1993 GC Radiator swap....man it's tight in there!

[wowchad]

We pulled a bad radiator out of my brother in law's '93 Grand Cherokee last night and we are reluctant to re-install the new one in the reverse order.
Putting a new one in with-out dinging it all up with the fan seems as easy as shoveing a wet noodle up a cat's as*!
We pulled a lot of stuff off in order to retrive the leaker, however should we put the fan/shroud in first THEN the radiator, or do we reverse our steps and put the radiator in first?

Thanks for any help in advance

[dksob81]

Iknow you already did this, butI will explain anyways.

drain radiator. remove upper and lower rad hoses and Tranny cooler lines, remove shround and fan, now remove the 2 bolts on the top radiator bracket and remove the 2 bolts holding the A/C Condensor to the Radiator (if equipped), remove the grill, remove the 2 bolts holding the grill support to the upper radiator bracket and remove the bracket, then slide the radiator straight up.
Installation is reverse of removal of removal. the fan and shroud would be the last thing I would put in (before the upper rad hose of course) The fan and shroud is a bit tricky, especially with having to worry about dinging up the new rad fins. Heres what I do on my 94 5.2L: Place the fan in the shroud how it would sit when mounted, then lower each into the engine compartment and strat threading the fan onto the water pump (you may have to move the shroud around while doing this to keep it from hittig off it, this is prolly the hardest part about this whole thing, once you got the fan started you can bolt the shroud on and then finish the putting the fan on and tighten it down, then the upper radiator hose, fill the cooling system and your done.

Ina ll aspects ou could have prolly left the fan bolted to the water pump and remove the shroud from the radiator and and slide it over and let it hang on the fan, then slide the radiator straight up and slide the new one down then move the shroud back over onto the radiator and botl it on, just thinking about it, this might be an easier way to do this.

[JDPascal]

Originally Posted by dksob81

In all aspects you could have prolly left the fan bolted to the water pump and remove the shroud from the radiator and and slide it over and let it hang on the fan, then slide the radiator straight up and slide the new one down then move the shroud back over onto the radiator and botl it on, just thinking about it, this might be an easier way to do this.

Thats how I do it. I also cut a cardboard piece the size of the rad and place it between the fan and the rad untill there are at least 2 bolts holding the rad in place. Do the same when changing water pumps. The cardboard protects the rad fins and the KNUCKLES.

JD

[wowchad]

Originally Posted by JDPascal

Thats how I do it. I also cut a cardboard piece the size of the rad and place it between the fan and the rad untill there are at least 2 bolts holding the rad in place. Do the same when changing water pumps. The cardboard protects the rad fins and the KNUCKLES.

JD

Good, thanks!

Knowing that it can be done this way, I'll try it also.

(They should include that protective cardboard on all new radiators!)