Cooling system preventative maintenance?

Draco · **Posted:** Sun Dec 30, 2012 12:33 am

My 03 KJ with about 106K miles started marking its territory with cooling fluid.

There appears to be some sort of pinhole leak on the passenger side of the radiator. For sure there's a drip at the bottom of the radiator, though I'm not sure exactly where the source is.

I'm assuming the radiator needs replacing and plan to replace with an OEM radiator. This is an opportunity to do some preventative maintenance of the cooling system as well. At a minimum I assume that includes hoses and thermostat.

But should I maybe think about replacing for example the water pump with another OEM water pump while it's a little more accessible? Or is that a bad idea? Anything else I should replace for preventative maintenance?

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Mon Dec 31, 2012 12:26 am

You could always add a coolant filter. :mrgreen:

Draco · **Posted:** Thu Jan 03, 2013 8:07 pm

Thanks for the feedback!

I ended up replacing the radiator, cap and hoses only. Like many I already have too many balls in the air :juggle:

, so I had the work done by local shop. I said I wanted an OE, Mopar radiator. So it took a few days to get the part with the holiday and I believe they used OE hoses, too.

Also had the tires balanced. My BFG TA K/Os now have about 31K miles on them. Of the six tires, four still have good rubber. We're signed up for this year's LOST Jeep Safari to Moab. Think the tires are still up for one more trip. Then I hope to get another 5-10K out of them as a daily driver. Then I'll probably replace them with Duratracs (five only) to try something different.

Other things I hope to do over the coming year: rebuild / replace rear control arms; rebuild / replace front drive shaft for sure and maybe rear drive shaft; replace rear brake lines with stainless steel; maybe have a set of not too expensive seat covers made for the front seats; want to recover / replace the steering wheel. Hmm, what am I forgetting.

Ooh, I know. I want to figure a way to mount my BajaRack jerry can holder to a set of Thule load bars so I can carry fuel on the roof without the drag of the Surco rack. And I need to replace my roof rails with either some aftermarket, heavier duty rails or a low profile rack.

Ernie

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Thu Jan 03, 2013 9:03 pm

Draco wrote:

I want to figure a way to mount my BajaRack jerry can holder to a set of Thule load bars so I can carry fuel on the roof without the drag of the Surco rack. And I need to replace my roof rails with either some aftermarket, heavier duty rails or a low profile rack.

Have you considered the RL gecko rack? The rack replaces the stock rails, provides lots of room to mount a tire, gas can, etc. The gecko rack is very sturdy and RL will customize brackets for shovels, axes, tire, jack, etc. Plus, you are getting 4 light tabs in the front and a few light tabs in the rear. The price is good for what you get IMO.

Draco · **Posted:** Thu Jan 03, 2013 10:13 pm

Definitely the RL Roof Rails or Sport Rack are at the top of the list.

I don't see myself using the light tabs. Currently I have headlights, OE fog lights and KC SlimLites. That's enough light for me. I could see using the antenna tabs. Though I want to stay low enough to fit in the garage.

I don't want anything with a lot of drag. For that reason I'm more inclined to go with the HD roof rails rather than the rack.

I originally bought my rack for hauling a tire. Either for a second spare for expeditions or to move the primary spare up there when towing a trailer. (Boat trailer winch interfered with spare.) But I haven't used that for quite a while. Not sure it's worth the trouble.

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Thu Jan 03, 2013 10:31 pm

Draco wrote:

Definitely the RL Roof Rails or Sport Rack are at the top of the list.

I don't see myself using the light tabs. Currently I have headlights, OE fog lights and KC SlimLites. That's enough light for me. I could see using the antenna tabs. Though I want to stay low enough to fit in the garage.

I don't want anything with a lot of drag. For that reason I'm more inclined to go with the HD roof rails rather than the rack.

I originally bought my rack for hauling a tire. Either for a second spare for expeditions or to move the primary spare up there when towing a trailer. (Boat trailer winch interfered with spare.) But I haven't used that for quite a while. Not sure it's worth the trouble.

That's pretty much what I'm planning to do. I want to remove my spare tire to the roof so I can pull an off-road camper. That's why I went with the RL light duty bumper and added the OE hitch. Rock Lizard told me that he would customize a tire rack on the roof anywhere I wanted it. He can also customize light tabs or in your case antenna tabs. You might want to put lights on the rear of the rack for backing up or setting up camp at night, etc.

Cooling system preventative maintenance?

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