Improve The Cooling Of Your Wrangler, Part 2: Prototype Fitment and Testing

Posted: March 11, 2015

Categories: Jeep Wrangler YJ/TJ Fan Shroud Kit 1987-2006

Tags: yj, wrangler, tj, teammishi, rock, offroad, mishimoto, jeep, featured, 4x4, 4.0l

Interested in purchasing our YJ/TJ electric fan setup? Check out more details on our product page linked below.

Mishimoto Jeep Wrangler YJ and TJ Performance Fan Shroud Kit

Wrangler test vehicles in shop

Now that we had our initial shroud prototype prepared for testing, we installed it on the stock radiator and the Mishimoto aluminum radiator. We wanted to ensure that it fit perfectly and that it enclosed the full length and height of both radiator cores. Once complete, it was time to test the shroud within the engine bays of our test vehicles.

Mishimoto prototype installed on stock radiator

Jeep YJ Test Fitting

YJ test vehicle

First, we removed the stock mechanical fan.

Mechanical fan removed

Once the stock system was out of the way we dropped our prototype into position.

Mishimoto prototype installed

The electric fan was then bolted to the shroud.

Mishimoto prototype installed

On the 4.0L we need to pay close attention to the clearance between the water pump pulley and our electric fan.

Mishimoto prototype fan clearance

Clearance here is a bit tight. We will be making a few adjustments to the design to provide more space between these two components, but for testing, this will work just fine. Other than the clearance issue, the shroud fit perfectly and looked like a very clean upgrade to the stock setup.

Jeep TJ Test Fitting

TJ test vehicle

Time to pop the hood of our TJ and sort out the fitment on this vehicle. It will be interesting to see how much additional engine bay space we uncover on the 4-cylinder model.

TJ test vehicle

We then removed the stock clutch fan and installed our prototype.

Mishimoto prototype installed

Plenty of clearance here!

Prototype Testing

Time to see if this setup can keep our YJ test vehicle cool at idle. We conducted several tests with the Jeeps at idle to ensure that our fan setup could efficiently regulate fluid temperatures. Here are a few shots from testing.