Koyo Aluminum Radiator

[daren_p]

I've searched the koyo radiator on here but there doesn't seem to be to much info on it. I was looking at purchasing one of these as my temps have risen about 10 deg after the fmic install and I would like to get it back down to 196, where it ran before or maybe slightly lower. How are these as far as fit? everything is a 100% bolt on? and how well do these perform? I have been told they work better then fluidyne as the have a larger core and lately I've seen a bunch of cars in the magazines that are running them. Koyo is a new name to me I just want to make sure its as good or better then the big names like fluidyne, griffan etc.

 

[talon96tsi]

ive heard that its hard to warm your car up with the fluidyne, and ive heard that that problem isnt as prevailent with koyo's though i have no experience with them myself, this is just what i have been told by people that have them.

 

[poorboyj]

Hmm, how is it possibly that a larger radiator causes delayed warm up? Please give us mre information on this.

 

[pboglio]

Sorry, no KOYO, I have the Fluidyne myself. I also have a FMIC and temps were around 203-206*F. I got the temps down to 193-196*F but the upgraded radiator itself was only partly responsible.

The larger radiators have larger water capacities, potentially delaying warm up even with the thermostat in the closed position. In reality, I had normal warm ups UNTIL I wired my fan to operate continuously. Don't worry about warm ups, worry more about how high speed air is gonna make it to your thicker/denser radiator.

 

[oldman]

Daren, what kind of fans are you running with the setup?

 

[BaddAssGst]

Definitely spend the money on a good set of fans. Sure a radiator will help but that's an expensive fix for over heating. Cut the bumper if necessary or use ducts to flow air into the radiator. Or, like I did, you can cut your bumper support in the middle (which is what actually made my temps go down).

Also, is it running hotter at idle or while your cruising?

 

[c5chris]

You want your car to run cooler but also run at the optimum temp (normally 200*F) when cruising. This makes sure you boil out the water that makes it in your engine (through humidity from your intake/ambient air). You will reach 200 F eventually, just do not do WOT until you get over 150*F. If you run too cold, you also see your mpg go down since the oil remains

Guys with turbos do not have to worry about water in their intake and mixing with oil (unless it is a huge amount) since the hot turbo will take care most of it.

An aluminum radiator with a bigger core will help guys that run FMICs since DSMs do not have a real functioning grille. Once you have an FMIC, you cover the mouth that feeds the radiator. I have heard complaints from local guys that run excessive temps after they installed their Greddys.

If you can run your engine cooler, you prolong its life. This is what the old hotrodders tell you, but then again, their engines are far from what we run now - OHV/pushrods vs. DOHC Mivec/Vtec/VVti/etc.

If you live in sunny Cali/Texas/Arizona and sport an FMIC - go for it, it is a must. They are thick though so you need a slim fan to accomodate your turbo. The stock fan is awesome though and I hate to get rid of it.

 

[thegreatms]

This makes sure you boil out the water that makes it in your engine (through humidity from your intake/ambient air).

Boiling water at 200*?? Why do want to boil any water?

That seems odd, as many people inject water into the UPIC or TB elbow. While you seem to want to boil it (why is gaseous better than liquid??). Also how is the coolant temperature going to have anything to do with the intake track air temperature.

 

[oztofrdm]

i was having a over heating problem when i put my fmic in. what solved it was a step colder therm. and i cut the float out of it. No more problems and my operating temp is at 190-200 but closer to 190.

 

[oztofrdm]

if i was gonna upgrade the radiator i would get a duel core aluminum Honda rad. for less weight and roomsaving. I have only seen a handful of dsm's do this tho

 

[daren_p]

Daren, what kind of fans are you running with the setup?

Well currently I'm running the stock fans, but I would imagine with the thicker rad I will need a set of slim fans. I already have one 12 or 14" (can't remember) mr gasket slim fan that flows 1400 cfm that I purchased with the fmic becuase I thought I would need it but in the end was able to make it work with the stock fans no problem. I think I would go with the fal dual fan setup, its expensive but seems to work very well.

The car only run's 5-10 deg warmer while crusing, it still runs the same 210 (I believe) while sitting, when the fans turn on.

I only had this setup on for a couple weeks in the fall before the car went into storage so I don't know how it will do when I see some real summer heat.

 

[oldman]

I'm currently running a 12" and a 9" fan with the Buschur fmic, I suggest trying the higher flow slim fans first, you might not need the aluminum radiator at all.

 

[GSX_RCR]

Another "tip" for you guys having overheating issues with a large FMIC, is to seal off the bottom of the bumper so that the air coming in through the front opening actually goes through the FMIC and radiator, instead of around them. Also seal off the top portion of the bumper area by the lock mechanism.

 

[Budget90GST]

Maybe a little off topic but the stock sidemount intercooler off my talon had the name KOYO stamped on the bottom of it. I don'tknow...

 

[daren_p]

I'm currently running a 12" and a 9" fan with the Buschur fmic, I suggest trying the higher flow slim fans first, you might not need the aluminum radiator at all.

Im taking it that you just have the fans run all the time? Mine are still wired like stock & I can turn them on all the time with dsmlink but I didn't want to do that, I would rather have them not running while cruising. I was hopeing just an upgraded rad would do this for me.

As far as sealing/ducting, my ic core sits tight against the front bumper cover and I kept as much of the factory shrouding as I could and just cut out the section where the ic core goes. If I recall the only spot for air to escape before the rad would be at the sides as I don't think there is much there from the factory.

I don't think I'll have a huge overheating issue, just running slightly warmer then stock but I think it would be best to keep it at the stock 196. My core isn't super restrictive like some of the cores out there, its a victory performance unit and from what I was told they don't seem to have problems with these actually overheating. Its a bar & plate core but when I look through I can actually see through it whereas when I looked through my HRC sidemount I basically couldn't see through it.

 

[oldman]

Im taking it that you just have the fans run all the time? Mine are still wired like stock & I can turn them on all the time with dsmlink but I didn't want to do that, I would rather have them not running while cruising. I was hopeing just an upgraded rad would do this for me.

Nope, both wired to the passinger (radiator) side harness triggered by the sensor.

 

[daren_p]

Nope, both wired to the passinger (radiator) side harness triggered by the sensor.

Oh okay, this confused me maybe I read your earlier post wrong. Why would replacing my stock fans with higher flowing slim fans make a difference when Im cruising and the fans aren't on?

 

[oldman]

Oh okay, this confused me maybe I read your earlier post wrong. Why would replacing my stock fans with higher flowing slim fans make a difference when Im cruising and the fans aren't on?

I wasn't aware your question was based on specific parameters, my bad, I thought you were having cooling issues in general. My fans do come on sometimes during cruising due to the front mount.

 

[Defiant]

ive heard that its hard to warm your car up with the fluidyne, and ive heard that that problem isnt as prevailent with koyo's though i have no experience with them myself, this is just what i have been told by people that have them.

You heard from someone whose thermostat wasn't working. Radiator size, once it's large enough, won't affect the running temperature of a healthy engine.

Before You Reply:

3. Don't try to help if you don't know the answer - bad advice can be worse than no advice (no "I think" or "I guess" or "I've heard").

 

[Defiant]

i was having a over heating problem when i put my fmic in. what solved it was a step colder therm. and i cut the float out of it. No more problems and my operating temp is at 190-200 but closer to 190.

Float? WTF

 

[ericbev]

This is the stuff we run in our BB corvette. Bigblocks in C2s are notorious for running hot so this is one of our fixes. Its not cheap but its gets the job done.

http://www.evanscooling.com/main25.htm

There is alot of information on their site regarding typical characteristics or your standard cooling systems. How things work etc. The technical info section has alot in it.

 

[pboglio]

I was very disappointed when I installed my upgraded radiator. It did very little to drop my coolant temps if anything. What worked was a 30/70 coolant & water mix, then a bottle of water wetter, in addition to running the passenger side fan constantly. What dropped my temps a further 3*F was installing a chin spoiler. That thing actually helped the coolant temps to drop faster after a 3rd gear pull, kinda weird but datalogs don't lie. Stupid cheap stuff worked the best. Fancy blingy aftermarket radiators did very little for me.

I also went a little above and beyond and pulled the condensor core, although I wish I hadn't as it actually did nothing to further drop my temps. The thing has a very open fin density and is thin to begin with.

 

[daren_p]

Hmm 3 deg from just a chin spoiler. Thats interesting to know, I was planning on adding one of these just because I think the front looks like its missing something. Is it anything special? I was just looking for the thin one's 1/4" or so that stick out from the front of the car an 1" or so. Im currently running a 50/50 mixture and water wetter. I don't really want to start changing the ratio becuase the car gets dame cold in storage in the middle of winter (not heated) and I don't want to have to worry about things freezing/cracking. So the aftermarket rads don't really do much for our cars? I haven't done alot of searching but I had always heard positive things.

So my car doesn't run that hot, sitting in traffic etc. when the fans come on it will stay at the same temp it always has. While crusing as far as I know its not getting warm enough for the fans to automatically come on, sits @ 200-205 according to dsmlink. I would like to get it back down to the 196 cruising, no fans, I was seeing before the fmic. I thought a better rad would be my solution, but maybe not?

 

[Budget90GST]

Search for thread with username "Tarantula" in it. He had a whole write up on what he tried to get his cruising temps back in line after installing an aftermarket FMIC. I thought that my car was fine until I switched the factory boost gauge to a coolant temp sensor via DSMLINK. My crusing temps were up to 210 F according to DSMLINK. Then I took out my front bumber again and covered every little hole I can find that air can escape through and covered them with thin sheet metal. Result was cruising temp of 200 F. Nothing else was changed. Oh, I'm running stock radiator and fans with A/C still working and a Johnnyracecar FMIC. Not to say that temps don't go up when I'm sitting at a light but fans take care of that. Goodluck!

 

[pboglio]

Hmm 3 deg from just a chin spoiler. Thats interesting to know, I was planning on adding one of these just because I think the front looks like its missing something. Is it anything special? I was just looking for the thin one's 1/4" or so that stick out from the front of the car an 1" or so. Im currently running a 50/50 mixture and water wetter. I don't really want to start changing the ratio becuase the car gets dame cold in storage in the middle of winter (not heated) and I don't want to have to worry about things freezing/cracking. So the aftermarket rads don't really do much for our cars? I haven't done alot of searching but I had always heard positive things.

So my car doesn't run that hot, sitting in traffic etc. when the fans come on it will stay at the same temp it always has. While crusing as far as I know its not getting warm enough for the fans to automatically come on, sits @ 200-205 according to dsmlink. I would like to get it back down to the 196 cruising, no fans, I was seeing before the fmic. I thought a better rad would be my solution, but maybe not?

Well, I made an aluminum air dam, about 24" wide and 2" deep. Then I installed it directly below and behind the front bumper lip, bolted in place and tucked away. What it theoretically does is trip the airflow and drops the pressure directly behind the radiator. Does it work? I believe it does and I could see it on the logger realtime. Its not so much the temperature drop it provides, but the ability to rapidly suck the temps back down after a hard run. Usually takes a road speed of 40 mph to see an affect from it, don't ask me how but thats what I noticed during extensive road testing.

You can't have it all I'm afraid. There is no physical way you can place a huge restriction in front of a radiator and expect it to cool the same. My car is good now but I wouldn't dare step foot on a roadcourse, I know better. I compare my DSM to my STi. That thing has an under & over bumper radiator air duct. If I slapped on a FMIC it would make zilch difference to airflow getting to the radiator.

Only other ideas I have are external oil cooler mounted in the side bumper ducts, or a hood vent ala Road Race Engineering.