Radiator upgrades?

[Will]

Hey Hoongirl, thanks for the info. Come to think of it, I do remember a silver sticker on the radiator. I'm planning on putting in a bigger intercooler, so may have to start putting in ducting for air or more powerful thermo fans.

I'll have a good look at that thermostat. I hope its not the water pump.

[Camotec]

if it is, dosen't matter, go for one of those davis craig gen3 electric water pumps, I am getting one of these in the next few months just to get some more power. and the newer style water pumps work far better than the old ones

Cheers
Ben

[Starion VR4]

Just to add fuel to the fire, when i ran a Queensland Raceway in the Staz, !st race temp was 110 C with only 1 fan running, 2nd race 103 C with both fans running, 32c on track temp, intercooler bought temp up to 90c from 85-87c with no cooler, put difuser from front of plastic grill up to under front bonnet lock assembly in a curveed section ( similar to airplane wing section) reduced temp to 85c rock solid , at speed a vacuum exists in this area reducing the surface area for airflow. :beer

[grumbly]

just to be a pain, a 3 core radiator does not flow back and forth 3 times, just once. The 3 tubes just allow a greater volume of coolant to be exposed to the air, via the fins.

[MrGenius]

Does the Starion radiator have a deflector in the top tank where the hose feeds in?
If not a small trick to get more use of the radiator core is to put another smaller hose with a 90 degree bend inside the the top tank to feed the coolant further along the core so it doesnt flow the easiest path.
This spreads the flow inside the radiator and allows it to cool more, obviously will only work if both the in and outs are on the same side of the radiator and i havent looked at a starion one for a long time so i dunno if they are.

[David]

Yes, I know what a 3-core is :)
My wife's car has a 3-core.

But the Ford radiators that fit in the Starion flow across three times....

Once in the opposite direction! The top is hotter than the bottom.

SOme weird design... Best way I could think of to describe it that someone selling them might recognise :)

David

[DD Phil]

I think they refer to that as a triple flow radiator.

I had a radiator custom made with a thicker core years ago for my purple JA, I'm going to put it in my whire one and go a big alloy one for the V6.

Phil

[grumbly]

making an alloy one for my cordia soon ( inc alloy tanks, under $300) :D .....yes, the fun of working in the business.....

[mr mark]

well i would just get your radiator cleaned out buy a decent radiator company if the radiator is in resonable cond should solve your probs..


ps. should cost about $80 or so? thats what we charge i work at natrad!!!

[Oscar-the-Grouch]

Guys from past experiences the Syarions LIKE to run hot no matter what. And we have several ways to deal with it and most of them have been outlined allready BUT I will outline them separately bellow for easy refference.

- Get the Radiator Proffessionally cleaned
..............(This WILL assure the radiator is at PEAK performance)

- Use a 160 deg Thermostat instead of the ORIGINAL 190 deg.
..............(This will open the flow sooner and keep temps lower longer)

- Replace your Radiator Cap. 13pounds for street 16 pounds for track
..............(The presure difference will raise or lower boiling point)

- Run a 70/30 Water/Coolant mix instead of the 50/50 recomemded
..............(Water cools faster than Coolant due to a lower boiling point)

- Add two Tablespoons of LIQUID Dish Soap to radiator water.
..............(The Soap will act as a heat tranfer enhancer on the water)

- Use a Jump wire between thermosensors to trigger BOTH fans at once
..............(This will turn BOTH fans on at the same time)

- Replace the ORIGINAl Fan Relays with Hi-Power relays (30amps are GREAT)
..............(By giving the fans MORE JUICE they will spin faster and move more air. This WILL require rewiring the cooling fan system)

- Make the Side Vents on the bonet FUNCTIONAL
..............(By opening the side vents up you will allow HOT air to escape instead of staying trapped under the bonnet)

- Make the Scoop on your Bonnet functional as well
............... (By opening up the hole in the scoop you will allow more air IN the engine bay and make it circulate to cool down components, This works best when done in conjunction with the "SIDE Vent Mod" AND the "Bonnet Rise Mod" (Explained bellow) as that cool air will NEED to have a way out )

- For Track days ONLY raise the back of your bonnet to further evacuate hot gases from under bonnet.
..............( SEE pic bellow ) Basically use 4 OLD Sockets from your toolbox and put one under each bonnet bolt in the hinges, you MAY need longer bolts.
-

I hope some of you can benefit from this info. ALL of the above HAS been done and proven to be VERY efficient in the war againt underbonet heat.

Let me know if anyoen has any questions.
( oscardortega@yahoo.com )
Oscar

[mrb1]

Just to add fuel to the fire, when i ran a Queensland Raceway in the Staz, !st race temp was 110 C with only 1 fan running, 2nd race 103 C with both fans running, 32c on track temp, intercooler bought temp up to 90c from 85-87c with no cooler, put difuser from front of plastic grill up to under front bonnet lock assembly in a curveed section ( similar to airplane wing section) reduced temp to 85c rock solid , at speed a vacuum exists in this area reducing the surface area for airflow. :beer

Can you post a picture of this mod?

[Junkers]

would a 12" electric fan be suitable to replace a viscous fan from a import? by the wy i have no shroud on myne and it runs at 1/3rd of top temp

[dirty sanchez]

Opening the front bonnet scoop vent actually allows air to come out, due to strange aerodynamics.

Driving down the highway at 120km/h when I spray my intercooler spray the mist can be seen to come out the scoop (sue to the shape of the bonnet). Same thing happened when my car overheated and steam came OUT the vent. Happy to give a demonstration. It has to do with the shape of the front of the car creating a low pressure zone like a plane wing.

Also lifting the back of the bonnet rarely lets air out, as there is a down force there, hence the grill for the air inlet is there and when you turn you vent controls to fresh air with no fan air is still pushed into the car. Once again due to the shape creating a hig pressure zone there.

[Oscar-the-Grouch]

dirty sanchez...
I hate to do this BUT I will have to dissagree with your oppinions and findings...

Not because I say you did not experience them but because you are beeing exposed to a law of physics that appears to be the oposite of what you are looking at.

OK...
>>Opening the front bonnet scoop vent actually allows air to come out, due to strange aerodynamics. <<<

This CAN be the situation IN YOUR case IF you have NO OTHER way for the Air, water Mist or Steam to come out once its under the hood. The Steam from an overheating engine will make its way to the highest point of exit under the bonnet, and since the rear of the bonnet is SEALED it can only go out either the sides or a more open area AN OPENED front Scoop. Nothing to do Aerodynamics Just physics. If you had the side vents cut open to VENT your Steam from the overheating WILL have come out that way.

There's a LOW presure area OVER the bonnet created by faster air moving OVER it at highway speeds. This LOW-PRESURE creates a VACUUM thus SUCKING out the air from under the bonnet.

This has been proven in ALL forms of motorsports to moder day cars. Most Hi-Perf cars now have Bonnet vents looking like scales facing backwards...Why do you think that is ? Looks YEAH it does look GREAT but they are also functional, they DO evacuate the heat from the engine compartment.

>>Also lifting the back of the bonnet rarely lets air out, as there is a down force there, hence the grill for the air inlet is there and when you turn you vent controls to fresh air with no fan air is still pushed into the car. Once again due to the shape creating a hig pressure zone there.<<<

Also will have to dissagree. Its NOT Hi-presure its LOW Presure. Hi-Presure is created when wind or FORCE directly acts upon a surface.Low-Presure is the absence of this force. When you open the "Outside Air" control on the A/C YES it sucks in fresh air, that air is beein forced OVER the bonnet and over the winshield, the second it finds another way it will go that way, (Opening the vent on the A/C)

So by simply poping up the rear of the bonnet air now has a way OUT. But please dont take my word for it. Try it. Spray your cooler with the Bonnet Rise mod and see were the mist ends up at ? Assuming it does NOT evaporate prior to hitting the windshield.

A Simple Experiment...
Find a friend with a car that has a bonnet that opens from the REAR BUT one that DOES NOT have to slide forward to unlock then up to open like BMW's and SAAB's. Some old corrolas and nissan have the reverse bonnet. Now Unlatch the bonnet and make sure its NOT locked or secured. Now go for a spin... At speeds you will notice the back of the bonnet wanting to lift up, WHY... A combination of Low-Presure sucking it UPwards, and underhood airflow pushing it upwards as well. So why it does NOT open all the way, well thats HI-Presure acting on the surface forcing it back down. This is a GREAT design that prevent a bonnet from ever popping open and smashing your windshield and causing a MAJOR accident.

Again these mods have been tested be me personally and many others as well at local road courses and they do work, BUT I dont expect anyone to take my word for it, JUST TRY IT ! It will make a believer out of you.

YOU know... I was waiting to hear a whole bunch of negative feedback or just "Are you NUTS" comments on the Dish soap mod but I see that mod sounds right to you guys ?! :roll: Its a good one and it does help, its like using Red-Line's Wetter watter additive just ALOT cheaper.

Also what Starion VR4 wrote about the Diffuser is also a great idea also often overlooked just like the fact that most of us (ME included) remove that other metal "Air Glide Diffuser" under the radiator that does NOT allow you to get to the belts without removing it, and after you having to take it off three time its just GONE with the trash. But this actually SMOOTHS the air flow under and through the radiator AND the intercooler face area for better cooler performance. I did not know this till I was proven wrong by someone like ME who told me the same thing I am telling you guys "try it out and you'll thank me later"

But hey try them out and then come back and thank me ! :D :D :D :D

Thanks
Oscar

[Camotec]

- Make the Scoop on your Bonnet functional as well
............... (By opening up the hole in the scoop you will allow more air IN the engine bay and make it circulate to cool down components, This works best when done in conjunction with the "SIDE Vent Mod" AND the "Bonnet Rise Mod" (Explained bellow) as that cool air will NEED to have a way out )

I would have to agree with Sanchez, Mitsubishi's aero design diagrams clearly show there is no downforce on the front bonnet scoop of the JA style bonnet. If anything there would be an external vacuum causing air to be sucked from the front bonnet scoop. This is why mitsubishi left the scoop closed as it would have made no sense to open it up, they are not stupid. if the bonnet scoop was effective they would have kept it on the later models. The main reason for this updraft is because of the radiator scoop at the bottom of the front bar.

Ideally the bonnet would benefit from a reverse scoop to help suck hot air out to allow more cold air to be sucked in from the bottom front bar scoop.
I do agree with the idea that raising the back of the bonnet with washers etc will make a difference as when air passes over a vent, it will create suction which will pull hot air fron under the bonnet and a higher pressure will only aid in the suction effect.

I have attached the diagrams as obtained from Mitsubishi.
sorry about the quality my scanner is broken so i had to take them up close with my camera.

Note the low pressure area directly over the front scoop.
Also notice the good downforce at under the car at the rear wheels, however you will see the low pressure under the front of the car, this is why a starion can flip down a straight at high speed. I am sure an aftermarket spoiler would fix this.

Cheers
Ben