GermanLSX

Hey my fellow americans. My Cooling system and radiator on my Z28 finally is showing signs of tiredness with a small crack in the plastic sides and in it that sprays coolant when it gets hot. Was wondering what its step above a stock one? Im surprised the stock one made it this far with 40 GPM with high water pressure on the original radiator. Im still driving but having to fill the system with about 1 gallon every time before I go to work.

The car had been getting noticeably hotter when cruising 150kmh and cools down at 220kmh. I guess because more air flow at higher speeds. Checked the fans and they work normal.

3rd thing is water is leaking out the little hole in the bottom of the water pump. I hear that is when water pump is ready to be replaced. Should I stick with a gear driven pump or electric one? I read that Electric flow 55GPM and stock flows to the amount of RPM. 3000rpm = 30gpm.

Thanks,
Adam Luckovich

MasterTomos

iTrader: (15)

What do you plan on doing with the car?

I'd just get a replacement radiator, the only upgrade really is BeCool (aka $$$$)

There are pros and cons of each style as far as the water pump goes.

speed_demon24

iTrader: (6)

Been running a becool for 8+ years now with no complaints. Coolant temp never got above 190 degrees at Sebring. As far as waterpumps the stock one outflows electrics by a mile at anything over idle.

Paul Bell

iTrader: (9)

+1 for the BeCool. Costly tho...

GermanLSX

Thanks for the quick replies. I really like the stock pump because reading on other forums and how if the electric ones fail the motor fails. I hear griffin rads are good and not too pricey. Anyone running them? But for the right now the car is just a daily driver. Nothing crazy. Just want some reassurance and have something on the car before hand incase I do mod the car for more performance.

speed_demon24

iTrader: (6)

Another thing to consider is the RK sport air dam that's another couple inches lower than the stock one. I only run it at the track since it scrapes quite a bit on my lowered car, but if your stock height it should be fine. It will probably help with aero too.

RamAir95TA

iTrader: (2)

A stock radiator is more than enough for what you want and then some. The aluminum aftermarket ones offer very little if no advantage over stock for a pretty penny.

streetwarrior96

had my OEM radiator recapped at a local radiator shop, running EWP, 160 Thermo and fans programmed. Runs at 190-195 deg all day with the A/C on in 100 degree weather.

speed_demon24

iTrader: (6)

Yeah there's no advantage to this.



Coolant temps went from 250 running at 50% throttle short shifting at 4500-5k to 190 running 100% on the track with another 60rwhp.
Not to mention you don't have to worry about it springing a leak in another 5 years.

streetwarrior96

^^^ Yea I can definitely see someone upgrading to this if their car sees a good amount of track time. Like you said, don't have to worry about springing leaks. Dad just spent a little under $500 for a radiator for his GTO.

RamAir95TA

iTrader: (2)

If your coolant temps were 250 you had something else going on. My ****'s NEVER gone above 200 with the stock radiator sitting in traffic or hot-lapping at Cecil in the summer.

But hey, if you've got money to burn, why not?

Paul Bell

iTrader: (9)

It's my educated opinion the GM installs cooling systems that are barely adequate for their application. Having the oil and transmission cooler in the radiator's tanks HEATS the oil and trans fluid when the situation is hot and the cooling system is at it's limitations. And the stock LT1 oil "cooler" really isn't a true cooler.

In my experience, most GM cooling systems, once approaching their maximum cooling limitations due to outside temperature and traffic, can't effectively perform.

In other words, the hotter they get, the harder it is for the system to cool itself down again.

A larger capacity radiator is the answer here. Better fans, water pump, etc. all help in small percentages. The big leap in better cooling is ditching the stock radiator for a true high capacity unit with metal end tanks.

OEM style radiators are crap. Once while running hot, the plastic hose end sheared off and without it, the hose popped off and dumped. I'll NEVER trust the plastic end tanks on radiators again.

joelster

x2

Most cooling issues that i've seen involve broken or missing air dams.

GermanLSX

Isnt that this?http://www.hawksthirdgenparts.com/pr...m-Air-Kit.html

Looks like a cool thing for airflow to radiator.

GermanLSX

Thing looks great! Saw photos of the comparisons to the LT1 vs LS1 rad and the LS1 was thinner. lol Why is that? A thicker core would help my situation since my car gets a lot of heat during the summer and im constantly beating the thing to death on a daily basis according to american style driving. Im impressed by how much these cars take with all the trash talk they get. My car when I first got it ran around 180 and with the crack runs ~210-20

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

You can get carried away with core thickness since it can reduce airflow.

Far as electrics they are free flow rated whereas the data we have on the stocker is in the circulating system fighting the restrictions like radiator and thermostat etc.

On my car in 40degree weather the car ran hotter on the highway than in the city with the electric waterpump. Was only like 3-4 degrees but shows that with 4.10s at a 70-75mph cruise is already beginning to lose control. They are adequate for most use, but not a cooling upgrade.

Jon A

Yes, you could definitely benefit from a better radiator. The Be-Cool listed above is outstanding, and Griffen also makes quality replacements with a variety of core sizes. Don't worry about the core getting too thick for your application, it's a non-issue.
Yes, you have this working in your favor. Lots of free airflow--just make sure you're using it. Don't worry about the fans as they do nothing at these speeds (actually you could remove them entirely for the high speed runs as long as you didn't slow down very long).

What you do want to worry about is making the free ram air flow go through the radiator. Make sure all the little bits of plastic, seals, etc, that seal the airpath to the condenser and between the condenser and radiator are intact. You want every molecule of air that goes under the nose to have to go through the radiator. The extended airdam Speed mentioned above will help as well.
As mentioned when measure on an apples to apples basis the stock will outflow the electric at anything much above idle. Replace your pump with a stock replacement, it's all that's needed if the two things above are taken care of.

Neither of those things puts more than a small fraction of the load on the cooling system as doing what the OP does, much less lapping a roadcourse as Speed was talking about.

Paul Bell

iTrader: (9)

Because the LS1 engine needs a little less cooling system capacity than the LT1, they were able to save a few dollars and reduce the radiator's size.

Bare minimum parts and capacity is how GM does cooling.

z_speedfreak

iTrader: (3)

Ive got a be-cool that came with the car otherwise i cudnt justify the price.it runs real cool tho with stock wp and 160tstat, never seen it above 185 and that includes autobahn style driving @ 145 for 3+ hrs in the summer

streetwarrior96

That reverse flow cooling system design just sucks