Radiator

blk90celica-ht

New member
Well my OEM radiator is in need of replacing and i'm doing some research on what radiator to put in it's place. I'm kinda leaning towards swapping in a Koyo but after reading other post, its not a direct swap and would require modifications to the coolant lines and mounts. Can anyone confirm this?

I also found this radiator on ebay but wasn't sure if it worth buying.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WINNER-RACING-5 ... 1713wt_698

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
 

Corey

Active member
Keep in mind that with a radiator that thick, the stock rad fan may not be able to squeeze infront of the engine.

Another option is Ron Davis. They make a radiator which is thicker than stock, but not so thick as to prevent the stock fan from bolting up.
 

underscore

Well-known member
That eBay one looks like the ASI/Autopower one. 56mm cools great but can actually overcool a bit if you don't have a good thermostat.

And like Corey said, a 56mm will require you to get aftermarket fans, the OEM fan most likely won't clear on a rad that thick.
 

blk90celica-ht

New member
Thanks for your input. Luckily I found a used auto power radiator with a slim line fan. I'll post some pic's of my install. What I'm wondering now is should I swap out my thermostat? Any one have opinions on which one to use?
 

blk90celica-ht

New member
Well I finally got around to swapping out the radiator.
Old
2012-07-30203241.jpg

2012-07-30203401.jpg

New
2012-07-30203254.jpg

Side/side
2012-07-30203343.jpg

2012-07-30203334.jpg

Installed
2012-07-30210859-1.jpg


All in all its a really good fit and I have plenty of room. (Note I did have to switch the fan to a slim line. I used a 12")

After I did this I let it run for about 10 min then I took it for a 5 mile drive and every thing was great. Today I go to work and the temp gets just above the middle part of the gauge... :shock: So tonight i'm going to double check every thing. Hopefully its just has a bubble in the system.
 

blk90celica-ht

New member
Well i'm thinking my Thermostat is bad. A new OEM is about $30 and the TRD one is around $90. Is the TRD one really worth that much of a difference?
 

Corey

Active member
With a rad that large, a low temp thermostat will help.

Even with a large aftermarket radiator, it will have a higher heat capacity and be able to cool the coolant faster (ie its warmed up due to idling in traffic), but it will never get any colder than the thermostat temp.

If you actually want to lower engine operating temps, you'll need a lower temp thermostat.

With the TRD thermostat, you can expect to see the stock temp gauge hold just above the 1/4 range of the gauge, and it will actually move when the coolant warms back up due to slow speeds or stuck in traffic.

Since our oil is water cooled, lower temp coolant can transfer to lower oil temps.
 
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