Quick radiator question

[Makdaddymac]

does a 3row fit right in place with maintatining factory rad mounts and brackets....
has anyone used/using these 150.00 all alum 2 and/or 3 rows ebay radiators that have lifetime warranties...autozone rad are all plastic now, and summit and etc want 250 and up for a radiator.....are these lifetime warraqnties bs??

 

[Mustang5L5]

Well, i have one of the old Autozone copper 3-cores. It fit in fine. ALl i had to do was trim one side of the rubber from the upper mounts. It will put your fan shroud closer to the motor so be aware.

I wouldn't go with an AL radiator..especially if you have cooling issues. While pure Al and pure Cu are not used in the radiators, the Copper/Brass radiator will have a higher thermal conductivity number than the AL alloy radiator. That means more efficient transfer of heat. The only benefit of an AL radiator...is weight.

 

[Makdaddymac]

noted...i would go witha autozone rad but they no longer make a 3 row, and the 2 row is 200.00?? and the cheap one is 84.00 but its only 1 row and and just doesnt seem to be enough for me....

 

[MustangLX-5.0]

I have an FRPP 2 row I got from LRS. It is a bit pricey at $240 but not as bad as those rads with the polished aluminum end tanks at $380. The FRPP rad is aluminum with HD plastic end tanks. I can tell a big difference in the quality of plastic material vs the cheap Cardone/Ready Rad I have in my V6. It's plastic, but it's a LOT thicker. The core is all aluminum with HD fins, not the type that crush just by brushing against them. And FYI, aluuminum is the best when it comes to heat dissipation. Why do you think that heat sinks for amps are made of aluminum? That autozone 3 core is made by Rready Rad, it's heavy ( 3 times the weight of the FRPP) and it has cheap steel frame and tanks that start rusting too easily. Only reason I have a RR rad in my V6 is because I didn't have much of a choice, and needed a new one because my stock rad split from too much pressure. Yeah, I know what you're thinking, the FRPP is plastic and that means it'll split also..... NOT so. First, the factory rad was cheap as is the replacement. Second, whatever was causing the pressure problems stopped once I stopped using thermostats. The HC is probably clogged. And 3rd, the FRPP rad is made a lot better than that RR junk. It's made for higher HP applications so the material is a lot thicker. When it comes to the cooling system, I wont muck around with cheap components. I plan to change out the RR in my V6 for something a little better.

 

[fiveohwblow]

Thats interesting Mustanglx50 did you really just remove thermostats altogether from your cars?

 

[MustangLX-5.0]

Thats interesting Mustanglx50 did you really just remove thermostats altogether from your cars?

Just from my V6. Everytime I put one in, I kept blowing out a heater hose (split like a sausage) near the water neck. It would end up splitting after the car warmed up and the RPM's got past 4000. Blew the thing out 6 (Yes, SIX) times in a 2 year span. I tried 3 different t-stats.. no difference. Then I blew up my radiator, that's when I said enough , and pulled the T-stat for good. No more blown hoses. My 92 has a T-stat in it and does fine.

 

[Mustang5L5]

IAnd FYI, aluuminum is the best when it comes to heat dissipation. Why do you think that heat sinks for amps are made of aluminum?

Sorry but you are mistaken. They use AL for machining purposes and cost reasons.

Cooling Fundamentals: Thermal Conductivity - FrostyTech.com

Silver #1, Copper #2, Gold #3, Aluminum a distant #4

I design a lot of weld fixturing at work and use copper as a material strictly because of it's ability to dissipate heat rapidly. Downside is cost and the fact that it wears out a hell of a lot faster than AL. When I gotta use AL , we need a longer cooldown cycle between weld cycles. It is very noticable the differences between AL and CU.

Unfortunately, they won't give me the budget for making this stuff out of silver or gold.


When it comes to radiators, Copper is what you want in a daily driver. Al is more for cars that make track passes and have time to cool down. It saves a TON of weight in the nose which is highly desirable. About the only reason to sacrifice cooling for it.


BTW, i have one of the OLD Autozone 3-core radiators. It's the copper 3-core they offered maybe 10 years ago for $150. Been in my car for 10 years as i bought it in 1999 i think. It's not made by ReadyRad, but i can't remember who made it. I'll have to go look at it. Think it began with a G? (there's a sticker on the side i'll have to look) Anyway, it's been in my car since '99 and works so well I don't even need to turn on my E-fan. One day this past summer, i turned the fan off to do some Key on stuff on the car and forgot to turn it back on. Proceeded to drive around for the next hour and a half on city streets without a fan on, and the car never got above 195 degrees on my Autometer gauge. I run underdrive pullies AND an e-fan which doesn't even need to be on all the time and i stay pretty cool. 180* stat too. I give credit to the radiator for this. Pity they don't sell that specific radiator anymore as my cooling system is VERY efficient because of it.

 

[fiveohwblow]

This makes me sad as I purchased my fluidyne aluminum thinking it was the best, obviously I was uneducated on the matter. Now I have heating issues when stopped for a short bit and now know why

 

[MustangLX-5.0]

Well then, I stand corrected. I never knew that, I just thought it was the most efficient as of how widely it is used. So then that would probably mean you would need to flush your rad more often due to the copper muck that builds up. I had that mess in my old rad. Good info btw.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Well the build-up tends to be minerals in such reacting in the water you use. One way to seriously cut down on this is to simply use distilled water when you fill your rad and not garden hose water. You won't eliminate it complete of course since the block is iron, but you'll cut way down on it.

Unfortunately that means going to the store and buying 10-15 gallons of distilled water though for flushing purposes

 

[Mustang5L5]

This makes me sad as I purchased my fluidyne aluminum thinking it was the best, obviously I was uneducated on the matter. Now I have heating issues when stopped for a short bit and now know why

I wouldn't be quick to write it off as the cause. I hate issuing blanket theories because there are always ways to design around them. In fact, part of me wants to say the OEM radiator in my '03 GT was in fact, an Aluminun radiator. It's been a while though since i had it, so not 100% sure. I'm sure there are guys with AL radiators in their car with no cooling issues.

But one way to work-around the lack of thermal conductivity is to simply pull more air across the core. So if you can improve your airflow at idle, you may increase your cooling ability.

No clue what your fan setup is though.

 

[Makdaddymac]

anyone running this, i just need something to help diagnose my overheating issue, plus im not hevaily modded...
AutoZone.com | | Radiator | RADIATOR

its only 85.00 and single row, but anything is better than my current radiator, and im hoping this will make my issues go away....

 

[ReefBlueHatch]

I have had this radiator since November of '09 and so far it's been great. I think my car has a 160 thermo and stays on the thrid line of the temp gauge. Two buddies have them in their turbo 5.0s cars and been working great for a year.