You may remember from a previous post, Guess Where I Am, that we had the Jeep into the dealership for some scheduled maintenance in preparation for our upcoming road trip. During that visit, they were unable to find a coolant leak, and shortly after that visit, the check engine light came on indicating a problem with the thermostat. Clearly, the whole cooling system was going to need some attention.
Given an unjustified sense of confidence and a strong aversion to throwing more money toward our dubious local Jeep dealership, I decided this was a project I could tackle myself. To be fair, I did reach out to the shop to get a quote. It was going to be “about” $1200, but the replacement radiator was back ordered with an expected availability “sometimes in June.” Decision made.
I ordered an aftermarket “exact fit” radiator from Summit Racing, along with a new thermostat and the radiator hoses. The radiator turned out to be more of an “almost exact fit,” but more on that in a bit.
Carrigan’s boyfriend, Travis, volunteered to help with the operation. This turned out to be extremely helpful as there were several steps in the process that definitely required more than two hands. It also provided a great scapegoat for any issues that would inevitably pop up along the way. [As a side note, Carrigan and Travis will be joining us for a week in Alaska, so Travis has a vested interest in making sure the Jeep makes it at least that far.]
Armed with our entire arsenal of tools, and knowledge gleaned from several YouTube videos we were ready to tear into it. Like most Jeep projects the first step was to remove several layers of stuff to get to the cooling system. Then it was time to drain the existing radiator.
We opened the little drain valve on the bottom of the radiator, technically known as the petcock, and absolutely nothing happened. A quick attack to the plastic bottom of the radiator with a cordless drill liberated the coolant in a torrent - down the drill, my arm, and the side of my head. Fortunately, Travis was quick on the draw and slid a catch pan under the stream of coolant and we managed to catch most, well some, of it. We were now officially beyond the point of no return. And I was really hoping the new radiator actually was going to work.
To remove the existing radiator, you have to remove the front grill. In the YouTube video, the grill is just held in place with some plastic fasteners. On our vehicle, the grill is also held in place by a winch, which is very firmly attached to the vehicle frame and bumper. At this point, I introduced Travis to some creative techniques involving a pry bar and hack saw, and a few choice words. The sort of stuff you won’t learn on YouTube.
From there we were able to wrangle the old out and the new in. The new Griffin radiator from Summit is a work of art compared to the original unit. It is 100% aluminum construction, unlike the original which has many plastic parts. One of the plastic parts is what failed causing the leak. And the new radiator was almost an exact fit. It was missing the mounting location for one bracket - but that turned out to be a non-issue.
Fortunately, everything was tight, and no leaks! Unfortunately, the engine was running hot. Really hot. "Shit. Way to go, Travis!" I won’t go into the drawn-out diagnosis, but ultimately, we figured out that the replacement thermostat was bad, right out of the box! At least the problem wasn’t with the new radiator. New thermostat and we are now running nice and cool.
On a scale from “easy” to “nope,” I would definitely rate this project a solid “you probably shouldn’t.” There were a few times when I thought, “maybe the dealer shop rate isn’t all that bad.” But for us, the big upside is knowing how everything comes apart and goes back together should we need to do any sort of emergency roadside repairs. Fingers crossed that we don’t need to use that knowledge!
Below the Line
Tools that Saved the Day
These hose clamp pliers made pretty easy work of the original equipment hose clamps. Would highly recommend it if you are going to tackle any cooling system projects.
This "spill-proof" funnel makes filling and bleeding the cooling system relatively painless. I can, however, verify that you can still manage to spill quite a bit of coolant out of one of these. But that is no fault of the funnel!
Disclaimer. This post is for entertainment purposes only. I am in no way suggesting you should tackle a project like this on your own. If fact, you probably shouldn't. Support your local mechanic. They need to eat too.
Soooo…how long did it take??