2 Radiator Questions

[aaronbuley]

1: One of the locking discs to hold the fan to the radiator was defective. Does anyone have a part number to order a spare? I couldn’t find it online.

2: The build video shows the radiator hoses one way but I’ve seen it documented the opposite as well. Which way is right? Does it really matter? I’m guessing it doesn’t.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

Aaron, I might have some extra plastic mount discs somewhere. Let me check and if I have some I can send them to you rather than buying something as trivial as these.

 

[Vwsaabvt]

I will check at work Monday pretty sure I have some too.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

Found a couple discs with the plastic rods. Send me your address and I can get them sent off on Monday afternoon after work. Don't worry about the postage, you can buy me a beer if we ever get to meet in person.

 

[aaronbuley]

Found a couple discs with the plastic rods. Send me your address and I can get them sent off on Monday afternoon after work. Don't worry about the postage, you can buy me a beer if we ever get to meet in person.

Sweet! Absolutely.

 

[ctuinstra]

They can also be found at most automotive stores. I didn't know that when one of ours broke.

 

[ctuinstra]

As far as the orientation of the radiator hoses, yes it's been done both ways and the opinions are split as well. This is one of those areas that you will probably have to make your own opinion and go with it.

I personally stuck with the DF way and run the engine output (passenger side) to the lower port to push the water up and out of the radiator. The original radiator came with a cap and the air could be purged at that point but the new radiators do not have the car. I don't know if the air will go back down the radiator hose but air in the hose is not going to cause a cooling issue as much as air stuck in the radiator. That's my theory, yours may vary as so will others. I know one this for sure, never had any heating issues, not even close! It's amazing how well this cooling system does for me. I don't think the fan has ever come on.

 

[Tim Moland]

As far as the orientation of the radiator hoses, yes it's been done both ways and the opinions are split as well. This is one of those areas that you will probably have to make your own opinion and go with it.

I personally stuck with the DF way and run the engine output (passenger side) to the lower port to push the water up and out of the radiator. The original radiator came with a cap and the air could be purged at that point but the new radiators do not have the car. I don't know if the air will go back down the radiator hose but air in the hose is not going to cause a cooling issue as much as air stuck in the radiator. That's my theory, yours may vary as so will others. I know one this for sure, never had any heating issues, not even close! It's amazing how well this cooling system does for me. I don't think the fan has ever come on.

I have my Radiator hoses like the videos, passenger side going to the bottom of the radiator. I'm having issues with the car overheating. I have seen the temps at 250 with the radiator fan running. I think I probably have air trapped somewhere, but I have tried everything the video shows. Filled the top hose at the motor till it showed up in the reservoir. Put hose on. Filled reservoir to the line. Raised up the reservoir, massaged hoses. The car sucked coolant out of the reservoir, refilled it. The top hose gets extremely hot, along with the main hose coming out of the reservoir. But the drivers side hose does not get hot. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Waterdriver]

As for the radiator hose connections, it has been a debated topic here.
As a recommendation I would follow what the auto manufacturers have already figured out and have been doing and what gravity dictates.
In other words, the coolant feed line thats goes to the water pump be connected to the radiators bottom connection. (If the radiator has coolant in it, the pump will have access to it. The radiator could only be half full, and the engine will still get coolant.)
Top radiator hose connection to be connected to the outgoing flow from the engine.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

On one hand, the water pump must have a constant source of water so it doesn't cavitate trying to push air. On the other hand, heat rises and pulling water from the bottom of the radiator is where the coolest fluid will be pulled from. Every radiator I have ever worked with puts hot water coming from the engine in the top and pulls it from the bottom where gravity and thermal dynamics puts it - and there is a radiator full of water above this point to keep the water pump in fluid, not air.

 

[Lonny]

The radiator plumbing has work both ways so your overheating problem is probably not related to the radiator plumbing.
If you have an air compressor you can force the coolant through the system.
Disconnect the small line from the coolant tank.
Fill the coolant tank.
Put the cap on.
Pressurize the coolant tank through the small nipple. 10 to 15 lbs of pressure.
The coolant level will start to drop. Stop before the coolant tank gets too low and refill.
Repeat this until coolant starts to come out of the small tube that was previously disconnected from the coolant tank.

 

[Tim Moland]

The radiator plumbing has work both ways so your overheating problem is probably not related to the radiator plumbing.
If you have an air compressor you can force the coolant through the system.
Disconnect the small line from the coolant tank.
Fill the coolant tank.
Put the cap on.
Pressurize the coolant tank through the small nipple. 10 to 15 lbs of pressure.
The coolant level will start to drop. Stop before the coolant tank gets too low and refill.
Repeat this until coolant starts to come out of the small tube that was previously disconnected from the coolant tank.

I will try this. I Also do not have my heat exchanger water lines hooked to the Intercooler yet. However, I have all the turbo to intake plumbing on. Could this be causing the overheat problem?

 

[Lonny]

I will try this. I Also do not have my heat exchanger water lines hooked to the Intercooler yet. However, I have all the turbo to intake plumbing on. Could this be causing the overheat problem?

The intercooler system will not affect the engine cooling system. You almost surely have an air pocket.

 

[askiles]

As far as the orientation of the radiator hoses, yes it's been done both ways and the opinions are split as well. This is one of those areas that you will probably have to make your own opinion and go with it.

I personally stuck with the DF way and run the engine output (passenger side) to the lower port to push the water up and out of the radiator. The original radiator came with a cap and the air could be purged at that point but the new radiators do not have the car. I don't know if the air will go back down the radiator hose but air in the hose is not going to cause a cooling issue as much as air stuck in the radiator. That's my theory, yours may vary as so will others. I know one this for sure, never had any heating issues, not even close! It's amazing how well this cooling system does for me. I don't think the fan has ever come on.

Actually I just looked at the first stage assembly thread on here and they run the driver’s side to the bottom of the radiator, and the passenger’s side to the top. ‍ *shrug*

 

[Tim Moland]

The radiator plumbing has work both ways so your overheating problem is probably not related to the radiator plumbing.
If you have an air compressor you can force the coolant through the system.
Disconnect the small line from the coolant tank.
Fill the coolant tank.
Put the cap on.
Pressurize the coolant tank through the small nipple. 10 to 15 lbs of pressure.
The coolant level will start to drop. Stop before the coolant tank gets too low and refill.
Repeat this until coolant starts to come out of the small tube that was previously disconnected from the coolant tank.

OK, I tried this. I was sure that it was not working. As soon as I added air pressure, coolant would shoot out of the overflow hose.

I did this at least a dozen times and then topped the tank off and gave it a test. It seemed to have worked.

Both sides of the cooling system got warm this time. The fan kicked on at 203 degrees, cooled it back down, and the fan shut off. What temps are normal for not moving down the highway?

 

[Christopher Sanchez]

OK, I tried this. I was sure that it was not working. As soon as I added air pressure, coolant would shoot out of the overflow hose.

I did this at least a dozen times and then topped the tank off and gave it a test. It seemed to have worked.

Both sides of the cooling system got warm this time. The fan kicked on at 203 degrees, cooled it back down, and the fan shut off. What temps are normal for not moving down the highway?

Others say that they do not climb above 180 I don’t know if N/A vs turbo vs supercharged is different my turbo temps are exactly like yours fan kicks in the same and I regularly see 198-200 driving around.. I had the same problem with drivers side hose being cold until I let it warm up for 30 min looks like yours is function as it should.. just watch your resivor levels mine was full and it’s slowly sucking more down over a week of driving

 

[Tim Moland]

Others say that they do not climb above 180 I don’t know if N/A vs turbo vs supercharged is different my turbo temps are exactly like yours fan kicks in the same and I regularly see 198-200 driving around.. I had the same problem with drivers side hose being cold until I let it warm up for 30 min looks like yours is function as it should.. just watch your resivor levels mine was full and it’s slowly sucking more down over a week of driving

My donor was my daily driver for 1 1/2 years and I thought it ran close to 180 degrees. But that was while driving down the road, and the goblins cooling system is completely different, so that might effect things as well. I'll keep an eye on it for sure.

 

[ctuinstra]

The thermostat should tell you where is should run normally. Not sure if it’s stamped on there or not, the older ones used to be stamped. Ours is a SS/SC and it runs solid 180, but turbos could be different.

 

[Tim Moland]

I had looked up the thermostat online and it operates at 180 for the turbo. I figured it opened at that temp, but thought maybe the system just ran hotter than that? It might be fine where it's at, or it might come down while it's driving, only time will tell. Man, I need to get this thing finished!

 

[Briann1177]

My TC never gets above 189 degrees driving around. The only time I can get the fan to come on is by revving the crap out of it in the garage.