

38K views 687 replies 42 participants last post by  fishadventure 
#1 ·
Well, my first summer in Phoenix and I got the Jeep on the interstate with the AC blasting going about 65 -75 on the interstate. It was a toasty 110 degree day yesterday and my engine temp was pushing past 230 heading to 240F. If I turn my AC off it will hold at 230 but for how long is still unknown. I need to see what I can do to keep the temps down. Let me know your thoughts after reading the facts below.

Here are the facts

-Cooling system is stock (OEM AC Delco fan clutch, stock fan, stock shroud, Mopar thermostat, Napa water pump)
-Radiator is an autozone special. Plastic caps with a single aluminum core.
-Radiator cap is 13lbs but I will change to 16 though that won’t solve the problem.
-Once I’m off the highway below 50 mph my engine will start to cool down with AC on.
-Under load, the flap for the cowl air intake is open and dumping in hot air to the cab. If i let off the gas the flap closes and no air comes through, if i accelerate it opens. This doesn’t affect the engine temp but the cab temp.

I’m leaning towards getting a better radiator. As you can imagine, Phoenix has radiator shops so an all brass or even aluminum might be a good option.

The obvious answer is to not drive over 55 mph and not use the AC but that’s not an option for me. Too hot and too much sprawl in Phoenix to not drive on the highway.

~~~~~SOLVED~~~~~~July-28-2020

So I think I have this figured out and now I can drive down the interstate in July in Phoenix, with A/C on. Before I would overheat badly on the highway and couldn't use A/C. I can really tell my fan is pulling air and doing it's job after the radiator change. Here is a list of things done:

-195 Stant Superstat Thermostat
-Thermocure engine flush (twice)
-Mopar temp sending unit
-Flow Kooler water pump (old Napa was leaking)
-OEM Fan clutch from Collins Brothers
-Autozone Spectra Radiator (This is what ultimately changed things in the end)
-Removed winch (have not remounted to check if it overheats)

Things I tried that didn't work:
-OEM brass radiator from '87 YJ, rodded out at shop.
-New CSF three row, brass radiator. It did not work sadly.
-Napa fan clutch but I have not tried it with the new radiator. Might work fine.
-Removed winch at first but didn't fix issue, have not reinstalled.
-Tried 180F Stant Superstat, not a fix really but I could probably run cooler if reinstalled.
-Radiator caps replaced (16lb) but it was fine apparently.
-I had a wire in the lower radiator hose before but hose leaked. New hose is stiff and was told didn't need spring.
 
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#2 ·
I feel your pain im just south of you in Casa Grande. I put in a 3core aluminum radiator new fan clutch 180* stant and mine rides right around 210-215. Not really bad but im usually only at 65-70 for 10-15 minutes. I was thinking maybe because my winch has a center mounted solenoid that it was blocking a little to much air flow. I've thought about pulling the hood off and driving it to see if it helps not for long term but just to see if I need more air flow through the engine compartment.
 
#3 ·
I also have an M8274 mounted in front of my grille. I’m sure it is a factor. I thought about the Poison Spyder hood louver also.

A new radiator might not be a bad option if it keeps the temps around 210-215. I’m way past that now.


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#4 ·
I'd definitely get rid of that autozone radiator. I had one where the tank just split open on me on the trail, dumping all the coolant out. It was only two years old.



I also just had the issue where the fresh air vent was opening under load. Found that the vacuum check valve that's on the manifold was leaking. Got a new one at the parts store for seven bucks, swapped it out and now it stays closed.
 
#5 ·
Good call. I've had this radiator for a number of years. I'll pick up a new check valve at the very least.

Pics because you should. It was still climbing .



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#18 ·
I trust it in terms of accuracy, not precision. I'm not looking for the gauge to tell me when we are at 260F. I want to know when I need to shut the engine off so I don't tear it up. Which I think it does a good job of that. Of course, with my 195F Mopar thermostat, it appears to be opening before it hits 210 on the gauge so I'm happy with that. To beat a dead horse, I haven't had a reason not to trust is. My environment changed and using my AC did as well. So, if was faulty for the last 18 years I've owned it, I suspect I would have discovered it sooner. But I've also never lived i the desert before...

I'm with bolty. If you assume the gauge is accurate, get it to those temps and stop, let it idle and listen for boiling coolant in the overflow. If yes, then i would do the following:

1. Invest in a quality radiator. I was a proponent of AutoZone is good enough until my LJ autozone radiator cracked just like the image on this thread and dumped all my coolant on the 15 freeway at 65mph. I have settled on the Champio all aluminum radiator for the MJ build, and I think Chris has one in his YJ as well.

2. 16lb is dencent insurance.

3. check the block fluid for rust. if it is rusty beyond slight, Thermocure the system when you put the new rad on.

4. 185 tstat woud not be a bad move based upon where you live now.

5. no hood vents. do all that and see if it corrects the issue. if not, remove the winch temporarily to test it without to confirm it's an airflow issue. If you cant solve the airflow issue because you are keepig the winch no matter what, increase the flow rate of the coolant with a hi-flow impeller style water pump.
I agree about the hood vents. Heat is heat and it's still coming from the engine compartment.

I'm not luuca but I'm of the opinion that hood "vents" -while surely letting heat out while parked- don't change the amount of air traveling through the radiator at highway speeds one bit. I even suspect that hood vents on a YJ with the windshield up may impede flow at highway speeds.

#1 use an accurate measurement tool and confirm 240 at gauge is 240 for real

#2 a copper 3-row may rectify it

#3 get a fin comb and straighten the condenser fins

#4 that waterless coolant Jay Leno promotes: I don't know but I've read it let's go of heat more readily than glycol, and about the same as water

#5 if you're an automatic get a long, narrow 4-pass transmission cooler. Put it someplace that doesn't let its heat pass into the radiator. If you are set on using the radiator tank trans cooler run it through the passive cooler First before hitting the radiator.

#6 I'm not sure a 185 stat is a cure? By the time you hit 205/210 for real, a 195 (oem) is already quite past fully opened. So if you are /actually/ hitting 220+ you are gaining a btu load in excess of the btu dissipation capacity.

Insufficient btu dissipation that stabilizes like yours is showing / seeming to do is mostly one thing: the temperature differential of the cooling medium (air) to the substance being cooled (antifreeze) is insufficient. Increasing the flow of coolant /may/ help. But there is also the idea that if a coolant passes too quickly (high flow) it doesn't lose enough heat per given volume during the time of coolant contact. .

Increasing the flow of cooling medium (air) could potentially help but is hard to achieve in a jeep that already is "all in" air-flow-wise.
Increasing the surface area of contact is the most efficient and effective means of transferring heat, so the different, bigger radiator makes the most sense to me.
Good food for thought. The condenser is an aftermarket one from Jeepair and it's cheaply made. As in, the fins are far apart and it's new. I have no intention of replacing the $26 Mopar thermostat I put in a few years ago. Still does as it is designed to do. No automatic transmission so I'm good there. See my comment above about my gauge.

The last thing I'll try is removing my winch. Just to see what happens.

I have to agree, don't trust the gauge completely. I was also worried because my temps would climb high on really hot days to 230. I have an infrared thermometer and checked the temperature at the thermostat housing, and the top of the radiator where the hose goes into it. Despite the gauge reading ~230, my thermometer only read about 207. I don't know it it's the gauge that's off, or the aftermarket temp sensor is typical aftermarket garbage.
I may spend the money on a thermometer but the reality is it's overheating regardless of what it says. I would like to know the true temperature but at that point, I might as well replace the stock temp gauge.

As far as rehauling the cooling system...I did that a few years ago. I had a Taurus fan that was not cutting it. I have quality parts other than the radiator.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I am soaking it in.
 
#7 ·
I'm with bolty. If you assume the gauge is accurate, get it to those temps and stop, let it idle and listen for boiling coolant in the overflow. If yes, then i would do the following:

1. Invest in a quality radiator. I was a proponent of AutoZone is good enough until my LJ autozone radiator cracked just like the image on this thread and dumped all my coolant on the 15 freeway at 65mph. I have settled on the Champio all aluminum radiator for the MJ build, and I think Chris has one in his YJ as well.

2. 16lb is dencent insurance.

3. check the block fluid for rust. if it is rusty beyond slight, Thermocure the system when you put the new rad on.

4. 185 tstat woud not be a bad move based upon where you live now.

5. no hood vents. do all that and see if it corrects the issue. if not, remove the winch temporarily to test it without to confirm it's an airflow issue. If you cant solve the airflow issue because you are keepig the winch no matter what, increase the flow rate of the coolant with a hi-flow impeller style water pump.
 
#9 ·
I'm with bolty. If you assume the gauge is accurate, get it to those temps and stop, let it idle and listen for boiling coolant in the overflow. If yes, then i would do the following:

1. Invest in a quality radiator. I was a proponent of AutoZone is good enough until my LJ autozone radiator cracked just like the image on this thread and dumped all my coolant on the 15 freeway at 65mph. I have settled on the Champio all aluminum radiator for the MJ build, and I think Chris has one in his YJ as well.

2. 16lb is dencent insurance.

3. check the block fluid for rust. if it is rusty beyond slight, Thermocure the system when you put the new rad on.

4. 185 tstat woud not be a bad move based upon where you live now.

5. no hood vents. do all that and see if it corrects the issue. if not, remove the winch temporarily to test it without to confirm it's an airflow issue. If you cant solve the airflow issue because you are keepig the winch no matter what, increase the flow rate of the coolant with a hi-flow impeller style water pump.
Agreed w Luuca

Luuca why not a hood vent? Don't you want to let the hot air escape the bay?
Hood vents wont change block / eng temp... Just the surrounding accessory heat soaks / temps... But I like them...
 
#10 ·
I'm not luuca but I'm of the opinion that hood "vents" -while surely letting heat out while parked- don't change the amount of air traveling through the radiator at highway speeds one bit. I even suspect that hood vents on a YJ with the windshield up may impede flow at highway speeds.

#1 use an accurate measurement tool and confirm 240 at gauge is 240 for real

#2 a copper 3-row may rectify it

#3 get a fin comb and straighten the condenser fins

#4 that waterless coolant Jay Leno promotes: I don't know but I've read it let's go of heat more readily than glycol, and about the same as water

#5 if you're an automatic get a long, narrow 4-pass transmission cooler. Put it someplace that doesn't let its heat pass into the radiator. If you are set on using the radiator tank trans cooler run it through the passive cooler First before hitting the radiator.

#6 I'm not sure a 185 stat is a cure? By the time you hit 205/210 for real, a 195 (oem) is already quite past fully opened. So if you are /actually/ hitting 220+ you are gaining a btu load in excess of the btu dissipation capacity. The thing about 195-210-ish is that is the optimal design temperature range for this motor to run in. Some newish vehicles actually want 220 for fuel efficiency by if cooling is already struggling then there's absolutely no capacity to safely maintain that.

Insufficient btu dissipation that stabilizes like yours is showing / seeming to do is mostly one thing: the temperature differential of the cooling medium (air) to the substance being cooled (antifreeze) is insufficient. Increasing the flow of coolant /may/ help. But there is also the idea that if a coolant passes too quickly (high flow) it doesn't lose enough heat per given volume during the time of coolant contact. .

Increasing the flow of cooling medium (air) could potentially help but is hard to achieve in a jeep that already is "all in" air-flow-wise.
Increasing the surface area of contact is the most efficient and effective means of transferring heat, so the different, bigger radiator makes the most sense to me.
 
#11 ·
Very interesting thread


I have an aluminum 3 core radiator. I have an efan that is on a switch and can run forever. I have an auto transmission, with a trans cooler mounted on front of the radiator and also a center mounted winch.

My Temps this summer are ****, and we're just hitting 100 to 103. I ordered a 180 tstat and highway speeds still put me to 215. Around town I sit at a nice 170-180 degrees with the efan on.

Subbed for possible fixes...

Sent from my Mi MIX 2S using Tapatalk
 
#12 ·
I have to agree, don’t trust the gauge completely. I was also worried because my temps would climb high on really hot days to 230. I have an infrared thermometer and checked the temperature at the thermostat housing, and the top of the radiator where the hose goes into it. Despite the gauge reading ~230, my thermometer only read about 207. I don’t know it it’s the gauge that’s off, or the aftermarket temp sensor is typical aftermarket garbage.
 
#15 ·
I have to agree, don't trust the gauge - the gauge reading ~230, my thermometer only read about 207. I don't know it it's the gauge that's off, or the aftermarket temp sensor is typical aftermarket garbage.
The way the gauge works: a bad contact/connection can/will make the gauge run high. The sensor(s) are much more dependable than our ~25 year old gauge package.

Try a replacement radiator cap, your cap may be faulty and as a result not letting the cooling system pressurize properly.
This is partly true. If he was actually 230F with a bad cap, he'd be boiling over and/or steam locking.
The pressure cap actually lets you run 220-230 /without/ boiling. Even if it *may* need replacing it isn't the source of the issue.
 
#19 ·
Wow. Deja Vu. There was a thread almost exactly like this about ~10 years ago. Guy even said "take your winch off."

It's your radiator, bro. That single-row isn't gonna cut it. Replacing other parts is going to be throwing money at a tiger hoping it eats the paper instead of you.
 
#37 ·
Wow. Deja Vu. There was a thread almost exactly like this about ~10 years ago. Guy even said "take your winch off."

It's your radiator, bro. That single-row isn't gonna cut it. Replacing other parts is going to be throwing money at a tiger hoping it eats the paper instead of you.
I cant believe no one has said this yet but have you checked your fan clutch? I am sure your not the only YJ in pheonix. Your stock cooling system if working properly should keep your engine at proper temp even with the winch. So this happens at 55mph and over. If your fan is staying engaged and not free wheeling it can actually hinder air flow and the arizona heat has just made the problem show up. You might want to test and make sure your fan clutch isnt seized.
just throwing ideas out there ...
Does it come with a spot for beer with the ice?

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I think it's a "Two-fer".

I'll keep you guys posted. I may upgrade my radiator. Not in a hurry just yet, but I'll take any recommendations.

So far, I'll look into Chris' Champion aluminum.
 
#20 ·
I cant believe no one has said this yet but have you checked your fan clutch? I am sure your not the only YJ in pheonix. Your stock cooling system if working properly should keep your engine at proper temp even with the winch. So this happens at 55mph and over. If your fan is staying engaged and not free wheeling it can actually hinder air flow and the arizona heat has just made the problem show up. You might want to test and make sure your fan clutch isnt seized.
 
#21 ·
x1000!!!!

If you are not overheating while you are at lower speeds but see temp going up at higher speeds then you need to look at what is stopping the airflow. Anything above 30 MPH is going to force way more air into the radiator then a fan can. The most common screw up for an electric fan is to have it on at these speeds. It impedes airflow. The manual fan clutch should be the first thing to check if you are running hot at highway speeds but fine at slower speed for the same reason. If the clutch fails and the fan is always being turned you will run hot at highway speed.

Anything that sits in front of the radiator does push air away from the core and could cause you issues. That being said you should be able to compensate with the right radiator for the loss of area of cooling.

If you are running hot at idle too the common sense things to check as noted in previous post. Verify the reading on the temp gauge against the resistance of the sensor to make sure you get the same thing. No special tool needed just a meter.

Everyone should backflush the system as maintenance every few years. Its an iron block and crud happens.

I also disagree with the tstat not being a good thing to look at. It has failed us all at one point or another and the lower setting on the tstat does allow the cooling from the radiator to start at a lower temp making it a little more effective but that is more relevant to idle temp issues then highway speed.

Good call Siva.
 
#22 ·
Cutting holes in the hood. Really?
Same as removing the hood. When have you seen a factory vehicle driving around with no hood?

The auto zone radiator doesn't have enough cooling capacity.
The same goes for electric fans. They move roughly 1/2 the air of the belt driven metal bladed fan the engineers installed.

The stock metal fan with deeply pitched blades moves a hell of a lot of air. It can't be matched by an electric fan.
Moving air requires energy. To match the stock fan, you'd need at least a two horsepower electric motor. Imagine the size alternator you'd need for that! Yes, you can probably get away with an electric fan in Minnesota or while rock crawling of trail riding.
But the desert is unforgiving. If will find the shortcomings in any cooling system.

So you need a higher capacity radiator. I have the equivalent of the Champion 3 core and a fresh NOS fan clutch.

Why the freeway?
Because horsepower = heat and high speeds require one thing, horsepower.
No Jeep activities come close to the constant horsepower (heat) demands of freeway driving.
But so much air is blowing on the radiator?
Yeah and much of it isn't making it through. The radiator itself blocks most of the air, winch or no winch. Not much air is actually making it through the radiator.
So the engineers installed an aggressive fan clutch and a metal fan with heavily pitched blades. That's why it takes a couple horsepower to drive the fan. The engineers deemed it necessary.

I see manufacturers hot weather testing almost every day. They take the same route to Death Valley for testing as I take to work.
They rent Uhaul trailers and install water tanks for ballast. They block the grills off. They ride behind Las Vegas buses for hours so the vehicle being tested gets only hot air wash in addition to the desert heat.
They pull the Davis Dam incline over and over again trying to overheat the engine.

When they are done, you can pick up a new car or truck and drive it anywhere without concern that it will overheat.

Then, 20 years later, we start replacing parts with crap or re-designing the cooling system that was carefully planned and evaluated.
We decide that an electric fan will work. We hook it up and hold our hand behind it and think, "man, that's feels like a lot of air!"
We did no mathematical calculations. We did no wind tunnel testing. We only "felt" the air blowing and decided it was enough. :laugh:

Don't bring your Jeep here if the radiator has plastic tanks and expect it to perform well. Everything about our cooling system was designed for an all copper and brass radiator of a certain capacity. The water pump, fan, cooling passages, everything is/was a balanced system.

Don't know how much good removing the hood will do, Jeep engines are liquid cooled, not air cooled. They have no cooling fins like a Briggs And Stratton. And if you have a stock cooling system, you already have over 4000 cfpm of air washing through under the hood.

I'm only getting started...
 
#23 ·
Chris I hate to disagree. The mechanical fan is limited by rpm. No matter what pitch you have the speed cant be any more then the engine is turning. The electric fan does not have the same constraint. Its capable of offering way more cooling because its not tied to the engine. This is the reason most people running classic big blocks in cruise traffic add the electric fan. You can always tell the ones who have not, they will be the ones on the side of the road overheating. You can go to the classic car forums and look up the Lincoln fan mod. Its popular there as well as on the strip cars because they can be turned off. If you look at any of the later designs the AC systems installed required the install of supplemental electric fans to move the air with the additional heat load. The capacity to move air is important and again I disagree with the assumption of the amount of air an electric fan can move. At high speed an electric fan can move 3000 + CFM easily(The Lincoln fan). Better yet the newer design is pulse width modulated to the rate can be matched to the cooling needs exactly.

Speaking of newer designs. Nothing comes with mechanical fans anymore. They are just not as efficient. Granted you have a chance to design a cooling system around the new car but with modern cars being so weight conscious and worried about getting up to and maintaining the temp for emissions in such a tight tolerance range I would guarantee that if it were truly advantageous the competition would force the change. I work about 100 Yards from the people that set the vehicles up and conduct the hot trips and cold trips. I think the closest Ive seen in our new vehicles is the hydraulic fan which is for the heavy duties running off of the power steering but thats another story.

At speeds above 30 Mph there is no fan mechanical or electrical that's going to put move pressure on a radiator. The drag coefficient is directly proportional to speed. As the drag coefficient goes up the force on the front vs. the inside goes up. This pressure exceeds anything a mechanical or electrical fan is capable of generating. The difference in pressure in front and behind the radiator becomes the limiting factor in how much air you move and anything in the airflow that limits the development of the lower pressure behind the radiator reduces the airflow. That is why the electric fans and the clutch driven mechanical fans freewheel to match airspeed flowing across the rad at higher speeds. If they stay engaged they lower the pressure on the back of the radiator and reduce the airflow.

As far as the cuts to allow airflow to exit the flow of air should be sufficient because there should always be lower pressure behind the radiator in the engine compartment and underneath to draft the hot air away. In the newer cars you will note that its become common to shield the bottom. This is because the amount of air drafted is too great and stops the car from warming up quickly. So now air management is used with shutters that open at lower speeds and close at higher speeds to manage the pressure across the radiator.

That being said I am aware of cooling issues where thermal issues because of bad air management have occurred. You can go to the TJ forum and there are many who opened the hood vents because of some design issues. The hood louvers lowers the engine compartment temp dealing with some who think they are getting issues with fuel being too hot and causing it to vapor lock. (I've heard not seen this so its second hand) I haven't heard of those issue with the YJ but the design similarity of the bodies would lend me to believe that the YJ would be any different but again the louvers or hood removal would lower the compartment temp but NOT the engine temp.

You have coolant flow, airflow, and the heat exchange in the radiator. If you move the coolant too fast and the radiator surface area doesn't have enough time to pull the heat moving more coolant doesn't matter. If a radiator is bigger and doesnt allow the coolant the air to flow across the fins to exchange the heat it doesnt matter.

My rant is done. The Jeep was designed with a mechanical fan. Its sufficient for the original capacity to cool it. It was also originally designed with a carb and a horrendous emissions control setup. Tech advances were made. I dont think its a mistake most people that have a choice upgrade.

My .02
 
#25 ·
I’m at work and will chime in with more detail but some things about my Jeep.

My fan clutch is an OEM from a part out. The past 5 Hayden clutches were garbage and failed. I know a bad fan clutch and I’m 90% sure mine is good. I understand how they work and when it should lock up. No it’s not leaking at the front where

I replaced the t-stat with a Mopar about 3-4 years ago. Before it was Autozone specials.

My coolant is 50/50 premix, no hose water.

My water pump is a new (not reman) Napa replaced with t-stat.

Radiator is the 4th or 5th I’ve had and it’s Autozone brand.

Sorry if I missed some comments.

I appreciate the healthy discussion and I’m leaning towards a quality radiator.



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#26 ·
I'm at work and will chime in with more detail but some things about my Jeep.

My fan clutch is an OEM from a part out. The past 5 Hayden clutches were garbage and failed. I know a bad fan clutch and I'm 90% sure mine is good. I understand how they work and when it should lock up. No it's not leaking at the front where

I replaced the t-stat with a Mopar about 3-4 years ago. Before it was Autozone specials.

My coolant is 50/50 premix, no hose water.

My water pump is a new (not reman) Napa replaced with t-stat.

Radiator is the 4th or 5th I've had and it's Autozone brand.

Sorry if I missed some comments.

I appreciate the healthy discussion and I'm leaning towards a quality radiator.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Have you had issues over the last 4 years? How fast did it come on?

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#32 ·
If the fan clutch fluid isn't leaking, most likely it's ok. Look at the bi-metal spring in front and see if it is covered with dirt. If it is, the oily internal fluid is leaking and it's trash. If the spring is clean (relatively) it's not leaking. That's how most clutches go, they develop a leak and it loses the viscous fluid.
You may need a mirror to see the spring.

Horsepower IS heat. No kind of driving makes more demands on the cooling system as going fast.

The fan clutch is calibrated to run percentages of shaft speed. The speed is determined by the bi-metal spring. When it get's hot, it expands, lengthens, and opens a valve allowing the viscous fluid (by way of centrifugal force) to increase the fan speed.

I don't think it's your fan clutch, I think it's a radiator capacity issue.
 
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#34 ·
Its funny to sit here and read all the very very in depth knowledge ( not saying that you aren't knowledgeable) of how his system is this and its that. I myself have a new Champion 3 core aluminum radiator, bought June of 2018, a 180 thermostat, brand new Hayden fan clutch, new 50/50 mix antifreeze, new hoses, and the system flushed and block drained when doing the flush, a 8000lb Champion winch (came with the jeep) and A/C. When running the A/C your condenser produces heat which in turn is in front of the radiator and the hot air that flows off of it goes directly into the radiator. Kind of like preheat in a oven. The jeeps when test driven by the factory do not have over sized tires on them or winches in front of the radiator. Therefore if you have larger tires a larger amount of drag is created in the rolling resistance of the vehicle which creates more energy/horsepower to keep it rolling at a higher speed and over time it creates more heat. I think what he was looking for was some help on what might be the root cause of the problem not a freekin physics class. My jeep runs close to the same temps as his. It gets fing hot here and I know it does in Vegas ive been there many times. Done with my rant...Just sayin
 
#36 ·
Its funny to sit here and read a freekin physics class.
/f12 IS an engineering class 🙂

que, jeeperdon, meanmax, chris, mark/florida luuca jsawduste et al to name have taught me a great deal and that's why I ask questions like to Q above- to learn. My Jeep is an engineering exercise and is not the only thing I've built. And hopefully not the last thing I build. Louie's pretty sharp on stuff too.

You've just raised some great engineering ponderings yourself. I think this thread has been great! This is, after all, The YJ Technical Forum
 
#38 ·
Radiator hose that's collapsed internally? Is the thermostat actually working properly, may be clogged up for some reason and stuck I've had that happen. If you shine a flashlight through the radiator and condenser fins can you see through? May be caked in dirt & grime, hard to really pinpoint the issue without the vehicle in front of us, but the way I understand it once you are cruising on the highway there's plenty of airflow that the fan doesn't matter that's mostly important when you are sitting still or driving slowly like city traffic type driving conditions.
 
#39 ·
Hoses are new enough and I put a coiled welding rod in the lower one to keep it from collapsing. Condenser is new and cheap. The fins are far apart with no dirt in them. Thermostat is relatively new as well as the other components.

I feel like my radiator is not able to transfer the heat effectively but it's just a guess at this point. I'll open up the radiator and look around.

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