Please visit our sponsors:

Whether you are upgrading your Jeep’s suspension, swapping axles, changing trannies or modifying your transfer case, one component of your Jeep almost always demands attention—the driveshaft. It’s the critical link in your drive line, and a sensitive one at that. A little off here, a little off there, and if you’re not careful, you could find yourself in big trouble somewhere you can least afford it.  This is why you should put your trust in the biggest name in drive shafts, Tom Woods. Just go to 4XShaft.com find out more, that’s 4XShaft.com

“Do you even lift, Bro? Well, whether you lift or not, chances are, if you are listening right now, you probably drive a Wrangler or know someone who does. When it comes to jacking up your Jeep, there are several things you need to take into consideration depending on your personal usage, budget, and even desired tire size. To help make lifting your Wrangler as easy-peesey as possible, the writers at ExtremeTerrain have compiled their definitive guide to Jeep Wrangler lift kits—AND ITS JACKED!

Nexen tire has been around for 77 years.  Nexen has made passenger and SUV tires along with street performance for many years, and most recently have started making off road tires. The Nexen Roadian MTX is an amazing long lasting off road tire with it’s all around fantastic performance in mud or rocks.  Find out more about Nexen tires by going to nexen tire u s a dot com right now.  That’s http://nexentireusa.com/

This Week In Jeep:

Back From The Dead

Hurricane Dorian was the most intense tropical cyclone on record to strike the Bahamas, and is regarded as the worst natural disaster in the country’s history. From that storm came many stories of harrowing disaster, and a massive cry for humanitarian support for those affected. Then there was that iconic picture framing the epitome of lack of common sense. You know the one…where someone thought it would be a good idea to park their grand cherokee on the wet sand during a hurricane to do some “storm watching.” The pictures went viral, as did countless videos of random people climbing up on  the roof during its last moments for a quick selfie and a claim to fame being photographed with the ill fated Jeep. Many were in an uproar as authorities had no plans to risk themselves or their equipment to try and recover the vehicle during Dorians landfall, essentially sealing the Jeeps fate. Oddly enough the person who drove that Jeep out onto the beach during a hurricane WASN’T the owner. I’m personally glad to hear a Jeep owner wasn’t actually that stupid. It turns out that the actual owners of the Jeep loaned it to a cousin because the weather had turned too dangerous for him to ride his motorcycle. This ever so brilliant cousin drove the vehicle onto the beach to get video of the sunrise over the crashing waves. The Jeep obviously got stuck, and no towing service in their right mind was willing to remove it as Dorian approached Myrtle Beach. The then doomed Jeep quickly  became a TV and social media sensation, and one man even serenaded the Jeep with ‘Amazing Grace’ on bagpipes. The Jeep surprisingly enough, did NOT get washed out to sea, and WAS (believe it or not) eventually recovered after Dorian passed. It is of course a complete and total loss. And even though the owners wanted to buy it back from the insurance company, the company refused stating the Jeep was too much of a health risk to ever be occupied by humans again for any length of time. That hasn’t stopped the owners from capitalizing on the Jeeps fame however. They explained to the insurance company the role the Jeep played in the hurricane coverage and that their goal was to help the Bahamas through the Jeep’s popularity. So the company gave the couple a year’s grace period to use it just for that. The red Jeep (now dry and set up for display purposes) will appear at the Pennzoil AutoFair at Charlotte Motor Speedway next week,  Its owners are using the Jeep to raise money for Dorian victims in the Bahamas through a GoFundMe account, with all donations going to UNICEF.

If you talk by using emojis, you’re vocabulary (thankfully for the rest of us) just got smaller. 

If you’ve listened to the show for any length of time, you’ve undoubtedly heard me touting just how much I have gone out of my way to ensure that I or anyone in my family never own a single Apple device. As a former DJ I have a laundry list of reasons that I used to avoid their products like the plague. That being said I couldn’t be happier for all those who DO have apple devices and use them and our iOS app to download and listen to the show. Just know that it would probably be easier and sound better on an Android device instead. But I digress. This week, Apple did something that on the surface may have a lot of people in the Jeep world upset. Especially those who can’t form proper sentence syntax without using smiley faces, egg plants, and finger gestures. But I for one, as well as the entire Jeep corporation couldn’t be happier.  In its latest iOS update, Apple has removed “Jeep” from the list of words that generate an emoji that looks like a small, blue utility vehicle. In other words, Apple clearly has no idea what a Jeep looks like, (I mean it’s not like Jeep more or less has used the same overall vehicle shape for over 75 YEARS OR ANYTHING!) And in Apple;s infinite wisdom authorised what looks to be a super accurate representation of Fiats smallest vehicle or a SMART car to represent the iconic offroader. Jeep is known for relentlessly protecting its trademark, because the name is often used as a generic term for an off-road vehicle by people who are too ignorant and lazy to learn how to speak using proper terminology. Its interesting to know that there is literally not a single other automaker’s name who launches a car related emoji, but it does show up as a selection when you type car, SUV or automobile into a message. So why did Jeep get picked over say Lamborghini or Ferrari? But while Jeep is making the incredibly smart move to distance itself from stupid immature and overly generic emoji associations, Ford has decided to go all in earlier this year, and submitted a pickup emoji that it designed to the Unicode Consortium, which doesn’t currently recognize one and has made no indication it ever plans to. Smooth move ford. 

Wrangler Talk:

Hello JTS listeners on this week’s Wrangler talk we are going to cover Lockers and the different types of lockers on the market. So first off, most jeeps, unless you have a Rubicon, do not have lockers in them from the factory, this is what we call having open differentials. Meaning that one tire is free to move at a different speed then the tire on the opposite side of the axle which is very important when having your jeep just as a daily driver mostly driving around on dry pavement where there is a lot of traction. This type of open differential is mostly important for making turns because when you are making a turn around a corner or something the inside wheel will spin a slower rate than the outside wheel which could be problematic if you had a locker. So a lockers is a mechanical mechanism in the differential that when engaged or “Locked” links the two wheels on each side on one common shaft. Meaning that when the locker is engaged both tires must rotate at the same speed regardless the amount of traction that each tire has. So as you can see this would be very beneficial when you are off road and there is limited traction on some of your wheels or if one wheel is not touching the ground any longer. So as we can see that lockers are very useful in off road conditions there are a couple of different styles of lockers on the market. The two most common lockers that I see being used in the off-road community is the Eaton E-locker and the ARB Air locker. The Eaton E-locker come stock on all Rubicons and is a tried and true proven reliable locker. They are electronically actuated by providing a 12V power source to a solenoid engaging and disengaging the locking mechanism located inside the differential. The main benefit of having an Eaton E-locker is that you don’t have to worry much about external components failing when out on the trails, the systems only comprised of a switch and the locker itself. Secondly the other most common locker is the ARB Air locker, which uses compressed air to actuate the locking mechanism in the differential. ARB lockers are some of the strongest lockers on the market and has one of the best reputations too. However, there is a down fall to air lockers and that is if you spring a leak in one of your air lines or inside the differential housing the locker will not engage and return to being an open differential. Although ARB lockers do require more components because they are actuated with compressed air so when getting ARB lockers, you also need to install an onboard air compressor and some other components to supply the air to the differential housings. Although one other benefit of having air lockers on your rig you will also be able to use that air compressor for compressed air out on the trails and depending on the rating of the compressor you might be even able to run air tools from it. So finally, the last type of locker on the market is a mechanical actuated locker that is cable driven. The most common mechanical locker is the OX locker. The main benefit of having a mechanical locker is well that it is mechanical, you don’t have to worry about supplying it with any electricity or air to engage and disengage it. Secondly if for some reason the cable breaks OX does provide a plug or pin system that you can use to engage the lockers all the time or fully disengage it when you get off the trails. So with all the different types of lockers on the market there really isn’t a locker that completely surpasses all the others. They each work in their own way but they all serve the same purpose of connecting both tires on some solid axle forcing both wheels to spin as the same speed. This concludes this week’s wrangler talk and remember if you have any more question feel free to contact us at jeep talk show dot com slash contact and we will be happy to answer any more question and please stay tune for next week wrangler talk where we will be covering sleeving your axle tubes and the process behind it, thank you for listening and talk to you next week.

Jeep Life:

Jeep Momma Fired!

They finally fired me at my job. I am now unemployed. It’s been a stressful 2 weeks. Neil’s Maggie May Engine woes. We went from Plan A to Plan F. Neil is finally on the way! We both have had our share of bad luck these past 2 weeks. My ball joints and pinion flange to personal female health issues to Neil’s maggie may issues to money woes.  But that’s we are persevering! It’s what Jeepers do. We adapt to the road ahead of us.  Tammy’s Final Day Before The Big Trans America Trail Adventure

Interview with:

Matt Feldermann – Marketing Manager at American Expedition Vehicles Inc.

Matt Feldermann is the Marketing Manager at American Expedition Vehicles. He has been with them a little over 7 years but has been in the aftermarket industry for the past 20. Matt likes Philly sports, metal, rotary powered race cars and raccoons. Matt and his wife just had a baby boy back in June named Chase, so his life is pretty much consumed with either work or baby stuff right now. AEV’s website is www.aev-conversions.com

Nicky G:

Introduces us to his imaginary friend Bill.

Jeep Weather:

Hey Jeeper, its Mitch and it’s time for your weekly Jeep Weather Report. That’s where I suggest places to Go Topless this weekend! Since we read left to right here: let’s start in Portland, Oregon it will be cloudy all weekend with a chance of rain. 65 on Friday, 57 on Saturday and 58 on Sunday. Just leave your top over your shoulders for accessibility when it rains.  If you want to check off your yearly polar bear swim early while Jeeping, then you can go topless in the forecasted hottest location in Canada this weekend. Victoria, British Columbia is 54 on Friday, and 53 on Saturday and Sunday. To make it a true polar bear drive, it will be raining off and on all weekend. That is a three for one deal: a polar bear drive, in a Jeep, while topless. Now if nippily days and getting wet isn’t your kind of Topless Jeeping, then I have a place for you! Virginia Beach, Virginia is in the temperate neutral zone for Homo sapiens. 70 on Friday, and 72 for Saturday and Sunday. Mother Nature is providing clouds for your Topless . . . Jeep Instagram pictures, just make sure they are within policy to post or just send them to us directly. If clouds aren’t your thing and no tan lines is important to you, then go Topless in Mesa, Arizona. It will be sunny with 85 for Friday, 89 for Saturday and Sunday. If you have any suggestions or want to know YOUR local weather for the weekend. Just reach out to me at JeepTalkShow.com/contact and send me a message. It’s always great weekend to Go Topless if you’re brave enough! Just Go Topless responsibly.

Wheeling Where:

California Four Wheel Drive Association – Panamint Valley Days
November 8th – 11th
Trona, California
More Info: https://cal4wheel.com/panamint-valley-days

This event is a fundraiser for Cal4Wheel. All funds raised go to support the daily operations of the association, as well as fund our natural resource consultants (John and Jeff), to help with conservation projects and the education of the public in the proper use of our beautiful outdoors and to keep our land open for all to enjoy.

SEMA Show (Specialty Equipment Markets Assoc.)
November 5th – 8th
Las Vegas, Nevada
More Info: https://www.semashow.com/

Links Mentioned in Episode 406: 

American Expedition Vehicles Inc.
https://www.aev-conversions.com/
https://www.facebook.com/aevehicles/
https://www.instagram.com/aevconversions/
https://www.youtube.com/user/aevconversions

Tom Woods Drive Shafts – http://4xshaft.com/
Extreme Terrain – https://www.extremeterrain.com/axial-jeep-wrangler-parts.html
NEXEN Tires – http://nexentireusa.com/

Please visit our sponsors:

Whether you are upgrading your Jeep’s suspension, swapping axles, changing trannies or modifying your transfer case, one component of your Jeep almost always demands attention—the driveshaft. It’s the critical link in your drive line, and a sensitive one at that. A little off here, a little off there, and if you’re not careful, you could find yourself in big trouble somewhere you can least afford it.  This is why you should put your trust in the biggest name in drive shafts, Tom Woods. Just go to 4XShaft.com find out more, that’s 4XShaft.com

“Do you even lift, Bro? Well, whether you lift or not, chances are, if you are listening right now, you probably drive a Wrangler or know someone who does. When it comes to jacking up your Jeep, there are several things you need to take into consideration depending on your personal usage, budget, and even desired tire size. To help make lifting your Wrangler as easy-peesey as possible, the writers at ExtremeTerrain have compiled their definitive guide to Jeep Wrangler lift kits—AND ITS JACKED!

This Week In Jeep:

Third Quarter Jeep Sales Figures are in! 

To most these sort of reports are pretty dry and useless, but some find this information and interesting so we will occasionally report on how our favorite automaker is doing fiscally speaking. FCA US LLC announced three sales records for the third quarter as a new generation of shoppers snapped up muscle cars and a strategy of premium technology and interior upgrades attracted new heavy-duty truck buyers. Wrangler notched a record quarter as well on the back of new limited-edition models. Muscle cars and full size trucks aside, BOTH of which produced record sales figures for the third quarter of 2019, we’re more interested in how Jeep is doing aren’t we? 

It’s not exactly breaking news that the Wrangler has been a strong seller since its redesign last year, but the nameplate received a boost this quarter from the start of a special-edition campaign. New limited-edition models include, for example, the 2020 Wrangler Black & Tan and the Wrangler Willys. Jeep intends to offer more Wrangler special editions in 2020 aqs well, so if this trend continues, we should see strong sales figures for the second and third quarters of 2020 as well. For the quarter in question however, overall sales were 565,034 vehicles for the three-month period covering July, August and September. Retail sales accounted for 438,649 vehicles while fleet accounted for 22 percent of total sales. Over the last few years fleet sales have accounted for nearly 25% of all sales to date. IMpressive numbers when compared to those from say just 5 years ago. Lower interest rates, a more stable economy and consumer enthusiasm bolster FCA’s belief that new vehicle sales in the U.S. are heading for a strong finish. Speaking of strong, this guy has a strong name just like Mike Manley CEO of FCA…. The Head of U.S. Sales Reid Bigland says:  “For us, vehicles like the new Gladiator, our Ram pickups and Dodge muscle cars are pulling customers into showrooms. Our customers are also choosing to purchase higher trim levels or extra features, which are increasing our transaction prices.” The bottom line? Not only is Jeep selling more vehicles, they’re selling more of the higher trim level models. So, if you have FCA in your investment portfolio, you might be looking pretty good as we move into the next quarter. 

If you own a Jeep Wrangler MOAB edition, it may have just went up in value.

Speaking of Jeeps special editions…. Just this week, a Federal Circuit Court made a ruling that says Jeep can NOT get the ‘Moab’ name Trademarked. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office upheld a Trademark Trial and Appeal Board decision, where a trademark examiner correctly rejected an application from Fiat’s FCA US LLC unit to register a “Moab” trademark. The reason behind the ruling is because consumers might confuse it with a Jeep customization company called Moab Industries. This is more or less the final nail in the coffin as it were for Jeep to legally use MOAB for any of it’s trim levels in the foreseeable future. This also puts an end to the rumors that Jeep was about to announce the release of a MOAB branded factory authorized suspension package designed for more of a rock crawler build than just a general offroading upgrade that we see with some of the current set ups available. What this means for anyone with a MOAB Trim Wrangler, is that this is now a limited release trim package that we may never see again. And with MOAB utah, still being one of the worlds most sought after offroad destinations, there won’t be a lack of attention or want for this level trim. The MOAB trim package is based on the four-door Jeep Wrangler Sahara, the Wrangler Moab Edition is offered with a smorgasbord of features, some of which it shares with the rugged – and more upscale — Wrangler Rubicon trim. Basically this sits right between the Rubicon and Sahara packages giving Jeep buyers another option. And if you got one, you might want to hold on to it, and make sure to keep the miles low, as this new court ruling just made your Jeep a rare one which should increase its value in the coming years. Time and further developments to this may change things, but we’ll of course keep you up to speed.

Jeep Life with Jeep Momma:

8 Days and Counting

My Jeep is pretty much ready to go. Last episode I shared how I had just got my Jeep back from the shop. I had new Synergy ball joints installed and man was the steering scary. I had to drive up to Rausch Creek last Friday with the sticky steering and the lack of self centering. The manufacturer instructions noted that it would take around 500 miles for the ball joints to seat. The guys at Adams told me on my way back from Rausch it would be fine, which was around 300 miles. They were spot on! So now my steering is back to normal. While at Rausch during the Women’s Wheeling Event I was able to try out my new Nexen tires.They were amazing. I aired down to 20 PSI and they did great. We wheeled 10 blue trails consisting of rocks and mud and some wet terrain.  Maggie May update on the Timing Chain Fiasco. In 1980-81 there was a change in the timing chain. The NAPA computer didn show the change. When this new what we thought was a correct timing change  was install there was an off set in the lower sprocket, just a 100 thousandth of an inch. This caused metal shavings to go thru the motor. Neil and his friend Larry, who by the way is an amazing friend, he has been by Neil’s side the whole time, Larry is another Jeeper, well they dropped the oil pan and cleaned up the metal but it was too late. The metal damaged the bearings bent push rods the main bearings. This all caused oil starvation to the top of the engine. Now Neil is in a crunch and doing a 3 day motor job. Yesterday he spent the day on the road getting two 360 AMC engines. Today was tearing them all down and cleaning up and sorting out the parts. They are able to mix match from all three engines however out of the three not one had a good cam or cam bearings luckily a machinist in the area has some good bearings to pick up in the morning. There just isn’t time to get another cam because of shipping time constraints. So we will deal with what we have. Neil and Larry are confident it will all work as all tolerances are on the good end of good. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. It’s been a very stressful week for us. Neil will need to leave Monday or Tuesday to meet me in Virginia next Saturday!

Wrangler Talk:

First episode with our new host, Bill Gushue

Hello to all my fellow Jeepers and Jeep Friends and welcome to the new Wrangler talk. On today’s Wrangler talk we are going to be covering Gear Ratios, how to choose the correct gear ratio for your jeep, style of driving that you mostly do and why it is important to do lots of planning before you make this major modification. First off Jeep has done a lot of research and development and planning in choosing the correct gear ratio for your jeep from the factory and this plays a huge part in the gear ratio that you want to choose when you finally make that decision to change gears. The biggest reason is as a Jeeper mostly all of us want to put bigger tires on our rigs and when we put those bigger tires on the jeep we are changing a major factor in all that planning that Jeep did for us from the factory. So let’s, start with what a gear ratio is, and that is the numerical value of rotations that the drive shaft has to make to make the tires spin one full rotation. For example, if you have 4.88 gears like I am running on my 2015 wrangler, that means that my drive shaft that is going to my rear differential must spin 4.88 times for my tires to make one full rotation. This leads us to the next most common question people ask me when we are taking about gear ratios and gear sets is how do I tell what gears I have in my jeep. Well the first way is to look on your window sticker you got when you purchased your Jeep, but we may have not bought our jeep new or lost that sticker and looking it up through your vin is very difficult. So, the easiest way to figure out that gears are in your jeep is to have a friend’s help and jack up the rear end of your jeep and place a mark on your tire at noon or 6 and a mark on your drive shaft with some chalk. Then have your friend watch the tire that you marked as you rotate the rear drive shaft and count the amount of rotations that it takes so make one full rotation of the tire. Finally, to the good stuff, how to calculate the new gear size that you are going to need when you put those beefier tires on your jeep. So for this you are going to need to need 3 numbers to calculate your new gear set. These three numbers that you are going to need and that is your original Stock Tire size, the stock gear set that came with your jeep from the factory, and the last number you are going to need is your desired tire size So with these three number you are going to use a very simple equation to calculate the new tire size. For this equation you are going to take you original Factory gear set size and multiple that with your new desired tire size. Then you are going to divide that number by your factory tire size. This is going to give you the new gear set size that you will need to get your jeep back to the factory gear ratio that jeep did when designing your jeep for you. So you might come to a point now that you are trying to find that new desired gear set size and discover that the number that you calculated for your new gear set is between two different gear set sizes when you are looking online And this is where your style and type of driving that you mostly do. So if you are sitting between two different gear set size there are some things to consider. A numerically higher gear set size will need more rotations from the drive shaft to spin your tires and in turn your engine will run a higher RPM and vice versa with a lower gear set size. So this mean that is the numerically higher in the gear set will be causing your engine to have to make more rotations to spin your tires one time so out on the highway you will have to run at higher rpms to achieve the cruising speed you are looking for. Although there is a trade off with a higher gear ratio you will feel more torque and power at the lower end speeds and it will be a bit easier for your drive train to spin those beefier tires you are looking for. And vice versa with a numerically lower gear set size your engine will not have to run at a higher rpm on this highway when at that highway cruising speed but when driving at that speed your jeep might struggle with the amount of power that you will have readily available when trying to pass someone or traveling up a hill. So if you keep these few tips in mind when you are choosing your new upgrades gear set, it will make this decision much easier. And this concludes today’s wrangler tech talk and please if you have any further questions or comments please our contact page at jeeptalkshow.com/contact. Please tune into next week’s tech talk we will be talking about Lockers and the different types of lockers on the market.

Interview with:

Brett Petersen is the Vice President &  co-owner of J-BARR INC. J-BARR INC. Manufactures and sells the J-BARR. The j-Barr is a complete Jeep hardtop removal hoist and storage system. The system works with both wranglers and the new gladiator and is manufactured in the USA. To find out more please visit www.j-Barr.com

Tech Talk With Jeep Talk:

3.6L Pentastar V6 operating temp (about 7 mins) 

Can you direct me to any episodes where u discuss Jeep JK engine temperatures and fan operation? I’m a new JK owner… 2017 Rubicon. I’ve heard stories of the cooling fan on the new JL is really loud… at what temp?  My JK has never been above 228 degrees and my fan is always quiet..Will it get loud and at what temp? I’m not used to an engine running this hot.

Signed – Mike P. 

Many of the newer engine manufacturer’s have designed today’s more modern motors to run a little hotter than the engines of yester-year. This is primarily to help burn off emissions and the other things that come out of gasoline engines that the EPA and eco-nuts have deemed will kill us all. Operating temps about 10 degrees above what we consider “normal” are now the new normal. That being said, normal operating temps in the 220’s under normal driving conditions (nominal engine load, no heavy cargo/towing, not too many giant hill climbs, no wide open throttle accelerations, etc.) is pretty normal for a 2017 JK/JKU with the 3.6L engine. . HOWEVER…. That’s not to say there isn’t room for some “improvement” but I’m using that term loosely here. A cold or “cooler” running engine may not perform as well as a warmed up engine, or one running at a normal operating temp. Acceleration, throttle response, economy, all will be affected if the engine is running below its intended operating range. There are many Wranglers of that generation (more common in the 14-15 model years) that had some issues with the cooling system collecting sediment. This sediment would build up in some of the passages in the radiator and other places along the cooling system and cause issues like leaks, pressure build-ups (think hot spots – as the higher the pressure of the coolant, the higher it’s temperature) and even cooling system performance issues or outright failures. Going back to the pressure issue…. Radiator caps are designed to allow the pressure in the cooling system to build up so that it can pull away more heat. An under pressurized cooling system will not perform as well as one that is under the correct pressure. Many shops will test your cap for free or do it while you get your oil changed (if that is something you have done and not do yourself.) You CAN rent the tool that will test your radiator cap from SOME parts stores, but not all, so call around if this is something you think you can do yourself. If your Wrangler has seen many freeway miles, or a lot of trail miles (or both), there is a chance that the radiator might have some debris buildup. Bugs, dirt, mud, and road tar can all build up across the thin fins that are the heat-sink of the radiator. If these fins and the passages between them get clogged up with bugs, tar, or mud, the cooling system as a whole then cannot move enough air across the radiator for it to do its job properly. Also, in this same spirit of decreased airflow, there can be an issue with aftermarket coolers getting in the way. For instance… lets say an aftermarket oil cooler, transmission cooler, AND a power steering fluid cooler are all placed in front of the radiator. This is going to decrease air flow across the radiator, AND even supply a source of pre-heated air to move from one cooler across the radiator basically simulating a giant hair dryer in front of your jeep robbing the cooling system of cool air for the radiator. Another thing to think of: Thermostats don’t last forever. This is a device that is meant to be swapped out over time and miles. The thermostat is one of the main devices in the cooling system that controls the regulation of the vehicle’s temperature. They can clog up with debris from the system, get sticky over time and not operate as well as they should, or just plain and simply fail. For $20-$40 and an hours worth of work (or less) this may be something to look into, but please don’t take this as advice to start throwing money and parts at a problem before identifying whether or not you even have a problem (and more importantly) what’s causing said problem. So here is my advice moving forward: Do a ridiculously thorough examination of every square inch of your radiator (and the rest of the cooling system too.) You may even want to remove the top of the core support (the metal body/part going across the top of the radiator.) to look for signs of small leaks. Closely scrutinize the areas of the radiator where the body of the radiator meets the tanks (sides) of itself. These seams are the most common spots for leaks to form, but are by no means the only places it can develop a leak. Have the system flushed, or do it yourself, and pay close attention to whether there is any evidence of sediment in the system. If having this done by a shop, be sure to convey this to the techs that are actually going to be doing the work, not just the person behind the desk writing the work order. If there IS evidence of sediment in the cooling system, you will likely want to start looking at replacing the radiator very soon. If you DO decide to do a flush yourself, be sure to refill the system with the RIGHT COOLANT! – I’ve seen it too many times where someone wasn’t paying attention and just went for the pre-mixed green stuff. The 3.6L Pentastar engines requires the orange colored OAT (Organic Acid Technology) formula coolant. This is the stuff meets all the requirements to ensure you aren’t creating jello in your engine or eating away the different plastic and metal components that make up the cooling system. During your overly cautious and super intense examination of your cooling system, pay attention to fittings, the area around the water pump, and even the hoses going to and from the thermostat and heater core. Also keep a nostril or two open for the smell of coolant. If you don’t know what this smells like, pop the radiator cap and have a sniff. But for the love of god, do this with the engine off and cool! If you notice that same smell in the cab of the Jeep, or coming thru the vents at all, this could be a sign of a leak somewhere else in the system, and possibly be the heater core leaking. (the heater core is a small radiator like device embedded in the blower housing that either turns hot or cold and supplies you with hot or cool air as the blower motor moves air across it and into the cab.) Have the radiator cap tested, ensuring that it is allowing the system to come up to the proper pressure. If all else looks good, and this is just something you cannot live with, then you have some options. The easiest is going to be using a tuner, or programmer. These aftermarket devices, can allow the driver to change certain factory settings in the Jeeps operating system. For instance, the JK/JKU Wrangler has a three speed fan for the cooling system. The low speed fan is set to come on somewhere around 215° – 225° or so, and will ramp up from there. The mid/high speed fans come on when the AC is turned on or when the operating temps reach above 229 degrees or thereabouts. To be honest, I cant remember off the top of my head the EXACT coolant temperature threshold parameters for the JK’s/JKU’s, but i know i’m close. That “loudness” that people talk about in the fan is just the difference between the more common low speed fan setting and the occasional high speed setting coming on. If you only occasionally hear the high speed side of things kick on, then it may seem abnormal to the untrained ear and will obviously be “louder” as the fan is spinning at a higher RPM and moving more air. A tuner, or programmer from companies like Diablo may be an option for you. Some chip/programmer/tuner companies don’t offer fan threshold setting adjustments in their software, so you may need to do some research there to get what fits your needs. These programmers can open up a whole new world of performance out of your Jeep so don’t be dissuaded by some of the price tags. With the DiabloSport tuners, you can bring that fan setting down to come on earlier in the temperature range. For instance, you can adjust the threshold for the low speed fan to come on at say 205 degrees, instead of the factory setting which is much higher. This may help keep things cooler, but again, that may or may not be what you need. Also take this into consideration, if you DO have a cooling system issue, and it is not addressed properly, changing a setting is only going to mask the problem and delay it from showing up until things get much much worse. I don’t think I have to explain why this can be bad.

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