The latest installment of the Clifford build is complete! Click the picture to link to the Champion Radiator Retro-fitting and Installation, which begins on post #161.



Beware: it's kind of a Pulp Fiction thing, starting at the end and then telling the story . . . d

Poor Clifford had his annual physical today at the emissions testing facility in North Scottsdale.

To start with, I completely embarassed the poor kid getting in the wrong line, so when we were 2 cars back, and could finally read the fine print, the technicians had to move pylons so we could get over 1 lane and into the correct bay.

Now on the rollers, I got into the passenger seat. The technician, who was shorter than me (in my platform flops) and out-weighed me by at least 200 pounds, had one heck of a time getting his right foot, and then the rest of his body into the driver's seat. While there, he put Clifford in drive and took him through a battery of 'Highway Simulation' tests. Our attention rapt upon a computer screen, the technician kept 'cyber' Clifford on a hilly road. It was actually pretty cool to be going 60 mps and not moving. Clifford seemed to like this part, and he performed flawlessly. The technician kind of rolled out of the driver's seat, and said that I could get back into it. He was taking a big funnel off of Clifford's exhaust, and we almost crashed into each other on my way around the back!

Then he asked me to open the hood, so I did. He then made several passes - driver side / front / passenger side / front / driver side, before he went and got a metal folding chair. He put the folding chair next to the driver side open hood and hopped (well, maybe not hopped) up onto it. He got down. He took the chair in front of the Cherokee and again got up on it. He got down. He took the chair to the passenger side, stepped up on it. The guy was actually using Clifford's cage, and VERY lucky I don't care about paint smudges! Got down. He said something I couldn't understand to a woman who worked there. She breezed past Clifford and said 'It's right there'. So the tech got back up on the chair on the passenger side and I saw him put a clamp thing on something near the firewall.

I don't know exactly what the test was for, nor can I recall the acronym they used. The screen kept flashing 'Pressurising' and 'Holding Pressure', seemingly over and over; I was holding my breath! Then it was time for the ever popular 'Gas Cap Test'. As I watched in the mirror, they put what looked like a vaccuum hose on his gas cap.

"That'll be $27.75 please", the tech said. "Did he pass?", I asked? "I don't know yet", the tech said, "we won't know until after I enter the payment". Well that figures, right? Clifford passed with flying colors and I bought him a great big tank full of of fresh gasoline to dilute the 'Guarenteed to Pass' solution he'd been sipping on all morning.

On my way out of the emissions testing station I asked one of the techs if they had a scanner they could plug in and clear my 'Maint Reqd' light. They don't. I also stopped at Vato Zone on the way home, neither do they.



Clifford had a great day and is obviously feeling great! He's ignoring the 'Maint Reqd' light, why can't I? d

I like to watch them climb in my CJ. Quite humorous

We had an over-heating issue a couple weeks ago while up in at Mingus Mountain. Click the 1st picture if you want to link back to the full write up on my build thread, go to post 168.

Here's something nobody wants to see:



That nor the fluid spew out of your hood vents while you're driving on a 2 lane highway...



Luckily, there's an easy trail repair and the part is cheap. This is something you might want to think about carrying if you drive a '92 XJ:



Happy Trails!
d

Man we're having some overheating issues.


Clifford will idle it all day long, even with the A/C on, and run at normal operating temperature. As soon as you put the vehicle under any sort of load, namely driving up a hill, it heats up. Notice that's the opposite of practically every 'XJ Running Hot' situation you read about: usually the Jeep heats up while at a stop light and cools back off after you get moving again. I drove it around FH this morning without the A/C on and it got up to 225 just between the Zumba class and home.

We're beginning to suspect its a cracked head or blown head gasket. Although there is no oil in the coolant and there doesn't appear to be any water in the oil, G did notice a green tinge on the plugs in cylinders 2 & 3. I actually read somewhere that if it heats up while running it without the thermostat that's a sign of a leak at the cylindar head, so ran it today without the thermostat & it acted the way it always does. Also, a compresion test revealed low compresion on all cylindars: around 100 psi vs. spec. of 120 - 150(?) psi...

Now we're researching cylindar heads - they're pricey and there's all kinds of machining going on out there. The only OEM head I found is at MOPAR for $1100. Then there's a bunch of remanufactured for anywhere from $500 - $800. There's a newly cast one which is a 'one size fits all' from like '91 - '01, which doesn't make sense to G.

And then of course it's crossed our minds that we should just get a new engine and install it...

Anybody with expertise, advise, a good story, please chime in.

d ::Just.Empty.Every.Pocket.Blues::

I'm SURE you guys have checked all this, but is the electric fan kicking on and stying on under load and is the fan clutch engaging as it should? These two items, plus a better radiator and 160 thermostat addressed all my overheating issues. Mine would overheat standing still, not running though...

alanzona wrote:I'm SURE you guys have checked all this, but is the electric fan kicking on and stying on under load and is the fan clutch engaging as it should? These two items, plus a better radiator and 160 thermostat addressed all my overheating issues. Mine would overheat standing still, not running though...

I guess I should have added that we've basically done everything you can do to address over heating. New: 3 row aluminum radiator, OEM water-pump, fans all over the place, electric and mechanical...

Number 7 wrote:I guess I should have added that we've basically done everything you can do to address over heating. New: 3 row aluminum radiator, OEM water-pump, fans all over the place, electric and mechanical...

Have you considered replacing the XJ with a TJ. That mod made all the difference for me in both performance, frame, and over heating... 8)

alanzona wrote:Have you considered replacing the XJ with a TJ. That mod made all the difference for me in both performance, frame, and over heating... 8)

Haha, good answer. But you forget, I already have one. The only thing that is not doable - I can't sleep in the back of Number 7, and that's what we were going for in the first place. =(

I'm teasing you, D. Hope you guys get it figured out. If anyone can, George can. Good luck!

Thanks Alan. I'm sad and obviously testy about it.

Number 7 wrote:Man we're having some overheating issues.


Clifford will idle it all day long, even with the A/C on, and run at normal operating temperature. As soon as you put the vehicle under any sort of load, namely driving up a hill, it heats up. Notice that's the opposite of practically every 'XJ Running Hot' situation you read about: usually the Jeep heats up while at a stop light and cools back off after you get moving again. I drove it around FH this morning without the A/C on and it got up to 225 just between the Zumba class and home.

So... I can have this problem too. And it's the uphill loads when hot out. For brainstorming sake, Does your tranny fluid run through the rad or does it have an external cooler? Mine runs through. In theory if the tranny is running too hot under loads, the 4spd needing too much 2nd etc, (mine doesn't slip either) could it be causing the radiator to stay too hot when it runs through it?
Also I haven't ruled out fan clutch.

Both those are cheapish shots to try

You make a good point, Mike. I finally bypassed my radiator for my ATF cooling and went with two tranny coolers on the front. Made a big difference in the consistency (at least) of my temp in the XJ.

Skatchkins wrote:So... I can have this problem too. And it's the uphill loads when hot out. For brainstorming sake, Does your tranny fluid run through the rad or does it have an external cooler? Mine runs through. In theory if the tranny is running too hot under loads, the 4spd needing too much 2nd etc, (mine doesn't slip either) could it be causing the radiator to stay too hot when it runs through it?
Also I haven't ruled out fan clutch.

Both those are cheapish shots to try

We bypassed the tranny coolers and it made absolutely no difference. Honestly we've tried everything there is to try, which is why we're thinking new head. My thoughts are that it's run hot so many times that I could easily have cracked the head...

It dosent seem like finding a used 4.0 head should be that hard... Lots of great machine shops all over the valley. A used 4.0 head and a little machine work should be much less than $500.
Im sure you guys did this but... Did you flush the block? Nothing nasty sitting in it blocking the flow?
Good luck. Nothing worse than a problem that doesn't want to be fixed (check eng light in my black TJ)

I never got my '76 to cool down. Went though all the other alternatives until I had finally just dropped a new engine in it. I think the new chrome parts helped. They had to have let some of the heat out since they let out the oil too.

The results I posted of dry/wet compression tests along with all the other tests we've had done imply that it is not a problem with the cylindar head. and also that our possible ring/piston wear has little to do with over-heating.

So, G started playing with blocking air that comes into the grill but could possibly by-pass the radiator through a gap on both sides. The test of his idea was a failure, but has sparked his imagination to try to direct the air via fan shroud configurations, etc. And I have to concur; the engine is really showing no signs of being the problem, it really runs great!

So here we go down the fan/air/shroud/whatcha got? path of ideas...

BTW, you guys ROCK (I know you know that) for being on point and answering posts with the facts in my abscence.

::rock-on:: d

I guess if you can't wheel it, you should turn your Jeep into a Micro-Brewery:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6wjFcs7vig



d

I'd drink it.

K7VZ wrote:I'd drink it.

Oh, now that's unusual! Virgil would drink a brown bubbly drink with a head on it...