So i've had my JK for about 5 years already and i figured its time to flush the coolant out. Going to also change the waterpump, tstat and radiator while im at it. I'm pretty much set on the mishimoto radiator. how many guys here run their radiator? would like some feedback on it

Glad you brought it up. I have had these radiators on the brain over the last day or so. It has a thicker core so supposedly has a better cooling capacity. I think they have a 180 t-stat too but you would need a tune o go with that. I plan on swapping mine out with one of these in preparation for a supercharger.

Found them on amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GQJCL1A

i saw the low temp tstat as well but im going with the oem one. as for the mishimoto radiator, the install also looks very clean and simple. let me know if you end up picking it up. if i do get it, it probably wont be a for a week or so

You will probably get to it before I do. I don't have a blower or a cooling system problem yet.

Thanks for considering our aluminum radiator guys! Our radiator features a significant increase in core thickness which translates to greater fluid capacity as well as improved efficiency. If you do end up picking up our radiator, we look forward to your feedback once it is installed!

Feel free to ask any questions about our JK radiator! I'd be happy to assist.

Thanks!
-John

John-
Always nice to see a manufacture chime in. Makes me feel like spending some money on a Mishi Rad also, I have been eyeing them for a while.
Thanks for your input on the forum!!!
Gregg

oh sweet.

my one question i have is about the stupid plastic clips i need to remove while removing the stock radiator. I was watching the install video on youtube


I noticed none of the clips were replaced, so i guess it's safe to say to leave out all the plastic stuff i remove? and as for the fan shroud there is only 2x 10mm bolt holding it onto the radiator?


actually nevermind. i guess those 2x 10mm bolts replace the crappy plastic clips?

LOL.... I saw that video too. That radiator looks pretty banged up. Too many fingers poking at the fins or something.

Thanks for the kind words Gregg!

Because of the increased thickness of our radiator, the factory upper air diverter does not fit without some help. We include an extender bracket and hardware to install the shroud. Once you have the kit in front of you, it should be relatively easy to figure out where it goes. If you do need some assistance, feel free to contact us and we can provide further information about installing the plastic shroud with our adapter.

The electric fan shroud uses four mounting points to mate properly with the radiator. The two lower mounts slide into brackets on the radiator, the upper mounting points use 10mm bolts.

Thanks!

It can be a challenge to film/photograph a radiator core. Any minor bend on the fin is easily seen from certain angles. In addition, simply rubbing your finger across the fins can bend them slightly. Fins are constructed from a very thin material, meaning they are rather fragile. Slight bends, like those seen in the video, are very unlikely to cause any concerns in terms of cooling efficiency. More substantial fin damage can result in performance decreases. The radiator in question was in and out of the vehicle a few times for test fitting, which resulted in some minor bending, nothing to be concerned with.

When packaging our radiators, we are sure to protect the core from any potential damage from the shipping process.

Thanks!
-John

awesome, thank you

will definitely be picking it up sometime soon. nice to see good customer support.

Well, I ordered one and it arrived defective (workmanship) and it could not be installed. It is great that you guys are sending out a replacement right away but still stinks that my jeep has to be down for 2-3 days waiting on parts.

I should have stuck to the old rule of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" because there is nothing wrong with the original and my jeep would be burning gas already had I left it in place.

^THIS ( sorry , yet appreciative, White13JKUR ) is why - and I am interested in anything aluminum and that helps my JKU stay cool - is why I just ordered some of Mishimotos Silicon hoses and clamps + 2 gallons of Mopar HOAT to perform my just arrived 80k mile service requisite 'Coolant Flush' .
I am sure the Mish rad is awesome but the OEM is keeping sh*t cool & I have axles and other stuff to pay for....<edit> I am in NO means downplaying the importance of cooling an engine simply stating stuff about my choices/priorities here. When I get a radiator it will be aluminum ,so this thread is informative if not kinda a bummer for White13JKUR ; it's cool that the vendor is takin' care of it for ya..

fortunately, I purchase mine from a great vendor and it is going back.

why even bother with the silicon hoses? any issue with the oem hoses on the 3.8?

Can you elaborate a bit more on the workmanship defect?

I've ran a few of these radiators in the past on Mazda's and have been very pleased. Glad to hear they're taking care of the issue though.

coming from the guy who had a perfectly functioning radiator it sounds like

HA! and back in the day, I used to work on Mazdas. back when we did rotor motors and whether they were ported or not, we did almost the same thing. we would send the radiators out to the local radiator shop who could then braze in a new core that was thicker while keeping the stock tanks and bracketry.

the problem with the new radiator is that the bracket was welded on crookedly (whether by a human or by a robot - not sure). The OEM radiator has the upper mount tabs slightly toed in. This radiator has the passenger side straight and the drivers side crooked. it looks as if the radiator or the brackets were positioned crookedly when welded on. No damage to the box at all. Factory sealed unit.

in my case, the radiator was an unnecessary, last minute add on item to a blower install that ended up hanging up the job.

but it is black with orange inside. and shiny. it probably can get an extra few HP on those qualities alone.

in all seriousness, WHITE13, it was time for my OEMs to be replaced ( nothing wrong with them but it just hit 80k as I mentioned ) and the clamped ends were showing inital signs of wearing-out /weakening.
I run rubber on everything and I got a steal on the things. My JK deserves a bit of love. I am of no particular fondness for silicone nor am I of ricer-oriented school of thought.

< edit: I actually did tell myself that the 75 degrees to 100 degrees F difference between OEM hose(max 275F)versus silicone ( max 350F)would be beneficial, i must be honest. it get hot under her hood....plus they may not retain the first dousing of mud forever like the rubber ones....>

Well, I received the replacement radiator today and decided to install it rather than return it.

After it was all installed, I found another minor defect that I just fixed. I installed everything and then pulled the cap to fill the radiator and noticed that the raised lip that touches the seal on the fill neck was all boogered up, like it got knocked with something before someone put the cap on at the factory. I just stuffed a rag in the neck and used a fine file to gently knock off the positive protrusions without shaving off too much aluminum. hope it seals. I'll find out tomorrow when I fire the motor and get it hot.

I possibly would have opted for the silicon hoses had they been available for the 3.6. I don't have anything against them. Just not totally sold on them, I suppose.

good luck w/ the new,new radiator ,WHITE13Jkur! It sure seems you've gotten a couple of buggered-up Mish rads, unfortunately. Auminum sure doesn't take much to get banged-up or scuffed,etc.....hope she seals because it will make yur rig happy.
I'll let ya know about how the hoses turnout.

grrrrr.... well the neck has a slight drip under pressure. out it comes. done with this radiator. stock radiator for me. I had to learn the hard way.

Man you got a bad batch, I've used them in various applications from imports, sports cars and my f450 and have never had an issue, I would return it, call mishi directly and tell them wtf I'm a dealer for them and prob sell 40-60 of them a year

Attached Images

 

I called them. they are willing to overnight a new one. guess what... I'm done and am not messing around with a third one. hopefully I took the hit for the rest of you folks and found the two bad ones out of a large batch. the rest of you should have good luck from this point. me - I'm out.

the first one had the brackets welded on badly, which is even more evident now that I have two new radiators sitting side by side.

though there was no damage to the box whatsoever and I even inspected it before the install, I did not catch the badly welded bracket until I ripped everything apart and went to install the new radiator. grrrrrrr.

the second one was marred on the raised lip of the filler neck. right where the seal sits.

guess what? I did not catch that defect until it was completely installed and I went to fill it with coolant. double grrrr... gently deburring it was not enough to save it.

im out of patience and out of oat coolant. hopefully I don't spill much and can save most of it.

HPS makes silicone hoses for the 3.6L. I just picked up a set after my lower hose blew and to go with my Edelbrock.

http://www.hps-siliconehoses.com/jee...k-coolant.html

Those HPS look like they are pretty much the same as the Mishimoto silicone set ...darn, that is a big cost difference tho'...that is twice what I found the Mish set for, kobb...yikes, I was even slightly "buyer-remorse"full for buying the Mishimoto set UNTIL it arrived when I noticed
(a) that they are lifetime guaranteed (?!) & (b) packaged as tho' they are an Apple product! heh...fancy pants hoses....
sucks that WHITE13 had some faulty batch of rads and had to go thru that install twice. I would be furious.

^^ By dint of your sig line, it looks like you run a 3.8L, hombre. Unless I missed it, Mish doesn't make them for the 3.6 yet.