Going to take the front bumper apart tonight to get down and dirty with it. There’s a radiator shroud covering all of it.
The question I’m really curious about is what the heck did the previous owner do to the cooling system!
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Probably not much… plastic end cap radiators suck by nature. If you can get a finger in the radiator rub it around in there and see if you come out with a bunch of sludge. They could’ve put water in it or even worse - stop leak.
You can take them to a radiator shop to have the tanks replaced. That is if you don’t want to buy a new one.
Looks like new one on ebay is $60?
Probably not a bad idea to put a filter in the coolant loop too.
Don’t forget to try a bore-scope you may be able to see what you need without unnecessary disassembly.
Do we have any at the space?
Yeah I think I want to blow up all the cooling system. eBay says $250~ for complete overhaul. I’m fine with that but I want to make sure the engine isn’t on it’s last leg or something else crazy haha
I bet the didn’t use hybrid organic acid (HOAT) antifreeze. I can’t speak to the chemistry behind it but non hoat antifreeze will eat the aluminum inside the timing chain cover/water jackets and coat the entire cooling system in a layer of aluminum oxide that not only inhibits heat transfer severely but embrittles the hoses much faster.
There is a thread floating around on NAGCA about a timing chain cover that pitted to the point of cracking through to timing chain galley and dumping the contents of the cooling system into the oil pan.
My guess is the previous owner disregarded all advice like this and did whatever they wanted.
Yesterday:
Heater Bypass
Tearing everything apart
Coolant is the worst, never drains properly and always dribbles.
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A WJ is not recognizable naked like that…
Shoot, I thought I cleaned it really well. I’ll be back tonight to give it another once over.
Oh haha, I’m paranoid. Was there till about 10PM yesterday LOL
There’s definitely some ATF dribbled behind on the outside concrete that I don’t know how to clean up.
Yeah I doused it in degreaser and scrubbed and it changed nothing. However I bet it will be gone in 100 rains 
Seems the “previous owner” forgot to put the gasket on the thermostat housing…
And the radiator is in a less than desirable condition…
But we’re now setup to replace any part necessary! Woo!
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Crush and grind the kitty litter into the oil stained concrete using the heel of your shoe and it will pull most of it out. I had to do that on my driveway and it worked like a champ.
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Have you figured out the electrical problem yet? That one sounds the scariest to me.
Oh yeah, forgot to update. I went back to the space the next morning, plugged in the battery and everything was good. I’m assuming there was an electrical short where the water was. Everything seems to work now but I’m going to attempt to find the short when the car is back together.
Or it could be the infamous stalling issue @snaps mentioned, in which case gotta resolder a board.
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That’s great. Knock on polished aluminum or simulated wood depending upon which trim level you happen to have.
I once had a squirrel or two get under the hood and feast on the wiring harness. The first indication of a problem was the alarm going off several times for no apparent reason. That over the Christmas holidays when I did not have to go anywhere. The first time I drove it, some random things like the speedometer did not work. They did not replace the harness, but rewired the damaged portion; it was still an expensive repair. I feared the computer unit had gone bad.
Another time, it would not start. No cranking, no click, nothing. I tried a jumper pack. It would crank and try to start, but died as soon as I released the key. Thinking my pack had trouble as well, I found someone to jump it with their vehicle; same result. The problem turned out to be a short in the battery. Again, I though I was going to be buying a new computer.
Once on a trip, Dad had various things going haywire in his car. That one turned out to be an exhaust leak causing a heat buildup in the rear bumper, melting insulation and causing shorts.
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