Backordered Radiator
- Thread starter Jeep Dude
- Start date
Fortzen1305
Member
I got one off Amazon last year. You may also check your surrounding area to see if there are places that can recondition your current one. Those still exist in some areas and are most times cheaper than buying a new one.
If it's not leaking then replacing the radiator doesn't always help the temps. You might research that a bit. If you can't find Mopar any stock style will be fine with the plastic tanks and aluminum core. Just don't go all aluminum or brass multi-core. The Mopar doesn't cool better (than other factory style replacements), it just lasts longer.
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I have a used one from a manual if you’re interested. Has 58k on it and doesn’t leak. I swapped to an auto, so I needed a radiator with the auto cooler.
Thanks Jamison, I think I have one secured from Radiator.com. They have a warehouse 14 miles from my house. Its not a mopar but it is suppose to be a direct fit and OEM style.
I got one from 1800 radiator last week, a koyorad.
It was recommended to me from a jeep dealership/parts dept, since mopar was beyond 45 days+.
So far so good, seems to run cooler than my previous auto zone radiator.
208 degrees vs 215 with the cheap one.
*note... I changed out the water pump and thermostat, which may skew the data.
** data gathered by ultraguage plugged into pcm.
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I compared an aftermarket to Mopar side by side in 2018 and found that statement to be false. The aftermarket radiator had about 30% less surface in both fin and tube, making it impossible to have the same heat transfer capability. The findings aligned with the fact that my TJ regularly reached 235 with the aftermarket radiator and I never saw past 208 again with the Mopar. And before you ask, no there were not confounding variables present because I replaced the entire cooling system one piece at a time in my stubbornness thinking there was no way my fairly new aftermarket radiator was the source of my heat problem.
I've never thought of a sample size of one being valid. Who knows what you might have missed, chemical flush, radiator had a manufacturing defect? It's possible if you ran your Mopar radiator in Death Valley conditions you'd overheat and wonder what you missed, maybe not?
Mopar radiators and all TJ specific parts are going away. It's helpful to have options that work. Not all of us are going to throw up our hands and sell their Jeeps when these parts aren't available anymore. It would be helpful to know the exact aftermarket radiator you ran and had issues with. Obviously if somebody else doesn't have issues with that exact part we know it was just some specific deal with your Jeep or one radiator.
A good number of TJs on the road are running aftermarket parts store radiators at this point. The majority of owners are't members here, they don't research every part they put on. A good number of members here are also are running aftermarket because they couldn't find or didn't want to spend on Mopar when theirs blew.
I don't consider 20% fewer tubes and 25% fewer fins would fall under manufacturing defect, more like disregarding OE specifications to provide a product that will sell at the lowest possible cost. I can't speak to every aftermarket manufacturer, but since I don't know what brand that one was, I don't know which ones are good without buying one of each, which I'm not gonna do until the Mopar really isn't available and I have to have one. Or I might just design one and have it built at the HVAC manufacturer for which I'm the Principal Engineer and former director of heat exchanger engineering and design...
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Looks like Fiat is moving away from the current Mopar manufacturer to magneti marelli for our radiators. Wonder what that means for quality and longevity?
I would expect at least that the tube count and fin density would remain the same or equivalent. Who knows about longevity.
Looks like are being discontinued at this point. That’s what I was told by my local dealer.
not good.
All the mopar sources I find on google say the same, RockAuto has a price of nearly $500. Hopefully it's just temporary until they move over to a new manufacturer, but it's Chrysler so we're probably screwed as usual.
I've said this before and I'll say it again, but F**k MOPAR/CHRYSLER whoever for their disinterest in supporting their vehicles after the sale. Whether it's discontinuing important parts or just leaving us high and dry with their $#!+ engineering issues, it's bad enough to be the singular reason that if there was anything remotely comparable to a TJ in existence, I would own that instead. I can still get a genuine Toyota radiator for a 1986 4Runner. But for a 2006 TJ, Mopar gives us a middle finger.
I bought a radiator from Radiator Barn years ago and it's still in my Jeep. Never hand an issue.
Of course, now that I said that, I'll have issues....
Of course, now that I said that, I'll have issues....