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Ditching Aluminum Radiator for OEM

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DSMnOOb00

15+ Year Contributor
903
4
Apr 29, 2006
FRESNO, California
I'm having crazy temperature problems with my radiator setup that consists of an all aluminum radiator and aluminum radiator shroud with 2 12' Slims fans (no brands)

Also I have Water wetter and dsmlink set to fans on high all the time

car idles and runs fine with the AC off but once you turn on the ac and start to drive, the temperature spikes. So I decided to go back on an all stock radiator setup including OEM fans.

My plan is to run two A/C fans to help clear the J-pipe, since the AC fan is slightly thinner then the main fan, I'm thinking it will be enough to clear the jpipe also the aluminum radiator is thicker then the OEM. I'm assuming it makes it harder for air to flow thru it causing more resistance. I'm also going to seal the bottom & sides of the intercooler and condenser to help channel the air thru the rad. I'm going to leave the top open to let air in during idle.

but I have a question, are both are equal? Is one of the fans better then the other?

thanks guys!
 
Not to question what you're posting, but how do your fans even come in contact with your j-pipe? I'm thinking j-pipe from turbo to oil pan where the fan shroud has no contact since the pipe is on the bottom of the turbo. I got a mishimoto rad w/ stock fans and shroud with no clearance issues.

However, if you're taking about the pipe coming off your turbo to intercooler since your mod list includes a 16g, then I retract my question. I looked in your gallery for engine pics, but you don't have an engine shot, so I ask..

What the heck other j pipe are you talking about the only j pipe is the one to the intercooler on a 14b or 16g the thing to the oil pan is an oil drain tube for your turbo LOL.
 
urbansmoker1,


I use these Flex-A-Lite fans on my 1G with a Fluidyne radiator: low-pro-puller

They work well, but the radiator, fan package and lower IC pipe make for a tight fit in my car. Still very doable.

Also, when I switched over the 90' style air to air oil cooler with a nice B&M cooler, I was able to literally watch a difference in the coolant temp gauge on my dash. This is in 95+ Georgia heat. I had a buddy that ran a 2.4L and used a monster oil cooler on his car and he said it made a huge difference in the temp of the motor to the point that he could take the car for a drive and immediately drain the oil and it be warm to the touch - not hot. I don't know if that was true, but I do know that getting rid of that retarded oil/water sandwich cooler at the oil filter can take a load of the cooling system.

I understand your frustrations, just hope we can help you!
 
It is the fans. Get two SPAL puller fans and you will likely be fine. See my post dated 3/12/12 at this other thread for specifics:

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/newbie-forum/428476-cooling-fan-question.html

Oh, and I recently did the simple mod of having both fans turn on (even with the A/C off) whenever the regular radiator fan turns on as per this thread here:

2G Fan Relay Bypass: How To - DSM Forums: Mitsubishi Eclipse, Plymouth Laser, and Eagle Talon Forum: DSMtalk.com

I didn't bother with the use of a separate manual switch, just linked the two relays with a 6" piece of 16 gauge wire between the two relays. Strip about 1/2" off each end of the wire and shove into the space where the prongs go in on each relay, and put the relays back in. Works perfectly well. Oh, I also had previously done the other mod where when the fans turned on they turn on full high.

The last thing I did - but its not for everyone - is the bumper cutouts. See this thread - and my post #20 in it for details:

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/app...ior/427844-front-bumper-cut-outs-cooling.html

It pretty much doesn't get hotter and more humid than here in Miami and right now (August) its our hottest month. My car is pretty heavily modded and it runs between 190F and 200F MAX in our hottest months (June - September) even in stop and go traffic, with or without the A/C on. If I've really been on it and boosting frequently and hard, it will for a short time reach maybe 206 and then when I resume "normal" driving with ocassional lighter boosts, within 3-5minutes it will have gone back to above the prior ranges.

Good luck.
 
I don't know the exact temp my car was at, but I did setup my stick boost gauge to ready coolant temps (low) and it was pegged all the way! Although the stock coolant gauge read abit higher then 3/4 of the way up.

And just to clarify, the J-pipe from my 16g to fmic is what's causing the figment issues.

Im sure the cheap fans aren't really helping my car, and to spend 200$ on spal fans that won't work as good as seems pretty dumb IMO why even bother? Like the title says, I'm ditching the aluminum radiator, shroud setup.
 
FMIC blocks all the air flow to the radiator

FMIC, OEM radiator, OEM fans. and I never have problems with Overheating while stuck on the 405 in rush hour traffic with the AC on. Or Idleing in the driveway in 110 deg heat, kinda like what we've had for the last 20 days in the High desert.

Seal the FMIC to the radiator, then fill the gaps between the OEM radiator to the front Support, and make sure the fans are also sealed to the radiator. i used 1" wide 3/4 " thick weatherseal from HD.

Might also help that my Hood is Vented.
 
I was also going through all the cooling problems, and temps here in Florida are hot and humid. I changed out all the stuff like you did too. I had 2 12" SPAL fans on the radiator with one mounted inside the stock shroud on the passenger side and the second on the driver side right on the radiator. The driver side one melted down and seized up. I now have one 12" SPAL on the passenger side, 1 10" on the driver side, and then another 10" between the A/C condensor and VRSF front mount. I ended up cutting my bumper opening too. The one fan pushing and other pulling on the driver side are set to come on when the A/C is on, and the passenger side comes on with the factory settings. Temps are stable and cool now but my bumper is cut to crap so a new one will go on this fall once temps start coming back down.
The stock fans are actually better than the majority of the aftermarket except for the SPAL ones BUT they are plastic and I melted two fans down on the driver side next to the hotside of the turbo.

Hope this helps!
 
the car ran hot enough to throw a CEL light, I set it up to flash when the temp reached higher then 225 on the low setting. But I didnt need a gauge to know that my car was running hot

also I didnt have my netbook to have an accurate number.
 
Finally got the chance to reinstall the oem radiator, I installed another AC fan in place of the main radiator fan for two reasons. 1st the ac fan is thinner then the main fan. 2nd the ac has a heat shield on it to deal with the heat the o2 housing puts out.

I had to cut one of the bolt mounts to fit the ac fan with a hand saw.

But overall I love this new (old) setup! Car runs way cooler and I can finally run my ac!!

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its no wonder you had problems with that setup. that shroud design ishorrible. its blocking so much airflow. If it ws not solid and allowed airflow you wouldn't have had that problem I'm sure. that fan area is just too small imo.
 
Finally got the chance to reinstall the oem radiator, I installed another AC fan in place of the main radiator fan for two reasons. 1st the ac fan is thinner then the main fan. 2nd the ac has a heat shield on it to deal with the heat the o2 housing puts out.

I had to cut one of the bolt mounts to fit the ac fan with a hand saw.

But overall I love this new setup! Car runs way cooler and I can finally run my ac!!

Also selling my old radiator with fans asking 170 shipped!

you really cant all of a sudden make this a forsale ad.:nono: prob gonna get closed now
plus i had that ebay radiator and its crap, my temps sat at 200 with only the main fan.
 
its no wonder you had problems with that setup. that shroud design ishorrible. its blocking so much airflow. If it ws not solid and allowed airflow you wouldn't have had that problem I'm sure. that fan area is just too small imo.

Yeah, half if not more of the airflow is blocked. :ohdamn:
 
First off sorry about the "for sale"
Ad

The shroud actually made a Huge difference, like I said before, the car wont overheat with the ac off, car will stay under 200 with the aluminum radiator a/c off.

the weak point of my old aluminum setup were the fans, the oe fans have built in shrouds. But I wasn't going to spend even more money, spal fans are crazy expenseve at over 100$ a pop! And I needed two. That $200!! I said F**K that! LOL
 
I would look into using that aluminum radiator and taking out the shroud. And still using the slim fans.
 
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