Cooling issue. Radiator experts come in.
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Cooling issue. Radiator experts come in. Long story short. My car runs very hot. I have a 22x19x3" radiator sitting behind a 4" intercooler. I have a 160* thermo in the car and with both fans(16" pusher/12"puller) the temp always climbs but settles to around 195-200 on days that are under 80*. The temps never go back down once they go up unless I go down a long hill in neutral. On days like yesterday where it was 100* out my temps went up to around 225 and stayed up there no matter how light I was on the gas.
Last year before the turbo setup with the cammed nitrous setup I had the factory 350z 5/8" thick radiator with one of the two factory crap fans on and the temps never went above 185 no matter how hard I beat on the car and no matter how hot it was. All the factory shrouding is on the car. I know theres def. not enough air passing through to cool it down and my question is this...
Would switching from a 22x19x3" to a 24x19x2" (1" skinnier) help with my cooling issues at all?..it doesnt seem like the fans can really push through the 3" core. Or could I even step down to a 22x19x1.25"--or would that be too small?
Last year before the turbo setup with the cammed nitrous setup I had the factory 350z 5/8" thick radiator with one of the two factory crap fans on and the temps never went above 185 no matter how hard I beat on the car and no matter how hot it was. All the factory shrouding is on the car. I know theres def. not enough air passing through to cool it down and my question is this...
Would switching from a 22x19x3" to a 24x19x2" (1" skinnier) help with my cooling issues at all?..it doesnt seem like the fans can really push through the 3" core. Or could I even step down to a 22x19x1.25"--or would that be too small?
I have this radiator in my turbo'd rx7 and haven't had overheating issues. I have hood vents though and I can see the heat pouring out at stoplights etc. I also have a similar fan setup.
The core is only 2.25"
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/GRI-1-25221-X/
The core is only 2.25"
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/GRI-1-25221-X/
Long story short. My car runs very hot. I have a 22x19x3" radiator sitting behind a 4" intercooler. I have a 160* thermo in the car and with both fans(16" pusher/12"puller) the temp always climbs but settles to around 195-200 on days that are under 80*. The temps never go back down once they go up unless I go down a long hill in neutral. On days like yesterday where it was 100* out my temps went up to around 225 and stayed up there no matter how light I was on the gas.
Last year before the turbo setup with the cammed nitrous setup I had the factory 350z 5/8" thick radiator with one of the two factory crap fans on and the temps never went above 185 no matter how hard I beat on the car and no matter how hot it was. All the factory shrouding is on the car. I know theres def. not enough air passing through to cool it down and my question is this...
Would switching from a 22x19x3" to a 24x19x2" (1" skinnier) help with my cooling issues at all?..it doesnt seem like the fans can really push through the 3" core. Or could I even step down to a 22x19x1.25"--or would that be too small?
Last year before the turbo setup with the cammed nitrous setup I had the factory 350z 5/8" thick radiator with one of the two factory crap fans on and the temps never went above 185 no matter how hard I beat on the car and no matter how hot it was. All the factory shrouding is on the car. I know theres def. not enough air passing through to cool it down and my question is this...
Would switching from a 22x19x3" to a 24x19x2" (1" skinnier) help with my cooling issues at all?..it doesnt seem like the fans can really push through the 3" core. Or could I even step down to a 22x19x1.25"--or would that be too small?
Here is a picture of my radiator before the shroud and fans were on. You can see how much bigger my intercooler is compared to my Radiator.
If you want I can get you in contact with my builder and I am 100% sure he can mod to what you got if its alum. If not build you a one off prob cheaper then anyone around. Guy is a wizard.
My turbo'd rx7 (fc) has the same radiator as czwalga00gt with a 3" vertical row IC in front of it. I also have hood vents, but it is also ducted to take advantage of the low pressure areas. With a 160* thermo it runs at 160-170* on the freeway regardless of ambient. when sitting it will go up into the 200's when ambient is over 90-95. This is with 2 10" unshrouded puller fans.
Going to a thinner core may help a bit but only if it truly is a airflow issue.
Do some good ducting and a hood vent and you will be very surprised how much it helps when moving.
I also put in an oil cooler which helped too.
Going to a thinner core may help a bit but only if it truly is a airflow issue.
Do some good ducting and a hood vent and you will be very surprised how much it helps when moving.
I also put in an oil cooler which helped too.
Last edited by rx_treme; Jul 9, 2010 at 11:25 AM.
might be a stupid question, but do you have the fans wired properly ?
when i wired mine i used hp tuners to trigger the fans on and then made sure they where flowing in the right direction and then i soldered everything
when i wired mine i used hp tuners to trigger the fans on and then made sure they where flowing in the right direction and then i soldered everything
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Fans are def. wired properly. What about the waterpump? One thing I noticed is that if im doing down hill in idle the temps dont move but at the bottom of the hill as soon as I put it in gear and start to move the temp drops about 10* quickly but then starts climbing again. Even at idle..with the 160* thermostat it shoots all the way up to 190 and then slows right around there..the only time I see 160 is in the morning when I go down a hill thats about 2 miles long coasting..
The radiator is a double pass and I just read somewhere that it reduces flow 16x over a standard radiator and isnt recommended for the street..anyone ever hear of this?
The radiator is a double pass and I just read somewhere that it reduces flow 16x over a standard radiator and isnt recommended for the street..anyone ever hear of this?
Last edited by Snyper; Jul 14, 2010 at 07:08 AM.
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Also, the Fans only control the cooling while you are at very slow speeds. If you are have cooling issues at all speeds, something else is to blame. Making the core smaller would definitely not help your problem. If you are have cooling issues while at high speeds, check airflow. Even having your fans stay on above 40mph could negatively impact airflow. Also make sure that once air enters your grill opening, that it has nowhere to go except through the radiator. Air might be finding it's way around it.
What we really need to know first is if you still run hot while cruising on the freeway.
What we really need to know first is if you still run hot while cruising on the freeway.
This is going to sound cheesy but take your bumper off and make some ducting out of cardboard and duct tape, seal every air hole off around the IC/Rad and give it another whirl. It should hold up at freeway speeds. This will tell you if its a ducting or airflow problem. If it fixes it try it again with bumper on and go from there, eventually make another duct from AL.. You actually should be able to cruise at freeway speeds with no fans.
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This is going to sound cheesy but take your bumper off and make some ducting out of cardboard and duct tape, seal every air hole off around the IC/Rad and give it another whirl. It should hold up at freeway speeds. This will tell you if its a ducting or airflow problem. If it fixes it try it again with bumper on and go from there, eventually make another duct from AL.. You actually should be able to cruise at freeway speeds with no fans.
As you can see theres a huge opening on the passenger side where the air from the bumper can go right past the intercooler
Should I just put a flat piece of alum to cover that space in the bumper?? I dont think its possible to angle it to have air directed towards the intercooler..
