wrangler question

Try driving it up to Snoqualmie Pass for a weekend of skiiing, and leave it outside during one of those Cascade Range twelve inch wet snow storms. Then you'll see how long it takes to warm up. The positive side is of course the ride home when you get to hit the top from the inside and surprise any obnoxious tail gaters with a windshield full of snow.

Earle

Depends on the flavor of Jeep for heat.

The newer YJ's and TJ's with the 4.0 fuel injected engines have decent heat, the CJ's and older YJ's with the carb engine have crappy heat that can be fixed with a blower motor upgrade out of a GM. Easy job.

You also can just put a hard top on in the winter, I usually do.

You cannot scrape or bang the ice off plastic windows, you have to hit the heater on defrost and let it melt first. It does melt fast because it is just plastic.

Your name is unusual, it can be a small world sometimes. Any relation to the Boots that has a camp in Chivaree?

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Boots Crofoot wrote:

"The positive side is of course the ride home when you get to hit the top from the inside and surprise any obnoxious tail gaters with a windshield full of snow."

Hahahah.. I love doing that on my way to work in the mornings. Especially when some moron is tailgaiting me in bad road conditions.

By the way, I'm in Nebraska and haven't had any problems with the soft top (Winters have reached 0F every year I've been here. Lots of ice.). I do have hard doors, so that might make a difference. I let it warm up for a few minutes and go. I'm more than toasty before I make it to work (about 3 miles away). If I get stationed back home (Alaska), I'm going to buy a hard top. With -60F every winter, there's no way I'll use just a soft top.

Eric

HAHAHAHA true that Earle.... I haven't had any overnighters at Stevens or Snoqualmie.

Dave

My '94 Wrangler is perfectly warm in the winter. As a matter of fact, sometimes I have passengers in my car that turn the heat down! I live in Cincinnati, and we have a real mix in the winter and only see really cold weather (less than 10 degrees) for maybe two weeks or so, if at all. Sometimes we get serious artic temps (as history has recorded in the infamous Bengals' "Freezer Bowl" that had wind chills below -50 degrees) and some years we never get below the lower 20's.

The only problem I have with my Wrangler is highway speeds with wind gusts from trucks and stuff will cause your soft upper doors to pull away from its seal and allow blasts of cold air in. Many times on the highway, I'll have to run my heater full blast to compensate for it.

Those that claim CJ's and Wranglers are cold in the winter with soft tops must have never owned one...

Or you cold flex the window around a little and cause the sheets of ice to breakup and pick off smaller pieces until it's clear, if it's not rediculously cold.

I've never had my windows crack on me from touching them at temps below 40 degrees. I have this YJ since new in Sept. 93.

That is what my old employee thought too.

I have 2 shattered windows that says it don't work.

The ice cracks and the window cracks right along with it.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Put a plastic garbage bag over the door before you close it and the ice can't build up on the window. :) You could make a door cover out of awning material and slip it in over the door.

like

My '94 Wrangler is perfectly warm in the winter. As a matter of fact, sometimes I have passengers in my car that turn the heat down! I live in Cincinnati, and we have a real mix in the winter and only see really cold weather (less than 10 degrees) for maybe two weeks or so, if at all. Sometimes we get serious artic temps (as history has recorded in the infamous Bengals' "Freezer Bowl" that had wind chills below -50 degrees) and some years we never get below the lower 20's.

The only problem I have with my Wrangler is highway speeds with wind gusts from trucks and stuff will cause your soft upper doors to pull away from its seal and allow blasts of cold air in. Many times on the highway, I'll have to run my heater full blast to compensate for it.

Those that claim CJ's and Wranglers are cold in the winter with soft tops must have never owned one...

It's a derivative of the 258 (4.2L) STRAIGHT six. It's not in a V configuration at all. The 258 was an AMC design, I believe, and redesigned several times over by Chrysler/DC. It's a very durable engine, but the gas mileage in any 4WD sucks. Even as small as the Wrangler is, and packing only six cylinders, it gets similar gas mileage as my friend's Silverado Z71 with a V8.

I think Ford makes a 4.0 V6, but that's irrelevent, since the 4.0 straight six in the Wrangler is made by Daimler Chrysler, based on the AMC six.

Expect 14-18 mpg. The Wrangler has the aerodynamics of a barn door. The 4-cyl won't be much better.

• * * Matt Macchiarolo
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Just wanted to let you know the reason the doors blow open is b/c of the air pressure you are adding with the blower on high. Also, for defrosting, esp. with fogging, keep the blower on the slower speeds. Here's why: the longer the air is in contact with the heater core the hotter it gets, SO, the faster the air is moving (higher blower setting) the less heat is transfered, which equals colder air. Try it, you'll like it.

Joe (jpribe at nc.rr.com)

i wish somebody would tell mine that! im still hoping for 15mph one of these days. :-)

Jerry, I know about aerodynamic lift (high vs low pressures on opposite sides of an object in motion thru a liquid.) Just drove 90+ down the highway (its

1230am, no traffic, yes very irresponsible.) Duplicated only with my blower on. And only when hit with a crosswind, although its only slightly breezy tonight. 5-10 MPH according to NWS. The zippers and Velcro seem to dissipate enough pressure to prevent the uppers from separating. I suppose in high enough crosswinds the uppers could "leak." So, to the original poster whose soft door uppers would "leak", try this: with the door open, you sitting on the seat, put your knee at the top of the lower door half, and pull in on the top of the door upper, bending it in and making it harder for air pressure to crack the uppers open. (Steel Horse recommends this procedure for "leaking" door upper replacements.) And be gentle, you still need to be able to close the doors silly.

BTW Jerry, the Geezer is awesome!