This
write up will
show you the basic steps of
the replacement of a radiator in a 95 YJ with the six cylinder engine.
The process is very simple and probably the most time consuming part is
draining and refilling the anitfreeze. This would also be a very good
time to replace the upper and lower radiator hoses if they need to be
replaced.
I bought my radiator from
Radiatorbarn.com for
only $147 with free shipping as of 3/04. It was the best price that I
could find. Autozone
wanted $300 and they didn't even have it in stock. The three row was
only $30 more.
To
begin, you of course need to drain the antifreeze in the old
radiator that is if you still have any considering you're replacing the
radiator which could only mean that it's leaking. The
draincock on mine was on the backside on
the passenger side. Just twist it counterclockwise if you're looking at
it with the firewall behind you. Make sure you remove the radiator cap
or else all the fluid will not drain completely. Hang onto it too since
the new radiator doesn't come with a new cap. Also squeeze both the
upper and lower hoses to get the fluids out of the hoses and the water
pump. You can reuse this if it's not that old like I ended up doing.
Just make sure the container is clean. If you're not going to reuse it
you can usually take it to some place like Valvoline who will take it
for free.
Antifreeze is
very poisonous and the scent and color
will attract animals and small children. Keep them away from it!
This picture shows the two
main radiator hoses that need to be
disconnected. The third hose is the overflow hose that connects at the
top of the radiator right next to the filler cap. The next step is to
remove the fan shroud. There are three bolts on each side. Once these
bolts are removed the power steering reservoir can be pulled back and
out of the way and the fan shroud can be pulled away from the radiator
and slid back on the fan. Once you move the fan shroud away you can
remove the radiator mounting bolts, three on each side.
Here are the radiator mounting
holes. Once the bolts are removed, you can pull the radiator straight
out of the Jeep. This is my old radiator and you can see where the fins
have actually
started falling out on the lower right corner and the leak was on the
bottom of the radiator.
The next part is probably the hardest of the install.
You must slide
the new radiator into place without bending the fins. If any of you
have read a writeup for this, then you probably saw that the best way
to
keep the fins protected from the fan and fan shroud is to put a large
piece of cardboard between the new radiator and the fan shroud when
sliding the radiator in.
Once you get
the radiator in place you can pull the cardboard out. Now
you can put all the mounting bolts back in for the radiator. Don't
forget to mount the breather tube for the front axle back on when you
put in the middle bolt on the driver's side.
Once
you mount the radiator with the six bolts you can mount the fan
shroud. Make sure you don't forget to remount the power steering
reservoir with the top two fan shroud mounting bolts on the driver's
side.
After`that you can reattach the upper and
lower radiator hoses as well
as the overflow hose which attaches right next to the filler cap. Now
just refill the radiator with your anitfreeze/water mixture and
make sure that there aren't any air pockets or bubbles by squeezing the
hoses. You're all done with your radiator replacement so start it up,
let it warm up to normal operating temp (when the upper hose gets warm)
and check for any leaks. Hope this is useful and please let me know if
you have any questions, comments or suggestions.
