Cooling problems on my yj

RFREYNOLDS · Mar 19, 2013

Hey guys I am having a problem with my jeep I have a tbi 454 bbc with a griffin aul rad and it is running hot on the trail I just wanted to see if anyone could help me out or had this same problem the system has no air in it I have changed the cap and it is a new rad with a 17'' electric fan I really can't put a bigger rad in the jeep and I don't want to buy another new rad haha any help would be great help

jebdrup · Mar 19, 2013

Get a Taurus 2 speed fan. On high it runs at 4500 cfm. I run one and it is best fan for the money.

InittowiniT · Mar 19, 2013

If at all possible run a flex fan not only does it pull air thru radiator but helps cool motor. Are you running the stock tstat?
Jeep looks great!

RustyC · Mar 19, 2013

How big is the radiator you are running. Height, width and thickness. Full shroud?

RFREYNOLDS · Mar 20, 2013

My rad is 27x19x3 and I have a 195* tstat

RFREYNOLDS · Mar 20, 2013

I guess I could try to put a fan back on the motor

Elliott · Mar 20, 2013

Are you sure your fan is pulling air In not pushing air out?And make sure the water pump is spinning the right direction, I've seen people have the wrong pump for the pulley set up and actually spin the pump back wards.

Lil ugly · Mar 20, 2013

RFREYNOLDS said:
My rad is 27x19x3 and I have a 195* tstat

Try changing your thermostat. Right now it is trying to keep the motor at 195 degrees or warmer. Change it to a 160 or take the center out of the 195 and run just the flat part of the thermostat. I had a 350 in my jeep with a conversion radiator and electric fan that I was having the same issue with and that fixed the problem.

RFREYNOLDS · Mar 20, 2013

I found out yesterday that with the hood up it will stay cool but when I shut the hood it starts to run hot
I am going to take the hood off and hit hit woods if that works it's time for a bigger fan or some hood lovers

RustyC · Mar 20, 2013

I battled a cooling issues in my YJ as well. I originally used the trans cooler IN the radiator to help cool the trans. The radiator struggled to cool the heat of the engine and trans. Going to a separate cooler for the trans helped.
Installing a full shroud helps and keeping the area between the hood and radiator sealed help pull cool fresh air from out front and not recirculating hot air through the radiator.
Inner fenders can also hold a lot of heat in.
For me a 27 X 19 with 2 speed Volvo fan and full shroud works very well. I only use the fan on high for racing and late summer beatdowns.

Keep in mind that a thermostat in and engine only controls minimum water temp in the engine. FI engine are usually happier at 195-210

Sseal · Mar 21, 2013

Put you some louvers in the hood drill you some big holes in your fender wells and run one of them four blade fans from speedway on your motor and it should cool

Rockrash · Mar 26, 2013

Define HOT. .... 210* is normal running temp with a 195* stat. !95 is the temp that it opens. 210 is normal running temp, so if it hits 220 or 230 when you're beating on it and then comes back down it's normal. Define hot and we can go from there.

Luckyhoss · Mar 30, 2013

I chased these same cooling issues on my bbc 454 with a Holley pro jection set up. New thermostat, new shroud, changed the pully size on the water pump, took the hood off. Made sure my timing was right. Each experimental change was followed by a trail ride that ended up hot.

My fuel pressure guages are mounted under the hood and at idle would be fine. Sitting behind the skinny pedal I didnt think about fuel pressure. My fuel pump apparently had gotten weak and was starving the engine for fuel. I replaced the fuel pump and haven't had a cooling issue since, just a happy happy happy 454.