Reviews for Cold Case MOJ994A Aluminum Performance Radiator for 91-01 Jeep Cherokee XJ
I want to give this a 5 star rating. But. There are some caveats that need to be addressed by whoever purchases this. First off, I've installed CSF and Cold-Case. and no other brands so I don' t have a broad range of experience with competitors. I have not had a CSF fail, but bought a jeep where the previous owner had installed, and it had started to leak in the brass core; so no more CSF for me! I bought Cold Case as my wife overheated her 96' XJ RHD (original radiator) and blew out the plastic tank, didn't notice it, and ruined the engine. So, I made up my mind to never have that happen again! I have never bought Mishamoto as it is always more expensive than Cold Case, and I can't find any reviews to make me want to take a chance on it (but I'll try one for free if Quadratec wants me to review it :-) I always wanted to try Flex-a-Lite, but never wanted to pay the high cost for it. Caveats: 1) This is the largest radiator I've found. Because of this, to get the mechanical fan installed, you will have to take off the water pump mounts that hold the fan bracket and loosen the block bolt and tip it out of the way to get the fan off in a 96' RHD. In a 01', you will have to remove the AC compressor, remove the bracket attaching the fan casting to the block. 2) You should install Daystar motor mounts to keep the engine from sliding forward; this radiator installed has only about 1/2 inch between the fan and the radiator, and the engine sliding forward on the rubber mount will have the fan impact the radiator. 3) Check that the drain is tight before installing. 4) install new rubber radiator mounts on the bottom and a new radiator mount on the top, and you will still have to install some washers to ensure the top mount sits flush with the radiator top 5) there is a plug above the lower hose outlet; this needs to be sealed in with silicon/radiator seal/permatex, choose your favorite. The rubber grommet will leak and you will lose your coolant (the plug is there for the 89' XJ for a fan controller), The rubber grommet will work for a while, but eventually will leak, and you can't get it tight enough with the rubber grommet without destroying the grommet. 6) Explore a complete electric fan assembly; Delrale makes a triple fan assembly and also sells fan controllers. I have not installed this on mine yet, but am exploring it as I've had to replace 3 of these Cold Case radiators as one had the mechanical fan clutch fail, and the fan destroyed the radiator, second had the mechanical fan bearing go out, and the fan slid forward and destroyed the radiator, and third, the engine slid forward on the rubber mounts and sent the mechanical fan into the radiator. 7) I've installed 7 of these to date, and have some experience with it. Install a Flowkooler water pump while you're at it to increase flow (yes Mikes Offroad on youtube says he has had cavitation issues destroying the impeller on the Yellow Banana, but he says that is at RPM's above 4000 rpm; I've replaced these after a full service life and at normal rpm's, cavitation is not an issue). 8) Yes, I installed this on a 01' XJ, and the transmission cooler line would not fit on the lower radiator fitting provided; I ended up cutting the rubber hose, splicing in a metal tube, and attaching it to this radiator with a hose and hose clamp; but last radiator delivered had a brass fitting provided (previous was aluminum), so don't know if that issue is solved; and, the lower fitting must be hand bent for a greater angle so it doesn't rub on the XJ frame (not a big deal). Since installing a FlowKooler water pump and this Cold Case, I have not had any overheating problems with my wife's 96' XJ USPS mail route; the electric fan will cycle a lot on one of my RHD 96' jeeps and on the other 96' RHD never comes one, I don't know why, but is why I'm exploring Delrale options to eliminate the mechanical fan and keep a constant electric cooling when needed. Quadratec sells all these parts; you just have to search for them.
Easy installation and looks amazing. Solved my overheating issue with sitting in traffic on a hot summer day or a long drive thru. Did have to cut my transmission line to fit the adapter provided and clamp it but no big deal. It has not leaked and works great with stock set up.
I purchased this radiator in spring 2019 as my XJ was notoriously overheating when I was loaded down with camping gear and driving up grades in the summer heat. Install was fairly easy. Fit was perfect. Had to trim the fan shroud a little to get it back in place. I can say I have had it on for almost a year with no leaks, no overheating and no issues. Took my xj camping 3 times last summer going up grades with temps ranging from 100 + degrees Fahrenheit down to maybe 80 degrees when we got into the higher elevations with AC blasting. No overheating which is exactly why I bought it. Solid purchase.
Very nice radiator with one exception. The transmission cooling line stub supplied with the radiator was over sized OD and would not fit the factory coupler. Other than the line size I would have given this a 5 star rating.
Radiator completely failed after a year due to a manufacturing issues..I am now out $481.00 to install the replacement they sent me. Company is not willing to reimburse the cost of the second installation. Consumers should not have to pay for installation due to a manufacturing issue.
Terrible product, it leaks a both sides of the panels, installed in January 2023 and it failed in February
Looks great and installed well, unfortunately like a few others have commented, it seems to have a quality issue. My first one started leaking after 9 months, I received a replacement under warranty, and that one started leaking after just 1 month of in-town driving.
I'd hold off on buying until the quality issues are resolved.
Terrible product do not buy! I’m not sure what these other guys are doing to give this rad 5 stars but I bought the first CC rad in September ‘21, it lasted until January ‘22 and it sprung a leak. This is in my DD so little to no off-roading in this XJ. Installed the second rad and it only lasted until (Feb ‘22). Going back to stock radiator as I don’t want to buy another aluminum rad from a different company and have the same thing happen again.
Already leaking. Installed in August of 2021. Temps way down it definitely does a good job of cooling, but I've already got a leak on the driver side where the plastic electric fan shroud meets. Not sure how a piece of plastic pushing on a robust radiator like this could cause a leak, but it looks like it has. Not sure what to do from here warranty wise.