couple cooling questions.

[hardcorandy]

Its 90* out today. Cruising I'm seeing 210-213 water temps. When i come to an idle itll slowly drop to 195. I have a VRSF front mount.

1. If i buy a better rad and the dual fans with shroud, will it make a world of a difference or what should i expect?

2. Are my current temps something to worry about?

 

[gofer]

Personally, 210* is my ceiling for coolant temps. Adding fans isn't going to do anything to lower cruising coolant temperatures, your fans only really drop temps at idle and driving in the city so 35mph or less.

Your temps look good at idle, it's the cruise temps I be trying to combat. That being said, if you haven't performed basic coolant system maintenance in the last 3 years (or ever) it wouldn't hurt. Flush it, ensure a 50/50 mix of distilled water (not tap water)/antifreeze and a bottle of Redline Water Wetter.

If you've got the money to spend buying an aluminum radiator wouldn't hurt either, which is what I had to do to drop my CT's just 10* during cruise with my VRS FMIC kit. To get them even lower I also removed my A/C condenser, now my CT's at cruise sit around 203* and idling in traffic it's about 196*.

 

[TSiAWD666]

I don't know if 1gs had duct work stock, but 2gs did. It was there for a good reason, to funnel air to the radiator. Most 2g owners are...ignorant to this and blindly chuck it, putting a big FMIC in its place with no ductwork to speak of. Then some of them (not all, some get lucky) get very confused as to why they changed a working system by chucking pieces they didn't understand and wonder why things aren't working right anymore... sigh. You're not a 2g owner, and I don't know what 1gs had nor if you made the decision to lose duct work, so no jabs at you.

Do the maintenance first, but chances are your issue is duct work based on your symptoms. Air from the mouth of the bumper cover needs to get through the fmic and up to the radiator. With an FMIC you've added a big restriction to airflow which is problem number one, but you're stuck with that one. Problem two is air coming through the fmic, or really coming through the bumper mouth, has a lot of paths to go to that are less resistant than trying to flow through the radiator. It can go under the radiator support and under the car and around the radiator, or to the sides even. So get some duct work in place. Seal it with aluminum tape. Then you can also seal the radiator to the core support with foam from home depot.

I know these things because I too was ignorant once, blindly following the other modding monkeys out there thinking " FMIC goes in front, throw out this other crap!". I was lucky someone shared info on what I was missing and put me on the right path.

 

[gofer]

That, too, is a great point to make John. As an example hardcorandy, this was a PS I created of the radiator ducting for my 2g.

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[hardcorandy]

Great info, both of you! Thanks! Entire cooling system has 30k on it. Includes OEM pump, rad, thermostat. Coolant was changed with turbo install 1k ago. I did however forget to put the water wetter in. I normally do run it. A/C system is total gone. Only thing in between is my oil cooler.

I did plan on buying atleast the radiator friday. So ill go that route and scratch the fan for now since that is up to par.

Being that i have a 1ga talon, I do have the little opening between my headlights. My thought was to remove for now to make the opening bigger for breathing. Maybe run a duct from their? I understand about sealing the gap between the radiator and innercooler as well.

I don't know if 1gs had duct work stock, but 2gs did. It was there for a good reason, to funnel air to the radiator. Most 2g owners are...ignorant to this and blindly chuck it, putting a big FMIC in its place with no ductwork to speak of. Then some of them (not all, some get lucky) get very confused as to why they changed a working system by chucking pieces they didn't understand and wonder why things aren't working right anymore... sigh. You're not a 2g owner, and I don't know what 1gs had nor if you made the decision to lose duct work, so no jabs at you..

Come to think about it. The car was missing allot of plastic when i bought it. I do believe 1gs do have ducts. Mine was cracked and missing pieces long before i did the front mount. Only thing that ive cut out of the car would be the side mount duct. My wheel well covers are missing on both sides which i do wanna track some down.

 

[coop795]

You should post a couple of pics of what you got, I have a 90 and that is right about normal. If you want to get lower temps vent the hood, more effective and less $. It is the place I started on this build. This is my second dsm 6 bolt.

 

[turbo4awd]

Ok im having the same issues. the car never went above 195 the day I installed my vr speed fanmic I had cooling issues I've been battling for 2 yrs now. I bought a fluidyne rad slim fans then took a slim fan out replaced with stock on ps. It helped some but not a lot. I see temps of 220 plus on warm days. I've been thinking of pulling my ac sttuff out ssssbut hate removing it because it still blow ice cold air. I'm running 2 bottle of water wetter. A buddy said to try using motorcycle coolant called super blue blue ice or ice blue.

 

[Pipnorcali]

I was running 209 and I'm normally around 198-202 max turns out the coolant hose to the turbo had a really small leak ( near the clamp) fixed it and I'm back to normal.

I also made some cheezy ducts to the sides of my fmic

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[hardcorandy]

I shall take pics and post the results this weekend. Ill atleast make the duct. Radiator will take 2 days after ordering.

I overcool in the winter time. Even with the front mount ill stay around 180* cruising if the out side temps are around 40*. Today was about 75* and i stayed at 195* throughout all driving speeds. 90* is just taking it over the top for me. Any little bit i do should make a difference. Fingers crossed