Just stopping in to say hi!

[rubiblue]

David and I discussed a shroud today. A friend once made a shroud for an engine conversion out of cardboard and duct tape to see if it made a difference and it did. I would like to see David's current radiator with stock fans and a shroud. I don't think there is enough fan and there is a lot of area that the fans don't cover. These engines are not normally that had to cool.

[Lazy xj]

David and I discussed a shroud today. A friend once made a shroud for an engine conversion out of cardboard and duct tape to see if it made a difference and it did. I would like to see David's current radiator with stock fans and a shroud. I don't think there is enough fan and there is a lot of area that the fans don't cover. These engines are not normally that had to cool.

XJs have a very tight engine bay and many suffer from heat problems. I too wonder if the fans are large enough to pull the needed airflow. The very low amperage draw of the fans makes me wonder if their ratings are accurate. There are more powerful electric fans available but the lack of clearance between the radiator and the mechanical fan support prevents them from being used unless the fan support is removed. This also requires a shorter serpentine belt.
I do know that when my XJ's mechanical fan clutch kicks in, you can feel the power loss. It takes lots of power to pull a lot of air through the radiator.
I agree that using the stock shrouds and fans, both the mechanical and electric, would be a good place to start plus the parts are widely available.

My 2001 XJ suffers from a hot-soak vapor lock in warm weather or after being worked hard. When it is hot and parked for 10-15 minutes, on restart, it runs very rough for 30-45 seconds and sets the CEL (multiple cylinder mis-fire).
To stop the problem, I added a timer that keeps the electric fan on for 2-3 minutes after the engine is turned off.
You probably noticed this on Saturday. It's annoying yet effective.
Some 2000 and all 2001 XJ have 2 mini-cats located on the base of the exhaust manifold. The mini-cats dump a lot of heat into the engine bay when the engine is shut off. The heat rises and overheats the fuel supply line and injectors, causing the gas to vaporize. There have been a couple of TSBs but the fixes have been ineffective.

[rubiblue]

David's XJ has some hood vents. The thing that really has me scratching my head is how fast it will cool down when it's hot. Usually less than 10 mins. idleing. That almost sounds like an undersized radiator. Yesterday, which was kinda cool, we had no problems except when we started climbing. The steeper the climb, the quicker it started getting hotter. Lugging or revving seems to make little difference.

[David_Bricker]

I'll post a better update in the automotive discussion, or someplace closer to the right area, but we fixed 85% of the problem today! We have any idea for the other 15% or so, but will probably do that on Saturday.

David Bricker / SYR