2006 TJ Hood Heat Reduction

Joined
May 18, 2023
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Location
Metairie, Louisiana
Most important issue for the 2006 TJ is the overheating as soon as the outdoor temperatures start hitting the 80s.
Venting / Louvering has been covered thoroughly for the 1997 TJ, but not for the 2006.

The locations for the 1997 heat zone areas seem to be best vented based upon positioning by using the GenRight Off Road hood louvers.
I have not found a full center vent louver panel that takes these zones into account (excluding separate side top vents) along with the major central area, meaning the back section has been excluded just seemingly just to preserve the wind shield bumpers, which I do not care about & never intend to use; I care about bringing down temperatures, preserving wire shielding & plastics under the hood, and making the A/C run superbly. To that end, the first step in even 80something degree heat outside turning into 111 or more under the hood is to vent the heat... The large center vent doesn't seem the utilize the back (close to the wind shield area) & out to the back(wind shield)sides of the center area.
Is there a large center vent that covers the areas I am describing? Most of the ones that I have seen do not.

If you know of one that maximizes vents in the areas closer to the wind shield side along with the main front and center areas, please advise.
I plan to use the side GenRight Off Road top of hood louvers along with a large center option if I can find one to my standards ( :
 
Agreed, here in AZ, I NEVER had a cooling problem unless substandard parts were installed into a Jeep I bought … ice cold AC is easily achieved on even a tired old Jeep.

HOWEVER! Plastics do take a beating. Nearly ALL my wire loom has disintegrated (another project on the list) but may have to do with quality as my 50 year old corvette still has pliable wire loom from the factory.
 
Clean (chemical flush) out the cooling system first. Hood vents won't lower actual engine temps.

Won’t change the cooling system coolant temps … I’m sure the exterior metal will be cooler , but not sure that important either, except the intake manifold , the rest of the engine couldn’t care less.
 
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Doesn't rain in LA.

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X2. Not to mention all the electrical connectors around the engine get soaked if a Jeep with hood louvres is parked in the rain.

You used to remind everyone that the underside of the engine compartment is completely open to the elements and will get wet when the Jeep is driven in the rain.
 

Up until a couple weeks ago here in Oceanside, CA it rained some time every week for a couple of months and they weren't gentle rains. One caused a sink hole that closed the 78 freeway for more than a month and turned the roads into a pot hole paradise that ate tires and suspensions. People were trapped by snow in the mountains with some deaths. Think somebody wrote a song about rain in SoCal and NorCal got it worse.
 
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As a couple other guys have already said, louvers will do nothing to keep engine temps down. A properly maintained cooling system will, with QUALITY components, keep your Jeeps engine at the appropriate 210 degrees. This means generally a MOPAR radiator since there hasn't been any other radiator constantly proven capable of doing the job, though many have tried. If you can't get MOPAR, some have suggested that a Denso or Nissan will work, but there haven't been enough long term test to prove that out. Do NOT install an "all aluminum" rad, or one advertising "3 rows for better cooling" as these simply don't work.
If the rad is good, and the water pump and fan clutch are working properly, you should be fine.
Now as to your other concern on keeping underhood temps down, louvers do seem to help. I have a set of the GenRight Long Narrow louvers on my Jeep, and though that wasn't my primary reason for them, they work well to do so. The left one is right over the exhaust, and the right one mirrors it. I figure that since heat rises, the place for louvers is as high as you can get them, and the hood is it. Having the one over the exhaust gives the best chance to vent the most heat that it can. I don't see a need for anything more than that. I won't say that GenRight is wrong about their conclusions on under hood temperature ranges, but they ARE in the business of selling hood louvers.
There are several manufacturers that make louvers that take up most of the hood, but I don't think that they help under hood temps any more than the set I have, and again they do NOT help with engine temps.
 
As a couple other guys have already said, louvers will do nothing to keep engine temps down. A properly maintained cooling system will, with QUALITY components, keep your Jeeps engine at the appropriate 210 degrees. This means generally a MOPAR radiator since there hasn't been any other radiator constantly proven capable of doing the job, though many have tried. If you can't get MOPAR, some have suggested that a Denso or Nissan will work, but there haven't been enough long term test to prove that out. Do NOT install an "all aluminum" rad, or one advertising "3 rows for better cooling" as these simply don't work.
If the rad is good, and the water pump and fan clutch are working properly, you should be fine.
Now as to your other concern on keeping underhood temps down, louvers do seem to help. I have a set of the GenRight Long Narrow louvers on my Jeep, and though that wasn't my primary reason for them, they work well to do so. The left one is right over the exhaust, and the right one mirrors it. I figure that since heat rises, the place for louvers is as high as you can get them, and the hood is it. Having the one over the exhaust gives the best chance to vent the most heat that it can. I don't see a need for anything more than that. I won't say that GenRight is wrong about their conclusions on under hood temperature ranges, but they ARE in the business of selling hood louvers.
There are several manufacturers that make louvers that take up most of the hood, but I don't think that they help under hood temps any more than the set I have, and again they do NOT help with engine temps.

I might add a disclaimer to your “all aluminum” statement … generally they’re crap and not an optimized solution, they both look cobbled and they’re technically cobbled solutions … HOWEVER! I have nothing but great things to say about cold case and my summer Jeep … even in stop and go traffic in the heat I never even hear the fan clutch lock up. Remember the fan clutch responds to the radiator temperature as its the core heat causing the fan clutch to lock up. The end tanks are pressed, so they don’t look like they’re built by a carpenter. And they’re only a dual 1” core, stock was a single 1.25”. 16 rows per inch like stock, so each core offers same cooling density …

I have only a few months on my cold case so far, but I’ll report if it takes a crap on me.

PS: Yes I’ve tried a stock MOPAR.
 
I have only a few months on my cold case so far, but I’ll report if it takes a crap on me.

PS: Yes I’ve tried a stock MOPAR.
Let me rephrase it then, all aluminum rads work, but they RARELY last more than a few months to MAYBE a year before they give out and start leaking. There are exceptions to this, but they are few and far between, and are usually more high dollar than even an increasingly rare Mopar unit.
 
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Let me rephrase it then, all aluminum rads work, but they RARELY last more than a few months to MAYBE a year before they give out and start leaking. There are exceptions to this, but they are few and far between, and are usually more high dollar than even an increasingly rare Mopar unit.

Have we actually identified these high dollar exceptions that preform as well as the Mopar radiator?
 
Let me rephrase it then, all aluminum rads work, but they RARELY last more than a few months to MAYBE a year before they give out and start leaking. There are exceptions to this, but they are few and far between, and are usually more high dollar than even an increasingly rare Mopar unit.

Speculation … but plastic stapled to aluminum is getting old. I’ve replaced a lot of these radiators … I have high hopes for this cold case … time will tell.
 
Speculation … but plastic stapled to aluminum is getting old. I’ve replaced a lot of these radiators … I have high hopes for this cold case … time will tell.

You're tired of replacing Mopar radiators every 100k miles?
 
Have we actually identified these high dollar exceptions that preform as well as the Mopar radiator?

I was thinking the same. I’d pay DOUBLE Mopar for a radiator that lasts like an old brass radiator. Yes I said it!

My corvette is rolling on a 45 year old brass. My previous corvette, same and the one before that! I am a serial TJ and C3 corvette owner … I never needed to replace a corvette radiator, I did upgrade tho… but on a TJ/LJ they’ve ALL been replaced, sometimes more than once. I did one time buy a brass CSF Heavy duty 3 row (I think it was 3, maybe 4, remember brass rows are different) and it was GREAT! Lasted the full 4 years of daily driving BUT! Even as big as that sucker was, it did run a bit warm, never overheat but it spent more time near the ‘0’ of 210 with AC on and wheeling in the desert.