Aluminum Radiator

[tateg]

I bought an aluminum two core radiator from Radiators4less (out of Jackson Ga.) on Ebay. It comes with a "lifetime" warranty but you never know if you can take advantage of something like this.

Cost; $159.00 Plus shipping of $25.

quality; adequate. It was all tig welded with no glues or epoxies. The welds were clean and seemed to be solid. It is a "made in China" piece though.

Fit; perfect. I went with this radiator not just for the price but also because it had the correct diameter for the inlet of 1.25" instead of the 1.5" that all the other aftermarket radiators seem to come with. This really is a stock replacement radiator.

Conclusion; Worth the $185 shipped price. The quality seems to be "good enough" but the fit was perfect. If it doesn't develop a leak any time soon then I'll be quite satisfied.

[SVOinDC]

Guy,

Are you running a stock cooling system (othert than the radiator of course)? I am completely stock, suffering from a high coolant reading. I have done the searching, and am considering a radiator swap and / or the kit SVPU is selling.

Please let me know how this works out.

Cheers!
Chuck

[Otto Man]

Chuck,
Many of us have been down this road.
Are you sure you are overheating? Or does your guage HI reading make you suspect you are overheating all by its self? You may want to go threw the hoop of changing all temp sensors and gauge volt regulator on dash back.
Try and find some temp sensitve tape that reads in F. Stick it on in a hot location on the rad and water flow, and watch the temps soar, or not. Let us know too.

[SVOinDC]

Chris,

Thanks as always. After reading all of the posts I could locate in my searches, I agree that it may not be an actual overheating issue. I was considering many of the fixes that you have suggested.

I removed the radiator a month or so ago, cleaned and repainted it to spruce up the engine bay. I could not help noticing how thin the unit was. I read a Flemming post suggesting that the cooling system was not designed for a turbo car, and certainly not one with 300 plus horsepower.

On warm days the guage stays between the M and A in NORMAL most of the time, the fan does come on around the A or L and does its job. In recent outings, when the temp is in the low 30's, the guage never gets above the R.

I just dont like seeing the guage read that high, makes me real nervous....

I will let you know how this goes.

Cheers!
Chuck

[MacToolsSVO]

Hey Chuck !

the really weird thing I notice with my 86 is that the cooler the outside temperature, the warmer the car runs....dont get that one


Andy

[svobrad]

Exact fit?

How does the radiator fit as far as the A/C condensor lines coming around the passenger side of the radiator?
The aftermarket ones I have bought (and returned) all are squared off on that side and interferred with the 2 lines.
How thick are the 2 cores? Total dimension.
I have been been looking for a heavy duty alum. one with three rows for my high powered SVO.
Thanks

[SVOPaul]

You don't need necessarily need an aluminum radiator for high HP applications....I still run a brass one with my 2.5 and it NEVER gets hot. I also upgraded my fan to a '94 Cobra version but even at that it rarely comes on.

If your temp gauge reads high check to see if the other gauges are reading high as well.....if so then the voltage regulator on the back of the cluster is the likely culprit.

Otherwise check to make sure the TRW relay under the dash is not burned up and your fan still works.

I still carry thermostate kits but the style has changed....the site says they are out of stock but that's because I have to change the description and haven't gotten around to it....I still have a few in stock anyway. The style was changed to putting the probe in the radiator fins rather than the old style where it went into the actual coolant in the radiator hose end. The manufacturer changed this without telling anyone and kept the part number the same which is why I have to make the change on my site.

[SVOinDC]

Paul thanks. The fan does indeed work, the oil reads high, fuel, boost etc. Normal.

[SVOPaul]

Paul thanks. The fan does indeed work, the oil reads high, fuel, boost etc. Normal.

Typically the fuel should read high as well....but that doesn't mean the regulator isn't the problem. Boost is vacuum operated only so it will never read high from a bad regulator.

If you have access to a Pyrometer then that would tell you exactly what temp your coolant is when the gauge is reading high.

[tateg]

I was able to keep the AC condenser but I had to reposition it because the radiator install was done in conjunction with a FMIC swap.

I can take a picture of the installation tomorrow so you guys can see how the radiator fits around the condenser. Here's the ebay item number for those who want to see the ad. 280297315119 They claim that it is a factory direct replacement. It appeared to be to me. Remember that this isn't a heavy duty performance part. It's a good replacement for a daily driver but it's not a stout part. I could grab the welded on upper frame or lower frame and bend the aluminum with just my thumb and index finger. That said, this really light weight aluminum will cool like gangbusters and it was cheaper than a replacement part at the autozone or advance.

Also here's one from TMD on Ebay 350104880151 that's a bit more expensive (it's price before shipping is more than the shipped price of the one I bought). It's obviously a different manufacturer since the inlet it 1.5" instead of 1.25 like the stock SVO. I'm not sure if it's made in china or not.

FWIW I had the supercoupe radiator in there before. It never ran under 190 once warmed up and on the highway it would go up to 210 and creep up unless I dropped the rpms under 3000 for a while. If I stopped I would have to let the car cool down for ten minutes or so before shutting it off or it would boil over.

With this aluminum radiator while idling it will go to the proper 190* but as soon as I start driving it drops to 170 and on the highway it stays at 170. And yes, I have a 192* thermostat in there. This is the first I've driven from Key West to Hollywood FL. that i didn't have to worry about cooling issues.

[SVOinDC]

Good info Guy, send me a pic of the install when you can.

[tateg]

Pictures

One from above and one of the inlet side. It is squared off but there seems to be a difference in that it's only about an inch wide tank. The 1.25 inlet even necks down a little to fit. All the other heave duty aluminum radiators I see have a tank that is about 2" wide there.

Your mileage may vary... Remember I had to move stuff around to do the FMIC install, including the condenser.

[rodney_nelson]

Radiator looks great in the car, now you can move on to that overflow bottle...

[tateg]

I know! I'm searching for one. I think Mustang Matt has one lined up for me though. I used some nasty stop leak in my old radiator and it made it look like I was running oil instead of antifreeze.