Cooling Issues running a fluidyne half rad

Gsxy99 · 05-08-2008, 10:03 PM

Okay heres my dilema... I run a full race manifold, which means a full size rad will no longer fit. Im now running a fluidyne half rad.

Where do i begin. I constantly have to fill up the rad, and my overflow bottle is full to the brim constantly pissing out into the street. After filling up the rad, and doing street tuning for an hour, the water temp was consistant at 180deg and the car was not over heating at all. Then on the way home much later cruising at 60 on the highway, water temp and stock temp gauge skyrockets. This happens on a daily basis.

Pulled the car over near a walgreens, let the car cool down... Get some water at walgreens, pop the cap off on the rad itself. Bone dry? My water pump is fine, the stat is brand new nor is it upside down, and my headgasket is mint, nor are there any leaks in any off the coolant lines.

The system has two coolant caps, one on the stat.housing, and one on the rad itself. The rad cap is 16psi, and the cap on the stat housing i am unsure of, it could be higher. Do you think two different pressured caps could be causing this issue? Higher pressure on the stat housing causing all the coolant to escape to the overflow and not reach the rad?

Should I just have the cap on the rad welded shut or wut? Or just make sure i have two caps matching in pressure. I mean little shit like this is driving me crazy. I know the half rad will never cool as well as a full but, when shes not overheating due to what ever the problem is, she runs consistantly cool no problem

Spyder4g64 · 05-08-2008, 10:17 PM

Step #1 - Make sure that the fan is turning on.

Step #2 - Are you 100% positive that the fan on that radiator is pushing air through the Radiator, and not Pulling it through the radiator from the engine bay?

Gsxy99 · 05-08-2008, 10:21 PM

Yes the fan is definetly working, I have it on constant with aemems... And the fan is working properly... I know the fan isnt not helping the situation, im going to switch over to a pull thru, but something else is the issue here.

thanks for the suggestion though, appreciated.

madman · 05-08-2008, 10:22 PM

Did you double check the direction the fan on the radiator is blowing/pulling ?

I installed slim fans and wired them backwards and they were blowing through the radiator instead of pulling air in towards the engine bay. With the car stopped or light driving where the fan did not kick on it was ok. Not until I got on the highway did it start to overheat. The fan would kick on and blow hot air against the incoming outside cool air and trap the heat at the radiator.

Just a thought.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spyder4g64

Step #1 - Make sure that the fan is turning on.

Step #2 - Are you 100% positive that the fan on that radiator is pushing air through the Radiator, and not Pulling it through the radiator from the engine bay?

lol.... I took too long to write mine and you beat me too it.

Spyder4g64 · 05-08-2008, 10:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spyder4g64

Step #1 - Make sure that the fan is turning on.

Step #2 - Are you 100% positive that the fan on that radiator is pushing air through the Radiator, and not Pulling it through the radiator from the engine bay?

Yes I'm quoting myself because i just asked that.

I don't know about that cap on the radiator. It seems like the fluid might be draining out of there into the overflow..

Also, where is the overflow located in the engine bay?

Gsxy99 · 05-08-2008, 10:29 PM

the overflow is mounted in the passanger side fender well.. I know the picture is dark, but if you look closely, you can see the line going off the stat housing down behind the passanger headlight.

Spyder4g64 · 05-08-2008, 10:33 PM

I got nothing.

The last thing i can say is check out your timing and EGT's when you say this happens. Maybe somewhere in the EMS, something is just not right.

RipperXX · 05-08-2008, 10:57 PM

Are you sure the cap going to the over flow isn't lower pressure?

Defiant · 05-09-2008, 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gsxy99

Okay heres my dilema... I run a full race manifold, which means a full size rad will no longer fit. Im now running a fluidyne half rad.

Sounds like you're going to have to find a way to fit a full-size radiator. See if a shop can make up one with more rows of tubes for you.

Nalfein · 05-10-2008, 03:16 AM

Just something to consider... though rad fans are great at pulling (or pushing) air through the rad while idling at a stoplight or slow cruising, they often can be a hindrance to airflow through the rad at highway speeds. In other words if your fan is running while moving at highway speeds, it may well be inhibiting airflow, not encouraging it; even the high CFM after-market ones. Try turning your fan off while on the highway and see if it makes a difference.

MIdsm · 05-11-2008, 01:11 PM

I would suggest some ducting for the radiator. The air going through the IC will bypass the radiator altogether as it will follow the path of least resistance.

blcknspo0ln · 05-11-2008, 02:28 PM

I vote a thicker radiator core + the use of a quality puller fan. I've always noticed that in 'pull mode' my SPAL works a hell of a lot better than when it's in "push mode". As said above, the pusher fan is more a hindrence than a help at highway speeds.

hdoerr · 05-11-2008, 02:33 PM

If you are not running a thermostat then you should begin to use one. When I was into domestics the same thing would happen. I believe you can go as low as 160 temp. The problem occurs when the water never stops moving and therefore does not get a chance to cool in the rad. Hope this helps.

illeffekt vr-4 · 05-11-2008, 03:38 PM

So it didn't push coolant or overheat with the stock radiator?

I run a half size civic radiator in my Galant vr4 with a 14" spal puller fan and after I first installed it I kept having problems with pushing coolant into the overflow. I tried different radiator caps but the problem still continued. I took the radiator off and took it a shop to have it checked out. Turns out the flange where the radiator cap goes on was warped so the radiator cap would not stay flush on it and allowing coolant to get to the overflow tank.

I had him cut the flange off and weld the hole shut, got a dsm thermostat housing so I can mount the radiator cap on there (the galant vr4 has the radiator cap on the radiator unlike dsm's). As soon I got everything back together the problem went away. No more pushing coolant into the overflow.

I would also suggest that you mount the fan behind the radiator and wire it as a puller. At highway speeds the fan is not usually on so if its front of the radiator it will actually block the airflow to the radiator.
Don't listen to the ones that tell you to get a full size radiator, my car runs cooler with the half radiator and the better fan. The civic radiator actually holds MORE fluid than the stock galant vr4 did.

Gsxy99 · 05-11-2008, 07:52 PM

thank everyone for the help... but so far this was the best responce yet.. im going to change the rad caps first and see what happens. if that doesent work i will definetly have the rad checked out. thanks for the help

gob4sho89 · 05-11-2008, 08:17 PM

Do you have the tube connected to the overflow cap that goes to the bottom of the overflow...? Is it possible that your coolent is flowing into the overflow when the motor heats up, then sucks in are when it cools? just an idea...

Gsxy99 · 05-12-2008, 12:42 PM

okay orriginally there was a 16 pound cap on the rad and a 13 on the stat. so im now running 13 and 13 and so far so good. To put the icing on the cake i need a pull thru setup and then i should be okay.

Ben · 05-12-2008, 06:51 PM

It's not very common, but this does happen with factory Mitsubishis. The cap will let coolant out when it reaches it pressure rating, but then won't let it suck back down when it's cooling down after the engine is off. Just like when you said, leaking coolant while driving, radiator is low, and overflow is full.

Another thing someone said about not running a tstat is true. In the winter it won't even warm up completly, but in the summer it will overheat cause the coolant doesn't stay in the rad long enough to get cool. You can get washer looking things that go in place of the tstat that have different size openings. Just have to play around and find the right size.

DSM007 · 05-12-2008, 06:53 PM

Try a bottle of redline water wetter mixed with straight distilled water,not tap because it can leave behind white calcium deposits....straight water cools better than anything and even way better than 50/50 antifreeze but it boils at 110 degrees,a small bottle of redline water wetter raises it to well over 200 degrees and also lubricates the water pump too and prevents corrosion....it helped me cool my car finally.

Black_Bullet · 05-12-2008, 06:54 PM

+1

Ive always ran mines the same way, straight distilled water with a bottle of redline water wetter and ive never had an over heating issue with this car. I log an average of 185- 195 degs and I dont recall even seeing it go above 200degs.
( I have a 180 thermostat though)

RipperXX · 05-13-2008, 05:19 AM

Just remember when the winter comes you need to add some anti freeze. I just use one of the little testers and make sure it's got just enough to keep from freezing with the temps in my area.

illeffekt vr-4 · 05-13-2008, 05:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Black_Bullet

+1
Ive always ran mines the same way, straight distilled water with a bottle of redline water wetter and ive never had an over heating issue with this car. I log an average of 185- 195 degs and I dont recall even seeing it go above 200degs.
( I have a 180 thermostat though)

I run the same temps as you on the 180* thermostat and I have the half size radiator. I do run a 50/50 coolant/water mix with no water wetter added.