*** WARNING: Skip to bottom if you don’t like reading stories ;) ***

Heater Core
My heater core/hose has finally kicked the bucket... (also) the steal piping *to* the heater was fine, but the return pipe to the thermostat housing was very much rusted through and milking up my coolant with orange/brown/rusted crap; really bad. I had periodically flushed the system with no real change to contaminating, and here I am in South FL... so it was time for the heater to go. I just ran heater hose from the bottom radiator straight to the thermostat housing bypassing the heater entirely. Now my coolant is instantly and obviously the better for it, although there is still a faint orange/brown from what’s been caked in the system for all this time, but it appears to be slowly cleaning up (going to flush once again).

Fans
So anyways, the next day I wired my fans to run whenever the car was on (by removing the relay and bridging the circuit - thanks azdave for helpful illustrations in search). My fans have always worked just fine, but only turned on when the engine gets hot - and my goal was to lower under-hood ambient temps. The radiator reservoir is now much cooler because of it, and I believe my EGT’s have also dropped slightly.

Bumper Ribs
Last night I made wonderful work of the (stupid) black ribbing in the scoop of our front bumper to open up another two inches of airflow across the FMIC/Radiator (took about ~3 hours)... now the FMIC is completely unblocked with only the piping still hidden. Now, when I drive around town the radiator reservoir is significantly cooler, almost room temperature one might guess and easy to touch... the post-intercooler piping is also much cooler and it doesn’t hurt that the FMIC really shows off now ;) A note to those who might do this: a dremel’s cutting wheel works wonders (3~4 actually) on the polyurethane bumper and foam, but only a jigsaw will adequately cut through the bump stop... expect to go through 4~5 blades as well. Oh, and wear a glove, mask, and goggles... lots of dust and molten plastic headed your way.

Cooling Setup:
Fluidyne Radiator, Flex-a-Lite Fans, OBX Radiator Hoses
Ceramic coated exhaust manifold
DEI Heat Wrap on DP and Intercooler Piping
DEI CoolTube on all wiring to starter/fusebox/alternator/grounds/etc
Paul’s Phenolic Spacer (SymTech)
Removed weather stripping on Hood

Planned for this week:
Going to raise the hood a bit via washers to get more negative pressure
Going to pipe some dryer conduit from the driver’s brake scoop to the air intake
Need to find some gutter-guard that is 8+ inches wide now, since the main scoop is that much taller
Going to cover the top radiator hose with some SS braids with maybe a layer of heat wrap underneath
Would like to try fabricating a heat shield for the S16G using the DP bolts as a mounting point

The BIG Question(s)

I’ve had the Fluidyne radiator for some time now, it’s been great, and is quite impressive compared to the OEM radiator… with all I’ve done to try and reduce temps in coolant/intake/ambient temps, the radiator is still cooking (very hot) as I feel both the top and bottom of the radiator. With the aluminum’s ability to draw heat, I’m wondering if it’s also being heatsoaked by the turbo. I’m no longer being greeted by a plume of heat when I pop my hood after a long drive, but that’s not to say the turbo still isn’t baking it either. Also (a bit more of understanding), if my reservoir is now holding cooled coolant and the radiator is hot trying to cool other coolant, is it not the radiator’s hot coolant which floods the engine first when the thermostat opens? I *had* a coolant temp gauge built into my radiator cap (which started leaking on me), but is the coolant sitting in the hot radiator actually cool and the radiator is simply doing the job of extracting its heat… to where I wouldn’t be able to identify that the fluid really is cool inside it by touching the aluminum?

A couple more questions:
I had a 160’ thermostat in, but have recently replaced with 195’ superstat as it had failed and that’s what was available at the time… I’m considering putting in a 180’ back in to give the coolant more time to actually cool, do think this is wise? I was going to add Water Wetter, but anyone have any experience w/ DEI Radiator Relief? Any other ideas?

I’m sorry for the novel, but I’ve been spending a lot of time (and searching) on the subject, and wanted to know your thoughts... thanks for reading!!!!!

- J

No apologies needed for a long post - good info and some ideas to toss around.

To address the thought of your turbo cooking your radiator: At any speed above zero you will have air flow moving through your radiator against your turbo. I am no expert in aero/thermodynamics but I assume this keeps a good amount of radiant heat from the turbo off your radiator.

Thermostat: I have been running a 160* for about 4 years operating between Phoenix and SoCal and it has done a great job of keeping the operating temps between 160-170. I rarely hear my fan kick on; only when sitting stopped for a period of time will the coolant rise to 205-210 and the fan activate. Recently I installed my Visteon Aluminum w/single fan and the efficiency has been outstanding. Keep in mind I am not turbo either however after some serious stop and go I do not have a heat blast either upon opening the hood.

This summer when the next motor goes in I will throw in a Stant 195* as I have a new one on hand. The argument can be made that Chrysler engineered the 420a to operate at a particular temperature and therefore the OEM thermostat is why it is where it is.

As far as the difference in temperature between the radiator's exterior and the fluid inside I would assume the temperature would be near each other.

Here's an idea for a relatively cheap turbo heat sheild:

http://www.supraforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=326366

Some sort of lip mounted under the radiator support to grab air under the front bumper and direct it into the radiator would probably help also.

Just wanted to comment on the heatsheild setup, I've tried the cooking pot method and to me it just didn't look right, although if you can find a nice one like on that Supra it wouldn't look bad. Every one I found either had a copper bottom, weird lips, wrong size etc (basically still looked like a hacked cooking pot) so I gave up on that idea lol. I did however find something that I thought looked much cleaner, a stainless steel spare tire cover off some van they hauled in to our junkyard. I just cut a section out and trimed it down, replaced the center valve cover bolt with one that uses the extra nut to mount the top of it to, and still need to fab up a flexible type bracket to secure the bottom to the fan bolt but that shouldn't be too hard, just need more spare time. Here's a few unfinished pics to give you an idea...

I have also been researching this quite a bit.

Think about removing your hood latch and installing locking hood pins (aerocatch) and covering the hole which the latch use to occupy so air doesn't have a route around your radiator. Boxing in the front mount and the radiator with sheets of aluminum forcing the air to go through the intercooler and radiator instead of flowing around it helps.

Also, bumper vents where the mitsubishi logo is will greatly increase airflow. I know it may not be "pretty" but will definitely effect cooling. OR, ducting the fog light holes into wards the radiator.

And a thought on your idea about raising the hood with the washers. Doing so may be sucking air into the engine bay instead of it being pushed out. A scoop more near the front of the hood, with the scoop facing to the rear will pull hot air out of the engine bay.

Does ceramic coating help alot? Im needing to keep the heat down cause my cf hood is already getting cracked.

Originally posted by PsychO
And a thought on your idea about raising the hood with the washers. Doing so may be sucking air into the engine bay instead of it being pushed out. A scoop more near the front of the hood, with the scoop facing to the rear will pull hot air out of the engine bay.

You're half correct on this, the transition from the hood to the windshield is a high pressure area. That's why the fresh air inlet for the climate control is there. Muscle car enthusiasts figured this out 40 years ago and created cowl-induction hoods. The difference in angles actually pushes cool air into the engine bay.

Originally posted by CODE4
To address the thought of your turbo cooking your radiator: At any speed above zero you will have air flow moving through your radiator against your turbo. I am no expert in aero/thermodynamics but I assume this keeps a good amount of radiant heat from the turbo off your radiator.

That's true, I suppose it would depend on amount of airflow and any obstructions... thanks :)

Originally posted by CODE4
keeping the operating temps between 160-170. I rarely hear my fan kick on; only when sitting stopped for a period of time will the coolant rise to 205-210 and the fan activate.

I also rarely hear the fans kicks on which is why I suppose I wired them to always run... I'll probably run my 195' thermostat for a while until I get a new coolant temp gauge radiator cap again; if only to see how much of a difference it makes when I do replace (never really paid attention to it before).

...

Yeah, the Supra pot idea is exactly what I was thinking in terms of a heat shield (a great link for those searching btw)... and I'm hoping a fair amount of grinding and polishing will keep it from looking like 'just a cut up pot', cuz I'd never put one on either. The spare cover is a nice idea, but not for me.

...

Originally posted by PsychO
Think about removing your hood latch and installing locking hood pins (aerocatch) and covering the hole which the latch use to occupy so air doesn't have a route around your radiator.

How would removing the hood latch improve airflow? I've currently got an OEM hood with Redline hood struts...

Originally posted by PsychO
Boxing in the front mount and the radiator with sheets of aluminum forcing the air to go through the intercooler and radiator instead of flowing around it helps.

I think this is easier said than done unfortunately... it would be quite difficult I'd think to afix a metal frame to the radiator support that the bumper slides over, seals with, and it still be sturdy. I've used door trim on the FAL fans to create a seal on the radiator, but it's something you bolt/sandwich on... the bumper is removable.

Originally posted by PsychO
Also, bumper vents where the mitsubishi logo is will greatly increase airflow. I know it may not be "pretty" but will definitely effect cooling. OR, ducting the fog light holes into wards the radiator.

Yeah, I won't be ghettofy'ing my car at anytime, although I agree with you on that. Similarly, I don't intend on removing my fog lights either, BUT I *will* be ducting the brake scoops towards the engine bay (not radiator)... the driver's side will be easy, but I'm not so sure the passenger's side is really feasible (too much in the way).

Originally posted by Flipboi89
Does ceramic coating help alot? Im needing to keep the heat down cause my cf hood is already getting cracked.

Yes! The heater lines running across the manifold will GREATLY thank you for this especially... I also suggest running a DEI Sleeve on the pipes as well, as it fits absolutely perfectly. As for your hood, I'd suggest a.) get/make a heat shield, AND b.) run your fans all the time so the heat doesn't just swell at the top. My OEM heat padding was just starting to crumble, and I think the fans alons has stopped that now.

...

I live in South FL and everything is less than an hour away OR everything is much, much further away (Orlando/Tampa = ~3hrs, Key West = ~5hrs) and we winde up taking the wiffle's Escape instead. Now my car isn't overheating at all, but I wonder if it would on a long trip (many hours, ~3+) as the coolant does get quite hot after a long drive (~1hr). I originally bought the car from Dave_FL (which many may remember) and drove it down here so many years ago from Orlando, so I know it'll go that far... I just wonder.

Side Note:
My wiffle's stepdad has been drag racing funny cars his whole life (AR/MO/TN/etc) and was selected for Pinks as exhibition and got his car licensed for the big boys w/ the NHRA... I not-so-secretly dream of driving my car up there (~20hrs) and taking it to their tracks just to say hello to the ocean of American Muscle (zero imports).

Whoa, lots of responses... BANME!!
- J

Originally posted by RoninEclipse2G
You're half correct on this, the transition from the hood to the windshield is a high pressure area.

Yea, I get my high and low pressure area's confused.

Originally posted by J
How would removing the hood latch improve airflow? I've currently got an OEM hood with Redline hood struts...

Not just removing the latch but also covering the hole that it use to take up. That's a large hole for air to "leak" out and go around your radiator.

Originally posted by J
I think this is easier said than done unfortunately... it would be quite difficult I'd think to afix a metal frame to the radiator support that the bumper slides over, seals with, and it still be sturdy. I've used door trim on the FAL fans to create a seal on the radiator, but it's something you bolt/sandwich on... the bumper is removable.

Here, this thread will show you what I'm talking about.
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/turbo-system-tech/245981-fmic-ducting.html#post151075850

You can see he's filling all the gaps between the FMIC, the condensor and radiator. This will force the air to go through all three and not partially around for maximum cooling.

Originally posted by J
Yeah, I won't be ghettofy'ing my car at anytime, although I agree with you on that.

I'm with you on that. But this doesn't look entirely bad..


Or STM's car with a carbon fiber duct..

That's a great link on tuners, not seen that before... you can tell he put alot of effort into it! That's given me something to think about.

Question:
It's been a long time since I've had my fenders off and I'm all for making a car 'pretty', but I definately prefer when form matches function... SOoooooooooooooooo... does anyone know what the potential is for picking up some vented fenders and making them functional (i.e. duct the heat out from the bay). I wonder how much cutting that would take, and if it'd be possible without compromising the chassis.

I just picked up a sheet of mesh @ Home Depot, I think meant for stucco'd exterior or masonry. It's the same exact thing as gutter gaurd. I'll be cutting it up and hopefully ducting my brake scoop tonight.

- J

Thanks for the info. I wont get my manifold coated till winter but aheat shield id definitely in the process. Anyone have a link on a place that has some or a diy link? I saw one done on a supra. And I like the idea nightfall has. I know all I need is some sheet metal but I want to make it look clean and not look half ass or ghetto fabbed lol.

Btw love your car nightfall your my inspiration ahhah.