2011 Severe Duty Cooling

[pastorjeep]

We just replaced my sons 1997 Wrangler with this 2011 Lib. I got it cheap with a blown water pump and dropped exhaust valve seat on cylinder #1. My son goes to college in Lakeland Fl. while we live in NC. Neither place is known for cold weather, since he is often sitting in traffic on I-4 I am considering adding a mechanical fan to this while putting it back together. What is everyone's experience with this "upgrade". Is the loss of mileage and power worth it or is the E fan good enough on a well functioning cooling system? The Jeep on has 115K miles and is in really nice condition. The other question I have is on the sun roof. It doesn't look like it os leaking and I am scared to even try opening it after reading the horror stories. Are they really that bad? Thanks!

 

[lfhoward]

I 100% think the mechanical fan is worth it. I installed one on mine and the cooling has never had an issue since. Also, transmission temperatures are lower, which will make the transmission live longer. The aux fan is also the main add on of the tow package, besides the hitch and trailer wiring.

No real impact on mpg that I noticed. It does whoosh for the first minute or so after turning the Jeep on, then quiets down. When the under hood temperatures clime, it will turn on and you’ll hear that whoosh and know it’s working.

 

[pastorjeep]

That is good to know. Most people claim a loss of 1.5-2mpg. He is stuck in Orlando traffic all the time and it is over 85 degrees most of the year there.

 

[JeepJeepster]

I'm not as well versed on the KK's, but the 2 speed electric fan on my 04 was more than capable of keeping the engine cool. I only added the mechanical fan so it had a backup if/when it fails. Having a bit of redundancy makes me feel better.

With the 'stock replacement' fan clutch, the fan never engages but it does keep the engine below the temp at which the electric fan kicks on (217F on my KJ).

If you get a severe duty clutch, you may lose 1-2mpg.

 

[pastorjeep]

My daughter drives a 02 KJ and it didn't look like enough room to install the mech fan.

 

[MonteF]

I have a '02 with the factory heavy duty cooling and tow package. It is tight with both fans in there, making it hard to replace the A/C compressor and radiator. Ask me how I know and it was not at the same time. Also getting to the oil pressure sending unit is a tough reach from below. It never overheats though.

 

[ebgasolinedream024]

One item you might want to at least be aware of is that if the water pump impeller or the seal or whatever it was fails (mine did, a 4 year old Mopar unit) that fan becomes a berserker in the engine bay. When my water pump failed that secondary fan took out the electrical fan and damaged the Fan connector. I purchased an AISIN WPCH601V to replace the Mopar unit and a new Dorman fan to attach to the water pump (I do like the extra cooling option).

 

[lfhoward]

Another variable is that the Jeep’s radiator not only contains the engine coolant, but it also has the stock transmission cooler integrated into it. By having extra HD cooling, you are probably also increasing the life of your transmission, especially if you tow or live in a city or mountainous area.

 

[pastorjeep]

Eb, that is true. I didn't think about the secondary effects of a failed water pump with the fan hanging on it. As for the trans cooler I already installed a external cooler. But maybe it will still help the trans.