dr bob

The S4+ cars have a temp transducer rather than a "switch" so getting the fans on earleir is a bit more that just an easy switch change. Then, the transducer is mounted in the radiator cold outlet rather than the coolant crossover bridge, so the temp read at the bridge with the dash gauge is only loosely related to the fan speeds (and flap positions) related to the temp transducer anyway.

My radiator is doing its job I think. Dash temps read the same as an IR read on the crossover, with 190-ish numbers whe the gauge points to the 190º (middle unmarked) line on the gauge. It only rarely gos to that line and even less rarely goes over, but... It does do that on 100º+ days at 70+ MPH, a symptom that the radiator is probably to the point where it has enough spare capacity to serve the load these days. I hate to say it, but a radiator is almost a consumable component; mine has enjoyed very regular coolant service and the like, but it's also 24 years old now. A new one can't hurt.

danglerb

It will be nice when thermal imaging gets cheap enough for casual users so we can actually see whats going on.

blown 87

Wow, thanks, I know where I can get one to use, might help diagnosis of the problem I am having.

dr bob

I have a good camera for this (Fluke) but no way to see the heat under load.

blown 87

I was thinking of doing a run with Paul Hunt in front, and maybe also see if I could tell anything on a quick shut down, which I have doubts about, and you may be right, I may not be able to see anything from the front.

I guess the best thing for me to do at this point is try to find some one who would know which radiator can shed more heat.

I did a test last week of changing the G-05 running 50-50 and water wetter to a 85% water/15% G-05 and water wetter, and it did run cooler, another pointer to me that it is a radiator issue.

What are your thoughts on my line of thinking on this?

IcemanG17

I do wonder how old the Estates radiator is..... It looks old...& could be 27 years old.....but it works pretty well...it must have been replaced at some point it the past.....

A new one isn't a bad idea.....

Mike Simard

I ran a 30 year old stock radiator in my race car for some time. With and without a cooling fan and with the stock and then big engine and it always cooled well with no issues. My new Griffin is a very nice one and thicker too, maybe it cools better but I'm not sure since there were no problems before.

blown 87

I have a big Griffin in the Corvette, good stuff.

tv

Regarding cooling, mine when I first got it was always reading higher than I was comfortable with so I;

replaced the belt driven fan with an electric activated by manual switch

all new fluid

took the radiator out and cleaned as best I could all the tiny particles between the fins

cleaned the engine itself all over so that the bare metal can give off heat better

and removed all the AC crap in front of the radiator



All this helped to the point that when I forgot once to turn on the fan and drove 75 miles it never got warm/hot until I was stopped in traffic near the end of the ride. But even with the fan running, if stopped in traffic for a long time it starts to go up a little.

These engines get hot as hell, and have a very small opening to let in air when not moving. The radiator fins get clogged by minute particles over time AND I am missing the belly pan. I believe the missing belly pan allows air to fall out of the engine bay too soon, not removing a lot of heat from the back of the engine bay.

The plus off the manual switch that I rigged is that I let the fan run for a few minutes after the car is off, this removes a massive amount of heat at a critical point for the engine bits.

WallyP

Missing belly pan, missing spoiler, missing seals around the radiator will all allow hot air to flow back to the front of the radiator at stop and slow speeds, and this recirculation of hot air will contribute to overheating.

Probably little or no effect in Greg's case, of course.

Greg - there should be a little deflector in the top radiator inlet that helps spread the coolant flow across the radiator core. You might want to make sure that it is still there.

blown 87

Pretty sure that I do not have one of those in mine, any body got a picture of that?
I would be thrilled if it could be that simple.

Erik N

My experience says otherwise. When I switched (car came with a 2-cooler) there was a BIG difference.

blown 87

The question is was the difference you saw just in the cooler not being there or did the actual radiator make the difference.

I have the two cooler one in mine, but right now I am only using one,

While OT for this thread, I also have the trans cooler that sits on top of the condenser and I plan on putting one of Mike Simard's spray bar set ups for my trans and will use that one to cool the transaxle gear oil, like the GTS's have.

I also have a a shot at getting a GTS air to oil cooler for the engine oil, and will ask Greg Brown to make me hoses to run both the liquid to liquid radiator cooler and a air to liquid cooler for the engine oil, that has to help shed some heat.

I can turn my heater on when I am running at speed and running warm and it knocks the temps right off, so it is just barely unable to keep it cool.

BTW, if any of you folks have not seen the hoses Greg Brown makes, you need to check them out, like every thing else he makes they are just superb.
We have installed three or four sets now, and for the most part all it takes is folks looking at them to be sold on them.

Randy V

Just use a $20 IR gun.

Instead of movies you are taking snap shots.

Same results.

blown 87

No, not really, with a IR gun you are only getting one very small point, with the IR imager you are getting a whole area at once.
That being said, you use what you have got.