5.3L Vortec V8 Conversion

[Frank Z]

Well that was a bust. Although the new radiator does shed heat a tiny bit faster than the stock 2 row I was using, it certainly wasn't worth the money spent. I'd recommend it for a 4.0L but not ahead of a V8.

After installing and purging the cooling system of air I took the rig out for a test drive and although the engine temp hovered around 210 it climbed quickly to the 225 range when accelerating and then stayed close to 220-ish at 65 mph. Once I slowed down or stopped the temp quickly dropped to 200. I'm going to take it out on the interstate in the next day or two and see how it holds up to sustained highway cruising and and long uphill grades. I'm not to confident it's ability t handle the cooling needs of this swap based on these initial results though. The ambient outdoor temp was 60-62 deg and the motor should have been running cooler.

Looks like it's back to saving for a Novak, BeCool, Gibson, etc, etc......

 

[John D]

Looks like it's back to saving for a Novak, BeCool, Gibson, etc, etc......

Love my BeCool...

I was out on the dunes 2 weeks ago testing it and after 5 long hard climbs (one right after the other) I would push up to 210-215. But everywhere else it sits at 180-187 depending on what I am doing or the outside temp.

It was a lot of dough and really hard to spend the money. But after I did I was really happy and wondered why I waited so long.

 

[Jeff 98XJ WI]

Do you really think the radiator is at fault? How much better can the Be Cool work than the one Frank bought? What did you think of the quality of the radiator Frank? I believe I paid sub $200 for my Northern Radiator and then spent another $85 to modify it to fit my MJ but I don't have it working yet, so can't tell you anything about heat. It is a totally different shape than a normal XJ radiator though. The modifications I had done were to build a coolant inlet contraption like the one shown on the ebay page Frank linked to and weld it into the back of the radiator, weld the original top hole shut, and weld two pegs to the bottom so it can mount into the little rubber donuts that a stock cherokee came with. Anyway, I just thought I would question the radiator's fault in this high temp issue you've been having and put it out there what it cost to purchase a Northern Radiator and have it modified. I wonder what Northern or others would charge to simply build a custom aluminum radiator? Maybe it would actually be cheaper than a pre built Be Cool or Novak unit? Jeff

 

[John D]

Dunno, I went from a stock XJ radiator to the BeCool. For my situation I dropped 30-40 degrees.

 

[Frank Z]

The quality is fine, but then again it's only been a day....

 

[O-Gauge Steamer]

Almost sounds like you need more air flow at speed as it seems to cool at lower speeds. Hood vents maybe?

 

[Frank Z]

no, air flow is more than adequate and the cowl hood exhausts copious amounts of air. Enough that I'll never have to use my defrost.

 

[Ewenm]

hi Frank

just got through reading this from start to finish, man you are a legend.

on your over heating issues have you considered that your radiator may be allowing the water to run to fast and not allowing enough time to strip the heat out.

there is a guy here in australia called "gojeep" and he did a write up of fitting a restrictor in the upper radiator hose to slow the flow.

while he is talking about 4 litre engines it still might be worth a look.


http://www.go.jeep-xj.info/

 

[Frank Z]

Legend? Nooooooooooooooooooo, not even close. Others have been down this road before, I simply shared my project in a thread.

I'll look into the possibility of excessive flow....but I deal with heat transfer on a daily basis (I'm an HVAC guy) so I'm skeptical at best. I'll post up my experiment and the results in a day or two.

 

[pato castro]

We tested my pal's Jeep on the dunes this past sunday, here's a video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_ggcN6pDoY

The jeep runs good, the 5.3 is a good performer

 

[John D]

Man I wish it wasn't ball freezing cold here!

Mine looks and sounds the same on the dunes here.
Love hearing that rev limiter

Nice rig :thumbup:

 

[XJEEPER]

Nice! Thanks for sharing.....I never get enough of this.

 

[Jeff 98XJ WI]

Frank, or others, did you ever document exactly what you did to the stock wiring harness and the donor truck wiring harness to get your 5.3 to run and interface correctly? Also, Frank, did you end up doing anything different with the radiator? I believe the last I read is that the new one didn't handle the heat. Jeff

 

[Frank Z]

Jeff,
No I don't. I simply went 1 wire at a time while comparing schematics. I added a few fuses to the PDC and the rest is matter of finding and using the existing circuits in the XJ.

Since we're into the cooler weather i haven't done any further cooling mods but i am considering a 3 fan set up from FFDynamics.com

 

[John D]

Jeff,

It's all here www.lt1swap.com
I just read everything a few times and then went through it. It took me a couple Saturdays in the garage. I could do it a lot faster the second time, I was overly causious and worried too much while doing it.

Frank is going to to end up with a BeCool radiator (they work), he's just taking the long way to get there :laugh3:

 

[XJ Stryker]

Nice Job Frank. I just sat here and read the whole thread.

It is inspiring to read and makes me want to run out and start shopping for a motor.

Thanks for the great thread.

I guess you havn't been having many problems now with the overheating in Co. this time of year. What is your plans for the Summer. Novak still?

 

[Frank Z]

Post 455

Still pondering that option vs. another radiator.

Glad you enjoyed the thread, hopefully there's more to it than comedic value.

 

[FlexdXJ]

Nice Job Frank. I just sat here and read the whole thread.

It is inspiring to read and makes me want to run out and start shopping for a motor.

Thanks for the great thread.

I guess you havn't been having many problems now with the overheating in Co. this time of year. What is your plans for the Summer. Novak still?

Wait, what? Rob is getting the itch again!

 

[John D]

Still pondering that option vs. another radiator.

 

[Frank Z]

I know you got happy pants over your radiator John.

I'm looking at airflow improvement as an option. I'd hate to spend the money on yet another radiator and have the same issue I'm having now.