Punishment Racing Aluminum Radiator W/ Slim Fans

[DSM_6SL2 Power]

I was looking at this, and I saw how cheap it is. I was wondering if anyone has ever bought it and if it is a direct bolt on. What about the wiring for the fans, do they just plug in?

Im going to need some slim fans eventually, so this looked very interesting to me.

cooling

 

[viprez586]

My radiator cracked last night.

Yes it was crying coolant.

Oh well, time to save up.

 

[BCM90TSi]

Hey everyone, I'm new on here. I just installed the Punishment Racing short route FMIC with their radiator and fan combo as well on my 1990 TSi AWD. It was a SUPER tight fit (between the rad and i/c piping) but it definitely works well. I live in a hot summer climate (96~100 by 3 PM) and at idle with intermittent revs (about 5 every minute) to 4k it took it about 5 minutes to get to "normal" (the mark in the middle of the temp gauge) temp this is great compared to before, not even getting 3 blocks and being at operating temp. I'll have pics up tomorrow.

 

[JDMath]

what is the biggest advantage of this kit??keep the engine more cold?? like when stoping it cooling faster than stock??

 

[blcknspo0ln]

These kits are just aluminum replacements of an OEM radiator. They offer better cooling capacities and come with 2 12" slimline fans. Most people move to these because they are cost effective, are great with keeping water temps in check (under 206*F), and the 2 slimline fans help when you run a larger turbo.

 

[topcat92]

does punisment make them? or are they ebay units like their budget manifolds?

i think you have a point now that i look at them they look alot like the mishimoto radiators with out the name for the same price as ebay plus two fans i think i will have to buy from punishment
-T.C.
these are not my pictures they were borrowed

 

[PRJTstealth]

im buying this next. ive heared its a great setup. cant wait.

 

[xreaction122]

mine is holding the temp solid.
my stock fan wires didnt work so i had to wire the 2 negs together and 2 pos together and took the neg and wired it onto the battery and the pos side to my radio 10A fuse.
everytime when the car is ON, the fans turn on. works great for me and took only about 10 mins!

 

[ninesixtwo]

I love my kit, only problem was the mounting brackets on the top. The radiator (iirc) hit the bolts holding in the heat exchanger for the A/C and made it a real stretch to get the rubber bits to go over the mounts at the top.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

 

[viprez586]

mine is holding the temp solid.
my stock fan wires didnt work so i had to wire the 2 negs together and 2 pos together and took the neg and wired it onto the battery and the pos side to my radio 10A fuse.
everytime when the car is ON, the fans turn on. works great for me and took only about 10 mins!

The problem with this is your car will not enter closed loop as quickly, run it to a switch or look at vfaq.com

 

[BoostFrenzy]

I am thinking about getting one of these because, frankly, it's not expensive at all. Those welds look really nice too. Anyone have any fitment issues with larger turbos?

 

[crimsondragon]

Take a look at the picture ninesixtwo posted. That's not a stock turbo and there's plenty of room there.

 

[BoostFrenzy]

Take a look at the picture ninesixtwo posted. That's not a stock turbo and there's plenty of room there.

But thats also a 1G. You could stand in front of a turbo on a 1G car. 2G's have less room.

 

[DoyoFCT]

I installed one of these on a friends car. if you are not using the A/C I would mount the two fans in front as pushers. This works very very well. I also used the stock A/C fan switch to wire both of his fans. This also worked great, jegs also sells a very nice fan relay/thermostat switch kit that uses an actual temp sensor rather than a temp probe. its quite nice and that's what I plan to put on my car.

BTW these radiators from PR are great, and the welds are very very good. looks very durable.

 

[wangboy925]

I agree with the quality and price from punishment racing.

 

[whatturbo]

I've got a big turbo, and with my Victory Performance O2 housing that re-circulates back into the exhaust my Tial 38mm wastegate was 1" from the stock radiator core. The Punishment radiator mounts closer to the A/C condenser, so I actually gained over ¼" between the wastegate and the radiator. I'm very happy with it and would recommend it strongly.

 

[BoostFrenzy]

Shawn, that was the kind of info I was looking for. Thank you. Looking to make this purchase sometime in the near future (Need to do a bit to the interior first).

 

[viprez586]

Ordered mine. Can't wait either, I already have a slimline so I'll probably hook that one up as a pusher. 3-fans oh yeah take that you over heating son of a....

 

[jwcardy]

Ordered mine. Can't wait either, I already have a slimline so I'll probably hook that one up as a pusher. 3-fans oh yeah take that you over heating son of a....

Youve got other probs that u need to address if u are planning to run 3 fans. 2 should do the job. The 3rd isnt goin to help you.
-wes

 

[dalatinromeo]

You three fans seem like overkill to the extreme two should do the job.

 

[viprez586]

I don't need three fans, it was a short run idea, instead i picked up a sheet of aluminum and I'm going to make some ducting. I'll just be running two slim lines, one with shrouding, the other un-shrouded.

But yeah..more of a joke nevertheless 2 fans and an all aluminum 2" thick radiator will get the job done.

My previous temps were around 215 anyway till my radiator cracked.

 

[clockworktoy]

I think im picking up one of these as well, like everyones said the price/quality cant be beat! I cant wait to order mine!

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

how do you actually mount the fans on the radiator. the pics looks like they are just sitting on the radiator. do i have to buy any extra hardware?

My radiator cracked and looking towards this, would like to setup the fans stock setup, hopefully that wont be a problem. Are both fans blowing air towards the engine, or one blows in to the engine, and one pulls the hot air out.

 

[viprez586]

how do you actually mount the fans on the radiator. the pics looks like they are just sitting on the radiator. do i have to buy any extra hardware?

The kit comes with mounting hardware, its a strip of plastic you feed through the fins of the radiator, on the front side you have these little locking tabs with sticky foam to prevent it from damaging the radiator. Mount it anyway you like.

My radiator cracked and looking towards this, would like to setup the fans stock setup, hopefully that wont be a problem. Are both fans blowing air towards the engine, or one blows in to the engine, and one pulls the hot air out.

Usually you want a "puller" to provide best airflow through the radiator. It doesn't matter how they show it, its how YOU wire it. If by stock setup you mean fan shrouds, you can do that too which will also help cooling versus an unshrouded fan.

On a side note, i just installed this radiator today and its awesome, temps around 203-213 with fans on.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

Bad night picture of test fit.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

I got in a very minor fender bender and had to slice away at my core support, then paint it to prohibit rust.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

Then put some velcro around it for temporary use.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

I achieved these temps after also installing some .040 piece of aluminum as a lower diffuser to direct airflow traveling under the car upward towards the radiator instead. I might paint it black because it's quite reflective and might attract unnecessary attention from police. I already bottomed out a few times but because its so flexible yet rigid(yeah weird I know) it returns to its original shape. Please ignore the rust/ bad pipe routing and oh yeah that 30lb chunk is missing.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

However my heater core cracked now as well and I believe once I fix this I will yield lower temps. Furthermore during this lengthy procedure of removing the heater core I inspected my blower motor and discovered the brushes were down to the wires and COVERED with brush material (carbon?). If you look close enough the wiring to the brushes is about to get caught up in the armature.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

Oh well fix one thing, break another - the life story of dsms.

Installed for now.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

 

[dsmmatt28]

Im a little confused about something here. I see on the pic above you have the sensor that actually tells the ecu to kick the fans on where its suppose to be. On punishment racing website. It doesnt show that there.
Did you have to drill that out and tap it or there is a spot there for that sensor.

 

[viprez586]

Did you have to drill that out and tap it or there is a spot there for that sensor.

I was worried about that too once i ordered it.

Nope it was there, correct thread and came with a plug that had an o-ring on it.

Only thing i can complain about is the damn drain valve. On my OEM radiator i could just unscrew it for a steady nice stream + not get any coolant on the floor. This one you have to unscrew to get a somewhat steady stream, otherwise get a funnel and jack your car up some helps catching all the coolant.

I'm going to make a Tech thread on the P.R. radiator once I'm done(weekend only deal) with my heater core + hopefully that'll reveal lower temps. Might also try running some fan shrouding if my temps are still in the 203-213 range.

Not sure if a heater core tech thread would be worth it though. Just one of those things you have to dive into - its pretty straight forward anyway too.