cooling

[havoline]

well installed the aluminum radiator and well it took some time getting everything tight and leak free cause also ripped off tubes, gaskets, to get to the water pump and replace that and did it all in a few hours. By the end of the day it was leak free but with one little incident: its cooling abit too much. So far it does not go past 150 and has a thermostat at 180. A good move is to put 195 in it for a bit and see how it reacts if it goes too high like to 190 all the time in this weather then I will go back to 180 and make sure it doesnt have that bypass hole in the thermostat.

What does anyone else think?

I am sure people are asking why did I put an aluminum radiator in my car?? well in the summer times when its top notch it still gets hot like above 210 with same thermostat and there not much I can do. Not to mention radiator was probably an old one like more than 8 years old, and had a few leaks around the sides and in the fins itself. So why spend same money on the basic stuff and not improve or upgrade, not wanting to win any competitions for original car you know. I just want to get the best of my car thats all. Its a good looking radiator and only cost 210 dollars and fits in same exact spot as stock radiator did.

 

[350kmileford]

So it has exactly the same outside dimensions as the original 6 cylinder radiator? Where did you get it? link?

 

[havoline]

I got it at sacramento mustang. had to remove the fittings that go into the hoses for the transmission from the old radiator and put into the new one. but other than that its a direct bolt up. drain plug is alot better than the one on the old radiator. very pretty too

 

[Bort62]

If it's running too cool, you just need to drive it harder

I have the same problem with mine. I don't consider it a problem.

 

[CobraSix]

For anyone else, you can also buy a stock looking, 3 row radiator from just about any mustang parts house. It has stock hose locations for the 6 cylinder, looks stock, but has more cooling. I put that in, and even in stop and go in 95+ weather, I've never gotten past the T-stat temperature. I have always overheated personally before the car did...damn verts with no AC and vinyl seats.

 

[havoline]

So far its doing ok. It warms up really fast. Goes straight to 195 degrees then goes straight down to almost 165. After that it stays around 180 degrees driving around town and at stop lights and when shut off it takes a while for the temperature gauge to say anything of an increased temperature but cools down at least 20 degrees in just 5 mins. I wish the thermostat had a bleeder valve on it but does good so far. So hopefully in the summer time it will not go past 200 like it usually does if it doesnt then I know I am ok.

 

[CobraSix]

Okay, remember the function of the T-stat. While it is progressively opening (since it is a thermal spring) it doesn't change much until the set temperature. So, if you put a 195* T Stat, expect your car to run at 195* in the summer in stop and go traffic. If it goes above that, putting a cooler T-stat in will not change anything at all. Very common mistake to assume that putting a cooler T-stat in will make a poorly performing cooling system work. T-stat is just regulating the temperature. If you have a good cooling system, then putting a cooler T-stat in will lower the temperature the engine runs at.

And engine running at 195* is around the normal operating range for this engine. 160* is low IMO. Engines need to be warm. They are designed with a certain amount of thermal expansion in mind. If an engine is run too cold, your oil will not lubricate as well, you will have increased wear, and also will have increase oil consumption due to less thermal expansion plugging up gaps. I personally would never run anything below a 180* Tstat.

So, if your cooling system is holding your engine at 195* (which is your Tstat temp) then your car will not likely overheat. If it overheats with that T-stat in place, guess what, it will overheat with a cooler one in under the same circumstances. If you overheat with the 195* T-stat, you still have other cooling system failures somewhere else (Water pump, old hoses, crud in the block).

 

[havoline]

I know! But trust me people kept telling that it was a bad idea to do that. Like keep the 180 in the summer and do 195 in the winter. I am sure that sounds reasonable but in the summer the car may not heat up all the way like it should, because it certainly wasnt doing that now. Never saw it go towards 160 at all until I switched the thermostats. Runs good still. The thermo cap on top of the radiator is nice, lets me know when safe to touch radiator when theres no real way of seeing how hot it is. I also had a feeling that my car's efficiency was dropping cause it never really warmed up. Car feels better to drive more consistent, cause usually if I was even abit hard on the car it would warm up a bit and be sloppy on me with response, so far not the case but could be a fluke. Still a good car to drive I just want to make it better. Want people to look at it and think "Crap!" Instead of "yea I had a six before." I feel smaller when they said that like they walked over their six to get to a V8. Have you seen the gas prices go down at all these past 6 years? Not me! So when it comes to who walks over who in the classic cars these days on average our sixes are gonna STOMP all over them to get to what we already have! Dont get me wrong I love the sound and feel and power of a V8, but we exist too you know ha ha. Anyways just wanted to throw out some coversation.