- Sep 9, 2012
- 112
- 1
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I recentlyy had a thread on here about cooling problems on my 68 mustang after some fairly heavy performance upgrades. I have partially solved the problem and in doing so have some observations to offer as follows:
I bought a 25 x 16 4 core aluminum radiator and installed it along with 2 - 9" electric fans pushing in the front of my a/c condenser. I left the mechanical 18" 6 blade no clutch fan on with the plastic shroud. Anytime the car is moving it is fine, 165 on the highway, 175 to 185 in town while moving at least 25 mph. But when i stop the temp will fast start rising and get to 200 or more if i let it. This is with a/c on. If i turn a/c off it will still creep up but not as fast. The 2 elec fans are on a thermostat at about 180 degs so they are on when ideling. Now all of this is with osa temp of 100 to 107 here in Houston.
I read all the stuff about 4 core vs 2 core and thought the 4 would be better because it had more fin surface to conduct off the heat. I am an old mech and elec engineer and was going by my old a/c days and thermo i learned in college. But now i think i made a mistake. I think it would be better to go with the 2 core because i think the 4 core has too much resistance to air flow. If you look at todays cars they all have very thin radiators and electric fans. I looked at a sherrif's crown vic the other day and that's what it had and idles in traffic or stopped sometimes for hours.
I tried an experiment the other day. I drove home from town about 20 miles and left the car running in the yard with a/c off and was running about 195 with hood open a few inches. I put a fan i have on my porh in front of the grill and turned on a/c and the temp went to 200 but stayed there for several minutes. So obviously the problem is airflow.
With my 3 fans i should not have a problem but i really think that 4 core is just too thick. By the way i do have a trans cooler in front of rad so that is also adding some heat.
In summary i am happy with 4 core but wish i had gone 2 - 1" core instead. I am going to put a lincoln fan on before next summer and i feel sure that will take care of it.
So anyway if you are considering a new rad try a 2 core 1 " instead of the 4 core. I hope this helps someone.
I bought a 25 x 16 4 core aluminum radiator and installed it along with 2 - 9" electric fans pushing in the front of my a/c condenser. I left the mechanical 18" 6 blade no clutch fan on with the plastic shroud. Anytime the car is moving it is fine, 165 on the highway, 175 to 185 in town while moving at least 25 mph. But when i stop the temp will fast start rising and get to 200 or more if i let it. This is with a/c on. If i turn a/c off it will still creep up but not as fast. The 2 elec fans are on a thermostat at about 180 degs so they are on when ideling. Now all of this is with osa temp of 100 to 107 here in Houston.
I read all the stuff about 4 core vs 2 core and thought the 4 would be better because it had more fin surface to conduct off the heat. I am an old mech and elec engineer and was going by my old a/c days and thermo i learned in college. But now i think i made a mistake. I think it would be better to go with the 2 core because i think the 4 core has too much resistance to air flow. If you look at todays cars they all have very thin radiators and electric fans. I looked at a sherrif's crown vic the other day and that's what it had and idles in traffic or stopped sometimes for hours.
I tried an experiment the other day. I drove home from town about 20 miles and left the car running in the yard with a/c off and was running about 195 with hood open a few inches. I put a fan i have on my porh in front of the grill and turned on a/c and the temp went to 200 but stayed there for several minutes. So obviously the problem is airflow.
With my 3 fans i should not have a problem but i really think that 4 core is just too thick. By the way i do have a trans cooler in front of rad so that is also adding some heat.
In summary i am happy with 4 core but wish i had gone 2 - 1" core instead. I am going to put a lincoln fan on before next summer and i feel sure that will take care of it.
So anyway if you are considering a new rad try a 2 core 1 " instead of the 4 core. I hope this helps someone.