AC sucking life out of engine?

[ThePhantum]

'97, 4.0HO, AW4, 3.55's and 30's. I barley notice the A/C being on. The only time it becomes apparent is during hard acceleration...and even then it still gets out of it's own way.

The MPG's go down a little when running it...from 19-21 to about 17-19.

 

[Tom R.]

"Stock" is what was sold by the factory, not Joe the Gyp's Used Car and Bike Emporium. Jeep never used any 70-series tires on the XJ until they started using 16-inch rims in 2000. Any 15-inch 70-series tire was definitely not "stock"

I'll almost (must confirm, but fairly certain) bet you Eagle that Jeep did, in fact, use 70 (aspect ratio) tires.....at least on the XJs with Upcountry package. I'm 99.9% sure my XJ w/ Upcountry came stock with 225/70/15 tires. What do say if you lose this wager that you'll promise to make it out to Moab next year? And if I lose the wager, you'll still come out to Moab next year? Okay, it's a deal.

Tom

 

[Tom R.]

Oh, I forgot to mention......in my first XJ, which was a cherry '89, 4.0L, AX-15, low mileage and very good runner, that I could notice a huge difference in power when running the AC. Fast forward to my current XJ, a '92, auto, 32" tires, 4.56 gears, etc. I can still notice a difference, even when it was stock, but it's not as great of a power loss as my '89. What really helps is keeping the RPM around 2500 or higher. That's when I don't notice it quite as much.

BTW, I owned a Honda Civic in '85-86 that when I put on the AC the only thing you'd notice is that the inside of the car got cooler. No effect on power. I've always thought the XJs I've own lost too much power when using the AC.

Tom

 

[Dr. Dyno]

It's funny how some of you gentlemen are complaining about the A/C robbing you of power, with those 4.0 lt engines, with anything between 180 and almost 200 bhp). I think you are spoiled!

In Greece, cars with engines larger than 2.0 lts, are almost forbidden by taxation laws, unless you are a tycoon. So I would invite you to drive either my '84 Cherokee with the anemic, carburated 2.5 lt engine, or my Ssang Yong Musso, with its equally anemic 2.0 lt Mercedes engine (135 bhp with almost 1,900 kgs of weight) and turn on the A/C. Then, you will know what "sucking power from my engine" means.

Rgds

Yia sou Yianni. Ti kaneis? I'm of Greek-Cypriot descent and a regular visitor to Cyprus. It's the same over there too. Only the stinking rich or corrupt politicians can afford to own cars with engines over 2.0L. Most cars in Cyprus have small 1.3-1.6L four bangers.
I'm spoilt over here driving a 4.0L Cherokee and even luckier that gasoline is so cheap (it's cheaper than water here!). In Saudi Arabia, only a small minority of cars have an engine of less than 2.0L. I only notice a slight loss in performance when I'm using the A/C and I put that down to having a big engine that has several performance mods.