Normal behaviour for stock radiator when tuned

[Kaldek]

Folks,

My car as tuned by @TME_Steve has had the stock radiator put back in it due to the clearance issues with the Winner radiator that was previously in it.

Anyway, I took the car for a blast up the mountains today and noticed that when I really hoofed it, the temperatures climbed up (even at speed with airflow).

So, I suppose this is normal and I either live with it or go back to the Winner? I never noticed the temperatures climb with the bigger radiator, but then I never had the chance to give it some throttle for consistent periods back then either.

Love to hear your thoughts.

 

[d3ck5]

im here for the comments.

ps: "please someone land some fuggin monster bonnets for us aussies!!!!"

 

[whats_doing]

How hot was it outside?
Only time I have ever had my needle rise above the normal position is when we had a 44°C day and @Cameron McPherson and I went for a blast up the hills in the sunny coast. I have a Golpher radiator and running e85. Stock bonnet and I haven't put bonnet spacers in either.

 

[pretzil]

Have had mine get hot on a 30degree 10pm mountain run, also at mid day happy laps, that is tuned and with golpher radiator.
Replaced my thermostat last weekend, yet to see if it helps.

Also I don't have an underbody tray, I suspect that may be a contributing factor to inefficient cooling,
Either that or head studs... but I have only had issues after sustained heavy load, not just normal full boost use.

 

[Dice]

Mountains do it, even with alloy or copper bigger radiators. Mt Tamborine in Qld did it for my Koyo, nothing else on the street gets it above ~90C though.

 

[Jakevr4]

I had my manual galant in the red up MtTambo, stock everything tune and radiator.

 

[Kaldek]

How hot was it outside?
Only time I have ever had my needle rise above the normal position is when we had a 44°C day and @Cameron McPherson and I went for a blast up the hills in the sunny coast. I have a Golpher radiator and running e85. Stock bonnet and I haven't put bonnet spacers in either.

Golpher and E85 combined would make it run much cooler I'm sure. Not a good comparison to my own situation.

 

[trotty]

I had mine rise pretty high on the Bathurst cruise but I had the aircon on, and giving it a pretty hard time going backwards up the steep part taking pics.

 

[AKKO]

Pfft dont trust the oddo cluster gauge, if thats moving / climbing fast I'd hazard a guess your already in the danger zone and have been a while.

Saw frequent/consistent 100 temps in traffic with my Koyorad during Perth's heatwave today all the while the oddo cluster guage didn't bump past normal...

+1 under tray (have this but not fitted yet) or better fans required. :-(

 

[AKKO]

Replaced my thermostat last weekend, yet to see if it helps

Normal or lower temp threshold one? Normally should begin opening at 82 degrees iirc

 

[pretzil]

Oem.

Also yeah I agree about the dash temp gauge, as soon as it starts climbing it goes exponentially.

Where do you have yours reading from?

 

[NuffNuff]

a month or so ago it was 36 outside and i the car was full chock a block of camping gear and i was pushing it overtaking everyone past mansfield towards the hills west, the temp go to 3/4 at the top of a hill very rapidly. took about 5 mins to cool down taking it easy and once on relatively flat ground it never went up again

i agree with the others, the temp soared out of no where

edit: mine is TME tuned with stock radiator + HDI intercooler + bigass power steering cooler in the way

 

[AKKO]

Oem.

Also yeah I agree about the dash temp gauge, as soon as it starts climbing it goes exponentially.

Where do you have yours reading from?

Can't remember was done at the same time as a heap of other work, have been meaning to chase it since and hookup a separate probe for rad fan control as I'm not convinced the factory one (hedgehog) is doing an optimal job with the upgraded rad.

Guess I could always have the fan on set points changed in the ROM instead hmm

May also pay to check the volts being supplied to the fans via the OEM controller is within the expected range for the fans to make sure that when they do kick in they are on at full roar when they should be.

 

[NuffNuff]

does anyone ever hear their fans turn on? i only ever notice them running if my aircon is on if you leave the drivers window down at the lights you can feel it all wafting in. i remember my other cars after a fair bit of idling you'd hear them flick on and off

 

[AKKO]

Yeah that's pretty normal behavior with the OEM setup

 

[pretzil]

If you cut the thin blue wire going to the hedgehog you can get full force fan all the time

Mine goes thru a relay connected to the fog light switch

 

[Kaldek]

Pfft dont trust the oddo cluster gauge, if thats moving / climbing fast I'd hazard a guess your already in the danger zone and have been a while.

Saw frequent/consistent 100 temps in traffic with my Koyorad during Perth's heatwave today all the while the oddo cluster guage didn't bump past normal...

+1 under tray (have this but not fitted yet) or better fans required. :-(

Hmm I haven't fitted my under tray yet.

Anyway the needle didn't climb too much - certainly not close to 3/4. I just have eagle eyes.

100 degrees isn't bad as such; that's why the system is pressurised because it raises the boiling point. I wouldn't ever want to see 115+ though.

 

[Kaldek]

On my old Honda VFR, normal was 76 degrees (thermostat opening temp) which the motor would hold on an average day. 105 was common in the heat and traffic but I never saw it exceed 110 in ten years.

It was a digital readout though, and a single sensor with two outputs - one to the ECU and one to the dash cluster. I don't know what the Legnum uses but EvoScan often tells me 100 degree temps while the dash needle sits in the middle (with the winner radiator).

To my thinking, if the thermostat opens at 82, that's what the motor should hold when cruising but not under load.

 

[NuffNuff]

any insight on undertray vs no undertray in stop start and highway speeds in relation to heat?

 

[AKKO]

Yeah thermostat not fully open until 95 degrees as i understand...