So here's my story...

I'm new to the forum, but I've had my 95 rs for about five years. About a year ago, it overheated on me and blew the head. Ended up being the water pump. That's when I found out that finding a 420a in this part of Indiana is nearly impossible unless you got at least a grand laying around. So the car has sat ever since.

A couple weeks ago, I finally found a motor I could afford so I jumped on it. The guy had decided to go turbo so he bought a motor that was aleady built for one. So I gave him 300 for the motor minus the valve cover (apparently the company that the turbo motor from doesn't include the oil pan or valve cover). I had to spend another 200 for gas to go pick it up, but all in all it was still about 300-500 cheaper than the junkyards around here wanted (assuming they could find one)

Before I realized that the old motor was blown, I had replaced the water pump, thermostat housing (I origionally thought this was the problem), idler bearing, tensioner bearing, and timing chain. All have 0 miles on them. So assuming nothing has frozen up from sitting, I have those parts at my disposal. However, when I replaced those parts, I somehow managed to screw up the inlet on the radiator, so now that needs replaced when i get the motor installed (i'm nowhere near good enough to try it myself). And that brings me to my questions:

Hey, I searched around with the search feature and found a lot of useful information about the radiators available for the 420a. However, I didn't find anything that specifically answered my questions. I'm sorry if this turns out to be a topic that's been beaten to death, I really did look for it.

based on what I can afford, I think my main options are stock, radiator barn's aluminum radiator, and a koyo aluminum radiator with the plastic tops. Stock, I've seen for around 80-90 bucks, and the koyo for 135, and the radiator barn for like 132.

How much cooler will the high performance ones keep my motor? Are the Koyo and Radiator Barn pretty much the same aside from the top, or is one cooler than the other? Also the Radiator Barn doesn't mention whether or not it fits an automatic transmission. Has anyone had any problems there? It does however mention that it works with or without ac. The Koyo doesn't mention ac at all. I've never heard of that being an issue. Does it really make a difference?

For the record, I have an automatic with no ac, but I'm considering installing ac if I can find the parts cheap enough after I get the car moving again.

Sorry if that was too lengthy.

Any other advice is welcome.

Thanks.

PS, sorry about the topic name, I should have thought that through more.

Don't worry about the title. It does that to show we don't like certain words, although I can't figure out which term you used. S p e l l it out for me?

As for the radiators, I'd just go with the least expensive one you can get your hands on right now. Use the money for getting the car running, imo. (Although I'm in the market for a radiator myself and will have to look into the Koyo, now that you've mentioned it!) All aluminum is going to be better in the long run, but you're not really going to see much in the way of better cooling (that you'll notice anyway) between anything in the stock size. To get any kind of added cooling benefit, you'd want to go with something thicker like a Fluidyne or Griffin.

Welcome to the site. Lots of good info to be had for those who are willing to look for it. :thumbsup

as much as i hate cimotrsports (i ordered my parts 50+ days ago and theyre still not here)

They have a aluminum radiator with a fan for really cheap. i recived mine a few days and go and it looks very good

http://www.cimotorsports.net/motor-sport-products/visteon-high-performance-aluminum-radiator-wfan-eclipsetalon-420a.html

Thanks for the link, but I think it's a bit out of my price range still.

Unfortunately, no one around here knows much about these motors. The only guy that knows how to install them wants 700 to do the job, so my budget is near non existant.

Otherwise I would definitely consider that radiator.

Thanks for the info DR1665, I didn't see your post right away.

I found the koyo on ebay, I can't find the part number on Koyo's website though, so i'm a little skeptical there. I've read several posts here though with people using them, and seen a couple links to ebay auctions, so idk. The radiator barn is full aluminum, and it's a few dollars cheaper. Still not sure if it's for automatics though.

Stock is the cheapest, and probably what I'll get, but I'm really tempted to drop the extra 30-40 bucks on the radiator barn one. It's not a huge difference, but money's tight so I'll probably skip it.

I'm gonna check the junkyard a few towns over next time I get paid, they did have a blown talon there last time I made it out there, but I needed my money to keep the pos I bought to hold me over till I found a motor runnin. If they haven't crushed it yet, I'll see if the radiator is salvagable.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the motor is out of a 97 or 98, I've read that some of the connectors are different in a couple posts. So i'm gonna stick to my sensors where I need to. Are there any other little details I should keep in mind?

ps. It was N O O B, nothing too bad, but I should have realized it would annoy people even if it wasn't against the rules.

I think this is the best |\|00b post I've ever seen. *sniff*

if you're just going for getting the car running again the stocker will work. IIRC the radiator barn solid unit didn't have the flanges for the automatic but I could be wrong. if it doesn't you can just get an aftermarket oil cooler and mount it in the side of the bumper.

the water pump should be fine, give it a spin and make sure it feels a little tight but fluid. pulleys should spin freely and fluidly. if you feel any roughness or hear any noise buy new ones.

the car has no ac? was it removed prior to your purchasing it? I thought all 2G's came with ac :shrug

I'm not sure about the ac. I bought the car from my sister when she got married. She married a Welsh guy, so she moved to Wales for a year or two while she was waiting for his citezenship to go through. I was about to get my license, and she didn't have a need for the car, so I got a job and took over her car payments.

When she bought the car the dealership said it had ac. She turned the fan on and it blew cold air. What she didn't take into consideration was that it was winter, so it was gonna blow cold air no matter what. Once it warmed up outside, it became apparent that it didn't have ac. The dealership lied and said that they never said it had ac so they wouldn't do anything about it. A couple weeks later, the military black balled the dealership (meaning military families like us were warned not to go there because they were known to screw people. Otherwise, the car was great, it ran perfect until it overheated, with the exception of the idler bearing going out around the same time (which I discovered when my uncle and I tore into it to change the waterpump. For a first car it was amazing. All I had to do to it for 3 or 4 years was regular upkeep.


I'm really not sure if it had it and was removed or if it came factory like that. They sell belts at autozone and advanced for eclipses without ac, but that might just be for people who remove it. I do know that it is never the right size, finding a belt for that thing is PITA if you don't bring the old belt with you for them to measure.


Right now I'm looking at just getting it running. I'm gonna go with a stock radiator for now, flush the transmission since it's sat for so long and the fluid probably isn't any good, and hunt for a new oil pan gasket and valve cover gasket. Then I'll drive it for a while and add bolt ons as money allows if it doesn't give me trouble. It worries me that it's sat for so long.

At the moment I'm concentrating on the interior because I don't have the money for the install. I commute to a college that's 50 miles away, so gas is raping me pretty hard right now. Plus I wanna make sure all the wiring is in tact. The car smells really bad, so I think something might have gotten into it. I've got the interior pretty much completely stripped out now. All that's left is the head liner, the sun visors, those little handle things that connect to the head liner, and the dash board. So far I haven't found any wires that look chewed up, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I need to take the drivers side tire off too because it's locked up. I think the rotor rusted up on me. It bites cause I had just changed all of the brakes, rotors, and drums about 2 months before it broke down. Once I can get it rolling easy, I'll clean out my garage, jack it up and check over the underside for bad wire's or any other visible problems.

Thanks for the info about the radiator.

do you have an ac button? Check and see if the compressor is there, it should be straight down from the powersteering pump. it might just need recharging.

I never had an ac button. There's just this random plastic piece where it should be.

After I get it runnin I'm gonna start scavenging for parts to assemble one, if it's possible.

i've got a compressor and bracket sitting in my shed, worked before i took it off.

Originally posted by bluespunk
I never had an ac button. There's just this random plastic piece where it should be. After I get it runnin I'm gonna start scavenging for parts to assemble one, if it's possible.

wow, the first factory non-ac car I've heard of. you'll need all the lines and condenser, probably the compressor bracket and hardware for the block, the evaporater core for in the car and probably the heater controls from an ac car.

Originally posted by RoninEclipse2G
wow, the first factory non-ac car I've heard of.

Now its the second. My 96 GS never had. I'm special :wavy

Ronin, Thanks for the info, i'll be keeping an eye out for the parts once I get her runnin.

No Boost, I've got no spare money right now, cause everything's going to school and savin up for the install, but so I know for later, what would you want for the parts you have?

Sorry I am late to the party. A 'racing' spec radiator does wonders to help keeps temps down. It works so well that my heater doesn't work in the winter. The car just can't warm up.

If you are just going to try and get the car running, I would suggest the radiator barn radiator. It has metal end tanks and looks like it will hold up well long term. I have seen the plastic end tanks break when trying to replace a leaking radiator hose. Even when we were being careful.