'94 Wrangler radiator suggestions

[roamingaz]

My Jeep runs around 200 degrees on the freeway but in the afternoon when it's hot it goes up to 210, doesn't overheat and runs perfect. I know my winch is covering half the grill so airflow isn't great but I have seen a lot of other Jeeps with lights and winches covering most of the grill.
My current radiator is a steel 2 core and I am looking at putting a 3 core but before I spend the money does anyone know if it will make a big enough difference or should I go with a aluminum radiator?
I want to get this done soon as summer is here and I have a new offroad trailer I want to get out on some trips.

[/dev/m416]

Unless the radiator needs replacing for some other reason, and you're primarily concerned about temperature spikes, look into a high-flow water pump. After I cracked the head on my '94, I installed a high-flow (I think FlowKooler was the brand, but Google is your friend) and have run cool ever since. Crawling slowly in deep sand is my yard stick, and it runs no hotter than on the highway!

[K2ZJ]

My ZJ with the 4.0 ran at 210 all the time, even in the winter. I don't think it is a big deal unless it goes much higher.

[Black_ZJ]

If you are already running a 2-row radiator you will not see much difference with a 3-row if any at all. Have you pulled the radiator out recently and cleaned it, as well as blasting the dirt and bugs out of the condenser with an air nozzle? I cleaned mine out last week and even drove around all day without the fan in to test its effectiveness, huge difference in airflow and never got above 190 on the highway or 215 in town.

[Jim K in PA]

Jess - your radiator, if not aluminum, is copper (core) and brass (tanks), not steel. If it is original, I would take it to a competent radiator shop and have it cleaned. Copper cores have a much higher thermal transfer rate than aluminum, so do what you can to keep it. Aluminum is also more brittle (depending on the alloy) and prone to cracking. Keep the brass tanks and recore it with another copper unit if necessary.

How old is the thermostat? If more than 5 years, I would replace it with a high quality 190F unit. As mentioned above, look into a better water pump. Early pumps used an "open" impeller, late ones have a plate. The Flowkooler, et al, use a plated impeller and a slightly larger bore discharge housing.