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Cooling System Overhaul - Stumped and Frustrated

ryoken said:
square inch for square inch, a decent 2 row alum cool better than a copper/brass...
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I agree, my point was that the cheap universal aluminum radiators that speedway sells dont cool good enough.

I went from a huge 4 row copper brass in my diesel truck, to a single row aluminum that made overheating less of an issue.
 
Well there is just nothing else in the system that would cause it. I think your radiator is just defective somehow from the factory. Guess we'll see.
 
y5mgisi said:
Well there is just nothing else in the system that would cause it. I think your radiator is just defective somehow from the factory. Guess we'll see.
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Yah. If in fact, the Copper/brass i put in is defective, a replacement copper/brass should get the job done. In which case, my 3 row AL should kick ass.

We shall see.

What do you guys use to filter coolant before pouring it back into the motor? I end up replacing it more times than not....but that is getting to be an expensive habit.

Using a rag or sock to filter it takes FOREVER.
 
I love the fact Cummin's run coolant filters on 6BT's, but I've never had an issue with any auto and filtering coolant... 50/50, done... nasty used stuff, I'll run it thru a paint filter...
 
I'm not a huge fan of Champion rads, I have never used them but i have had customers that have. I think they are to restrictive for Alum rad, but i would say they seem to be the best of the china rads. Personally i would have gone with there American eagle version with the 1" tubes. This would help increase the flow of water. Next i would have a 1 3/4" lower hose fitting installed.

I'm sure Summit will take the rad back, they are good about that.

Just so you know i had a customer pull a rag out of a brand new rad. You really need to get a IR gun and get some measurements.

Good luck on the trip, i hope it runs cools. It will help to change my mind on Champion rads. :waytogo:

I think the comment about the exhaust is a good one. Have you noitced a decrease in power lately? could be a pluged up cat too. I had a new high flow exhaust done on a BBC dually years ago, along with a huge power increase it did seem to run cool when climbing hills.
 
dhcomp said:
Yah. If in fact, the Copper/brass i put in is defective, a replacement copper/brass should get the job done. In which case, my 3 row AL should kick ass.

We shall see.

What do you guys use to filter coolant before pouring it back into the motor? I end up replacing it more times than not....but that is getting to be an expensive habit.

Using a rag or sock to filter it takes FOREVER.
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paint filters work great.

Paper-Paint-Strainer-CAT-1140-.jpg
 
1leg said:
I'm not a huge fan of Champion rads, I have never used them but i have had customers that have. I think they are to restrictive for Alum rad, but i would say they seem to be the best of the china rads. Personally i would have gone with there American eagle version with the 1" tubes. This would help increase the flow of water. Next i would have a 1 3/4" lower hose fitting installed.

I'm sure Summit will take the rad back, they are good about that.

Just so you know i had a customer pull a rag out of a brand new rad. You really need to get a IR gun and get some measurements.

Good luck on the trip, i hope it runs cools. It will help to change my mind on Champion rads. :waytogo:

I think the comment about the exhaust is a good one. Have you noitced a decrease in power lately? could be a pluged up cat too. I had a new high flow exhaust done on a BBC dually years ago, along with a huge power increase it did seem to run cool when climbing hills.
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My cat could definitely be clogged up. Considering all the fuel pressure i've been running with the adjustable regulator.

And the fact that i had black soot looking stuff coming out the exhaust under load for a while, on the last motor.
 
Back when cats were really getting going, the tech was new and stopped up cats were more common.
Almost every mechanic I knew had an adapter that screwed into the oxygen sensor hole and let him hook up a pressure gauge.

They would unscrew the O2 sensor, and could check the back pressure in minutes.
Let them see if the cat was stopped up or not.
 
Fordum said:
Back when cats were really getting going, the tech was new and stopped up cats were more common.
Almost every mechanic I knew had an adapter that screwed into the oxygen sensor hole and let him hook up a pressure gauge.

They would unscrew the O2 sensor, and could check the back pressure in minutes.
Let them see if the cat was stopped up or not.
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Sounds like a great way to test! If its not clogged up, i'd guess there would be next to no pressure out the 02 port, correct?
 
dhcomp said:
Sounds like a great way to test! If its not clogged up, i'd guess there would be next to no pressure out the 02 port, correct?
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You know, its been so long, I forget what the average pressure was they expected to see.
It depends on the type of muffler, size of pipes vs size of engine, that sort of thing.
At idle you should not see much, maybe a pound or so when you rev it.

I know that some folks did enough of them that they did not even bother with the gage most times.
They could just pull the O2 sensor, and feel the amount of exhaust coming out of the hole to spot a stopped up cat.

A cat that is slightly stopped up would cause some slight engine performance but you might not be able to tell even with a gage unless you did a before and after comparison with a new cat.

But one that is stopped enough to cause your problems should be obvious.

A friend's cat's honeycomb had fractured, and a piece would randomly move into the output and almost completely stop it up.
He caught it that way, pulled the O2 sensor, and said the exhaust whistled when it came out the port.
Said it sounded like an empty spark plug hole.

Of course, in his case, when it stopped up his engine would barely run.
 
Everyone keep your fingers crossed for delivery today. I realllllly need to get this in before I leave.

Even wrote FexEx a "please delivery this, here's my signature" letter, and left it for the delivery guy.

Should have left him a beer....
 
GM says something like over 2-3PSI at higher RPM's is a problem with exhaust (I'm not looking at the manual, but I've seen it in them).

While it won't tell you exactly the same thing, you theoretically can do similar with manifold vacuum...if vacuum climbs under load, you know something isn't flowing right.

Also, antifreeze doesn't wear out if it is getting to you (can't count how many times I've had to drain coolant...I'm going to put a bonafide ball valve on the drain fitting with a hose so I can dump it without spilling a bunch lol). Only thing that wears out is the additive package, which you can buy stuff like Napa's Superkool and some test strips to make sure you've got the PH and corrosion inhibitors right, recharging as needed. It's what I've gone to...my rig gets so little run time that I'm changing coolant with very little use. I think the fact that most motors now have at least AL and FE in the mix makes keeping the corrosion inhibitors up to spec far more critical than it used to be. I recall a thread over on thirdgen where the guy replaced EVERY cooling component, then the cylinder heads, due to an overheating issue, only to find that his 1 year old radiator had already plugged up internally.

I like the paint filter for screening the coolant, great idea there.
 
It was like $230 shipped on amazon too, less than my all brass vista pro stock style.

If it works, and the quality is good, they seem to be the ticket. Nervous about someone's comments above regarding china manufacture and issues though. We shall see.
 
I always say, you dont know till you know. Good luck! Seems a lot of folks use them without any trouble.
 
y5mgisi said:
I always say, you dont know till you know. Good luck! Seems a lot of folks use them without any trouble.
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Spent a few minutes drooling over it after i posted. Looks like a well put together piece. We shall see.

They put a nice brass drain valve on it, but no way to hook up a hose to it. I hate that style.
 
I did say i thought they were the better of the china made rads.
It is hard to find an aluminum rad that is not made in china.
I would worry to much about it. it should be able to cool your engine,

Good luck,
 
Nice. I'm looking forward to seeing how this works out for you, and how straight forward the installation is. I've been having some similar issues with my truck for quite some time.
 
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