Aluminum radiators for 2G automatics

[No_Skillz]

Does anyone know the alloy composition of stock 2g radiators? I believe it's copper and brass, but I'm not sure. If that's the case, why do people "upgrade" to aluminum? Copper and brass both are better heat and electricity conductors than aluminum, and therefore should cool better. I am having cooling issues and I would like to clear up this issue before I dive into buying a new radiator.

 

[daren_p]

I know this isn't specific to our cars but my old man had a new re-cored 4 row brass/copper rad in his 500 hp 67 Camaro and the car would always run to hot 210+ F. The only thing he switched was to an aluminum rad and the car holds 180 constant now. My fmic setup has raised my coolent temps by 10-15 F & I to want to get them back down to where they were before. I think an aluminum rad such as the Koyo is the answer, but am interested in what others have found. I know some ducting from under the car to direct fresh airflow into the rad would defently help but I don't have enough ground clearance to do this....

 

[MrBoxx]

If I remember right, the end tanks on 2g radiators are made of plastic and prone to breaking. I think in most cases, the aftermarket aluminum radiators have thicker cores and can hold more coolant than stock.

 

[mirkoelek]

Brazed aluminum or aftermarket radiator exhange temp quicker than any other stock radiator...Plus Its bigger, approximately twice as thick as the original cores

 

[TSisleeper]

koyo alum. rad (cheaper then fluidyne, were I bought mine) lowered my temps 12-14 degress (measured via autometer) def. worth the 3-4 hundred dollars in my book, oh and make sure you get a slim fan and a relay with wiring, mine is 20 amp with 12 gauge wire. I wired my relay to a temp sensor I located on the upper radiator hose. works awsome, no problems what so ever

 

[Defiant]

Engine temperature should be controlled by the thermostat, not the radiator. Of course, blocking the radiator's air supply with AC condensors, FMICs and the like will reduce the radiator's efficiency.
My 1G is parked because of plastic radiator tank failure.

 

[Ultimatedsm]

I got my Aluminum radiator for $240 USD and man what a huge difference. If anyone wants this radiator just PM me, I can send you the link.

 

[DSM007]

Engine temperature should be controlled by the thermostat, not the radiator. Of course, blocking the radiator's air supply with AC condensors, FMICs and the like will reduce the radiator's efficiency.
My 1G is parked because of plastic radiator tank failure.

If the damage isnt too bad JB Quick is the best epoxy to get ya down the road temporarily.

I have tried all kinds of epoxy's and it worked the best when my 1G was my daily.

Drain the rad a little,hit it with some 80 grit,clean with break cleaner and apply the epoxy,be back on the road in 30 mins.

 

[dnhieu]

i actually just put in a koyo aluminum radiator and made a WORLD of a diffrence. i also removed the a/c condensor at the time but i went from seeing 206 while driving to seeing 196-192. i went from my coolant temps just rising and rising at idle to now only seeing 209 at the most....

 

[Ultimatedsm]

I was getting around 235F on the highways, but now I never get over 205F. THe best part was I paid over $100 less than the Fluidyine/Koyo units.

 

[oldman]

Got a link to this koyo unit?

 

[dnhieu]

so.....

atleast mine says koyo...hahha....

i would have bought an elcheapo if they sold one for a 1st gen. you bastard 2nd gen owners get all the cool shit cheap...

 

[dnhieu]

Got a link to this koyo unit?

There you go. bid less then 250. i bid 250 and he took the offer in like 5 mins...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/KOYO...011QQitemZ320001977337QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

here is a link to the radiator in the car and when i unwraped it....

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=9520827&uid=4375039&members=1

 

[oldman]

Thanks, is that for a 1g? Your previous post seems to suggest otherwise.

 

[dnhieu]

Well if its not for a 1st gen it fits pretty good for not being for one hahahaha....

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

I got my Aluminum radiator for $240 USD and man what a huge difference. If anyone wants this radiator just PM me, I can send you the link.

As long as link isn't to your website. Otherwise that's breaking our vendor guidelines which you already tread pretty thin on from time to time.

 

[Ultimatedsm]

As long as link isn't to your website. Otherwise that's breaking our vendor guidelines which you already tread pretty thin on from time to time.

That website hasn't been working for years and does not exist. How am I coming close to breaking the vendor guidelines when I don't even have a working website? Anyway, I removed that website that doesn't work because I just noticed it, it has been there for a while .

 

[oldman]

There you go. bid less then 250. i bid 250 and he took the offer in like 5 mins...

He turned me down at $220 , the answer lies some where between 220 and 250.

 

[dnhieu]

hahahaha.....

 

[WrXeater]

Thats a pretty nice reputation you got there oldman....now can you please blink your eyes and magically make my car into a 10 second killer jk...anyways if you guys go to www.radiatorbarn.com, very decent radiators for 130bucks shipped. I dont know if they are all aluminum but they are all metal and thicker than stock. I ordered one for my 2g when my stock ones tank cracked..came in the next day. No problems to date and my car runs cooler.

 

[jim97gst]

Copper and brass both are better heat and electricity conductors than aluminum, and therefore should cool better.

I don't know what the composition of the stock radiator is, but copper is a better thermal conductor than aluminum (401 W/m-K versus 250 W/m-K), but brass is worse (109 W/m-K).

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/thermal-conductivity-d_429.html

I'm not saying that some of the aftermarket aluminum radiators aren't better overall at cooling than the stock, but keep in mind that you are not only replacing the stock radiator, you're probably replacing a 10+ year old radiator full of water deposits and with a bunch of bent fins.

There's an article in a recent SCC about why aluminum is used in most aftermarket radiators. The main reason is that it is easier to manufacture than other materials.

 

[RavenX]

I don't know how some of you can live with temps above 200F. With the stock radiator and a slim fan i saw temps of 175-180F on the highway and during traffic. However when i upgraded to a bigger fmic the fan wasn't producing enough cfm's to help out the stock rad so i saw temps of 200F+ during traffic but was still aruond 180F on the highway. I just replaced the stock radiator with one of those ebay radiators and a better fan which flows up to 1500cfm's. Temps are a constant 180-185F no matter what. Am sure if i installed that new fan on the oem rad i would get the same results but i wanted piece of mind considering i sometimes push 25+psi.

 

[elementalwindx]

I don't know how some of you can live with temps above 200F. With the stock radiator and a slim fan i saw temps of 175-180F on the highway and during traffic. However when i upgraded to a bigger fmic the fan wasn't producing enough cfm's to help out the stock rad so i saw temps of 200F+ during traffic but was still aruond 180F on the highway. I just replaced the stock radiator with one of those ebay radiators and a better fan which flows up to 1500cfm's. Temps are a constant 180-185F no matter what. Am sure if i installed that new fan on the oem rad i would get the same results but i wanted piece of mind considering i sometimes push 25+psi.

I've never had a problem with stock radiators, and I see no need for an aftermarket radiator. I almost wish I had a half radiator for the turbo/manifold I want to use, but then I bet I would have a problem with coolant temps. I always notice that people who remove the shrouding and install a fmic, the temps will go from 180 to 206 or more, and you always want to stay below 206 as the ECU will pull 1 deg of timing at 206 and somewhere around 220+ it will pull 2 or more degrees. I ended up cutting as much out of my 95 front bumper as possible and got my temps down from constant 220deg to 196deg. I also use 2 12" slim fans I got from RRE set on high at all times.

 

[dnhieu]

I don't know how some of you can live with temps above 200F. With the stock radiator and a slim fan i saw temps of 175-180F on the highway and during traffic. However when i upgraded to a bigger fmic the fan wasn't producing enough cfm's to help out the stock rad so i saw temps of 200F+ during traffic but was still aruond 180F on the highway. I just replaced the stock radiator with one of those ebay radiators and a better fan which flows up to 1500cfm's. Temps are a constant 180-185F no matter what. Am sure if i installed that new fan on the oem rad i would get the same results but i wanted piece of mind considering i sometimes push 25+psi.

thats very nice to hear man. BUT how new is your stuff? like block, head, water pump, radiator, cooling fans. my buddy and i just rebuilt his engine and thats what he sees but i got about 100k on my bock and head right now that has never been cracked open and i think that the coolant passages are a little dirty causing a little higher coolant temps. im pretty positive that my wastegate and dump tube being right next to my radiator is probably a majority of my problems.....

 

[pboglio]

Ran a Fluidyne, zip difference over stock. Saw measurable temp drops from Redline water wetter, not from the bling bling radiator.

One thing I did try was a lower air dam lip, homedepo style. Basically an airdam, not forcing air into the radiator, but just tripping the airflow up right behind the radiator. Damned if it didn't work good. This thing had the weird affect of drastically improving my coolant recovery times after a WOT pull, just sucked the temps back down fast. Only worked when I was above 40 mph but it did work. On one run it actually plummeted my coolant temps down below 180*F like a rocket when I did a 0-100 mph pull. Its a trick I picked up from www.autospeed.com.