Replaced the clutch fan last Friday, removing the old and LEAKY original hub. Went on the regular run to uni today with 40 minutes on the highway. Temperature didn't get above 83, and even that was only for a minute or so before it dropped down to 82 for the rest of the trip. I can actually hear the fan blow when revving at very low speeds, like adjusting a park. Going to put my big aftermarket radiator back in sometime next week.
Yes, great success I am over the moon! With the aftermarket radiator (higher capacity) the temperature just went up and up 'til I pulled over. With the OEM radiator back in, on the highway the car would maintain 95*. When I made up a front under tray to assist with getting more air to the radiator (NA front bar, FMIC) highway temperatures dropped to 90* - which is pretty cool! Now it sits on 82* with the OEM radiator and undertray, FMIC, etc.
Thanks ! thats good information to help understand how each part plays it bit in maintaining good temps. I will be bringing up the purchase of a new fan clutch based on that even though I do not have a temp issue, it shows that it does help increase flow through the radiator at speed. Why stick the AM radiator back in if it was worse ?
Fair question - I'm hoping I'll get even better cooling now with the big radiator back in, and the OEM rad I have in there at the moment is just a borrowed, "diagnostic" one. I don't own an OEM rad. I also need to drop all the water in my system ATM to replace it with coolant, so I'll do it at the same time. Looks a whole lot better when you're the under the hood which is neat, too.
No worries. Stick with water until you are sure. Still dont discount lower hose, restriction to flow could be the issue more so than size of the radiator, so if the AM radiator is a problem it may be a combination of radiator and AM hoses maybe, as in the AM radiator restricts more than OEM and that restriction causes lower AM hose to colapse, etc you get the idea. Any way good luck with it and keep updating us.
Great news Martin. I'll be very interested to hear what you see once you put the AM radiator back in. You heard how much air my clutch fan was pushing (too much) and I cant get my temps above 80 . I suspect that having the additional airflow over the large radiator provides probably a little too much cooling in my case. Once I get the proper fan clutch installed I hope to see an increase in temps to at least get me into the 80's.