This should work for you.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000CO93HU/?tag=wranglerorg-20
Dorman also makes a brass version FWIW.
Heater core recommendation?
- Thread starter Chris Kelley
- Start date
This should work for you.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000CO93HU/?tag=wranglerorg-20
Dorman also makes a brass version FWIW.
For those of you with the brassworks, did you get them before or after they upgraded from 11 to 20 fins per inch because of complaints about low heat levels?
Interestingly they only have that caveat for that year range, not for older models or RHD versions.
I saw this as well. Does anyone know when this change was made and if anyone has tried the upgraded one?
AdelaideTJ
Member
Picking up an old thread, but a new member here from Aus and looking at replacement heater cores. Parts are quite a bit harder to come by here, so the Brassworks radiator has great appeal, especially given they manufacture radiators for 03-06 TJs with RHD.
I am curious about the average heating concerns people have mentioned and I wondered how average are we talking here?
Australia doesn't get nearly as cold as some places in the US, especially where I am in Adelaide. Our coldest temp on record is 31°F (-0.5°C). 41°F (5°C) is pretty chilly here for winter and about the worst I'd expect to fight against. Our average winter temps are 8 - 16°C (46.5 - 60.8°F).
I am curious about the average heating concerns people have mentioned and I wondered how average are we talking here?
Australia doesn't get nearly as cold as some places in the US, especially where I am in Adelaide. Our coldest temp on record is 31°F (-0.5°C). 41°F (5°C) is pretty chilly here for winter and about the worst I'd expect to fight against. Our average winter temps are 8 - 16°C (46.5 - 60.8°F).
Kenneth G Zinis
TJ Enthusiast
I am curious too, because heater on TJ may be the sole reason for global warming.
Less heat could mean that heat went down to normal levels like in all other cars.
AdelaideTJ
Member
So the OEM heaters are super hot? I bought my TJ with a bypass, so I suspect the core was leaking, and I have no frame of reference for how hot it should be. I suppose I am wondering if the Brassworks will be no problem in our winters and people's concerns relate to heating in below freezing temperatures.
It also seems that Brassworks have improved their design and number of radiator fins per inch, so hopefully they are more effective now.
Digging this one up as I thought some of you might want to know, but it looks like brass works has added an "arctic environments" option on their heater cores which takes it up to 20FPI. Otherwise it's 15FPI. Might be something to look into for those of you who were having issues getting enough heat. Im curious about this core as I'm sure these will be discontinued at some point
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To me this is just 'lipstick on a pig.' The one I bought has an upper tank that does not have a complete baffle between the inlet and outlet core tubes. So water just goes in the inlet and immediately back out the outlet without going through the core. I would suspect that this is a design flaw that causes the poor heat output — not some gimmicky "fin count."
I just can't recommend this company, based on my experience with them. Extremely dismissive with my concerns about low heat output, and after installing it a second time it developed a leak. The new fin count is highly unlikely to make any difference. Based on my unit this is a poor design.
Heater core in my '05 LJ replaced April 11th with core from performance radiator. Heat output seems adequate, not overwhelming. Time tells all tales. I'll report back here if it goes bad; otherwise, no news is good news.
joniki
TJ Enthusiast
When changing out the heater core, buy a pair of radiator hose pinch pliers. It saves you from having to burp the system and also saves you a mess.
https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=radiator hose pliers
https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=radiator hose pliers
Well if this isn't the most discouraging thread on WTJF.
I've periodically gotten whiffs of coolant that I was usually able to blame on the overflow since I'm almost always driving without windows, but this morning I started up and immediately smelled it, before there would have been any time for air to make it from the engine compartment to my nose. Combined with slowly disappearing coolant...pretty sure my heater core is on borrowed time.
Just read through 6 pages of this and honestly have no idea what to do, other than bypass it and deal with it next winter. I have a wheeling trip in Colorado in August where heat would be nice but losing my coolant would be very much not nice.
Being that this has probably been going on since I bought it in 2020, my seeping heater core could very well outlast one from Performance Radiator, while heating better than a Brassworks, so I'm not even sure replacing it with the current options would even make me trust it any more than I do.
I've periodically gotten whiffs of coolant that I was usually able to blame on the overflow since I'm almost always driving without windows, but this morning I started up and immediately smelled it, before there would have been any time for air to make it from the engine compartment to my nose. Combined with slowly disappearing coolant...pretty sure my heater core is on borrowed time.
Just read through 6 pages of this and honestly have no idea what to do, other than bypass it and deal with it next winter. I have a wheeling trip in Colorado in August where heat would be nice but losing my coolant would be very much not nice.
Being that this has probably been going on since I bought it in 2020, my seeping heater core could very well outlast one from Performance Radiator, while heating better than a Brassworks, so I'm not even sure replacing it with the current options would even make me trust it any more than I do.
This job really isn't as bad as the internet makes it out to be. Is it fun, no. Is it that bad, no. Took me a few nights doing this after work.
I had a shop pull down the ac then recharge when I was done all for less than $150.
I replaced my evaporator while I was in there since this one was about 20 years old.
No issues with my performance radiator yet. Just about every specialty radiator shop in my town recommended performance radiator for this. Everything works like it should so far. If this heater core leaks again one day I'll just replace it again.
MountaineerTom
LJ Enthusiast, Retired USAF Weapons Loader
Supporting Member
Ride of the Month Winner
Just some info, maybe useless. I've seen some posts where people got a Performance Radiator heater core that they said was branded as Reach. I've never heard of that brand but did notice that is one of the brands NAPA sells for the later years TJ heater cores.
Don’t let stories scare you. It’s really an easy repair. No need to remove the steering wheel….just use ratchet straps to hold the dash off. I had the HVAC box out in about 1 hr. With cleaning the box, repairing a door, replacing the evaporator and heater core, and reinstalling it….it was about a 5 hr job. I charged the AC myself after pulling a vacuum on it. AC is ice cold and heat is nice and hot. I got the heater core from Rock Auto
Cannot comment on longevity of a performance rad heater core yet, but warms up my hole filled cab great. Before replacing mine I had never torn apart a dash nevermind doing a heater core. Took me 4 hrs and was very simple. I keep a heater core hose connector on hand for longer drives in case of a failure, cheap insurance.