Radiator Leak... Need replacement recommendation

Perhaps Mrblaine could answer this.
A common practice growing up and still to this day, as my vehicle cooling systems would start to age and develop a persistent leak,
I would reduce the poundage on the radiator cap which was very effective on my older vehicles.
My only theory was that this reduced the pressure in the cooling system which in return stopped a small leak.
Is this not a good practice as it does appear to prolong the life of the radiator.
My TJ sits with a 13lb cap on a 13yr old radiator.
As stated, lowering the pressure lowers the boiling point. If you can get away with that, it is likely that you live in an area that doesn't stress the system much. Or you have a rig that doesn't. The AC swap that caused the overheat I mentioned above was a manual rig with no AC and the owner had no issues with his compromised system. Subpar radiator, muddy coolant, and I'm not sure that what was in the radiator was even anything but water. The thermostat housing has corrosion under the end of the hose and had swelled the hose so much I had to replace it because it was over 1/8" too large to fit the neck on the new housing. When I say muddy, there was a lot of sediment and the "coolant" was rusty colored and even after the 3 day drive around flush, the inside of the block could have used another drive around flush.
 
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Just to throw this out here, my 98 Sahara had the factory radiator in it until december 2016. 18 years on a factory radiator that the previous owner never flushed is pretty good. Sadly for now I have an aftermarket radiator in it as it happened on a trip where chrysler was closed and autozone was open. I have 20k miles on my current aftermarket radiator and only time will tell how well it fairs. Listen to whats being said here, there is some quality information.
 
Man oh man... Got a PM from the OP (Original Poster). He said he's leaving the forum because he's tried of so called "experts" thinking that the only experts in the world exist on this forum.

Oh well... Sad to see him go, but some people are too sensitive for the internet.
 
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Man oh man... Got a PM from the OP (Original Poster). He said he's leaving the forum because he's tried of so called "experts" thinking that the only experts in the world exist on this forum.

Oh well... Sad to see him go, but some people are too sensitive for the internet.

Seriously? Wow!
 
Man oh man... Got a PM from the OP (Original Poster). He said he's leaving the forum because he's tried of so called "experts" thinking that the only experts in the world exist on this forum.

Oh well... Sad to see him go, but some people are too sensitive for the internet.
Which is really odd, as the OP went with the OEM radiator, as so many of the 'experts' recommended...
 
Which is really odd, as the OP went with the OEM radiator, as so many of the 'experts' recommended...

I've read so many threads over the years on those aluminum radiators. The one thing I always seem to come back to is that they tend to leak around the seams due to really poor welding. Obviously that's not to say you couldn't get one that has good welds, but when the stock OE radiator is guaranteed to last over 10+ years, why not just stick with something that is proven to work?

The OP made a good choice by going OE. Let's also not forget that purchasing OE parts probably gives the guys at FCA some incentive to keep making parts for our TJs for longer. If we stop buying the parts altogether, maybe not so much?
 
Whoa.... this thread got interesting during my time away finishing the re-installation.

Replaced the:
- Thermostat & Gasket
- Water Pump & Gasket
- Serpentine Belt
- Upper and lower radiator hose
- And yes, I went with an OEM "Mopar" replacement..

Everything went in fairly easy, bolt in was PnP; one tip i followed, was pre-tapping the holes for the fan shroud. Made life easy finger starting the bolts. Made sure I torqued the bolts to spec; dont need the mis-hap I had in the past.. hehehe
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Before pouring in coolant; pre-pressure tested the system for any leaks; all good!!

Slowly topped off the radiator as the vehicle warmed up, which hopefully burped all the air out.

Test drove it to work Monday, then to my smog buddy... this girl is ready for the weekend!!
 
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It did get interesting indeed! @TJ John got so offended that he left the forum because of it... Whoa!

Anyways, glad you TJ is leak free and running good!
 
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