The only reason I stick in the middle here is because I've had several clutches go bad on me in the worst moments possible.
But to each his own..
But to each his own..
CK5
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ls radiator?
- Thread starter chris85
- Start date
As @Larry pointed out I swapped the diesel radiator in for the stock setup. 100% bolt in. Stock 5.3 hoses connect right up. 9 blade hd clutch fan. Not having ac means it's overkill cooling a 5.3. Typically it runs at 160-170°. Too cool as it keeps the ecm in fuel enrichment all the time right now.
I'll eventually put AC on my truck so that won't be a problem. In the meantime I'll throw a screen in front to limit some of the airflow and allow it to run warmer.
There is no denying both setups work. However, watching Larry wheel in a 100° heat in southern Utah with the windows up and the AC on and his engine at a stable operating temp pissed me off. I was sweating my tail off and my engine was creeping higher on the gauge the longer we ran (pre radiator swap).
I'll eventually put AC on my truck so that won't be a problem. In the meantime I'll throw a screen in front to limit some of the airflow and allow it to run warmer.
There is no denying both setups work. However, watching Larry wheel in a 100° heat in southern Utah with the windows up and the AC on and his engine at a stable operating temp pissed me off. I was sweating my tail off and my engine was creeping higher on the gauge the longer we ran (pre radiator swap).
As @Larry pointed out I swapped the diesel radiator in for the stock setup. 100% bolt in. Stock 5.3 hoses connect right up. 9 blade hd clutch fan. Not having ac means it's overkill cooling a 5.3. Typically it runs at 160-170°. Too cool as it keeps the ecm in fuel enrichment all the time right now.
I'll eventually put AC on my truck so that won't be a problem. In the meantime I'll throw a screen in front to limit some of the airflow and allow it to run warmer.
There is no denying both setups work. However, watching Larry wheel in a 100° heat in southern Utah with the windows up and the AC on and his engine at a stable operating temp pissed me off. I was sweating my tail off and my engine was creeping higher on the gauge the longer we ran (pre radiator swap).
I just measured my stock replacement radiator and it's bigger than I expected. 28x21x1.25(ish). All the resources I had looked up showed it to be smaller. I just assumed mine was the same. Do you know what size your stock rad was?
I've messaged Larry a few times about the diesel rad swap. Which I would love to do it if I could find all the parts. Fan shrouds are nonexistant and he told me you had tried the LMC brackets with no luck.
Finding a square body, much less a diesel, in a yard here would be a miracle. I guess what I am going to do now (I've changed my mind about 5 times now) is just put my stock rad back in and go from there. Now that I know the actual size I think it should do fine, and if I have problems down the road I will just have to address them then.
I just measured my stock replacement radiator and it's bigger than I expected. 28x21x1.25(ish). All the resources I had looked up showed it to be smaller. I just assumed mine was the same. Do you know what size your stock rad was?
I've messaged Larry a few times about the diesel rad swap. Which I would love to do it if I could find all the parts. Fan shrouds are nonexistant and he told me you had tried the LMC brackets with no luck.
I guess what I am going to do now (I've changed my mind about 5 times now) is just put my stock rad back in and go from there. Now that I know the actual size I think it should do fine, and if I have problems down the road I will just have to address them then.
I don't know the size off hand but it was the stock brass two core I had in the my old 75. The one that was in my 91 was questionable and was the plastic/aluminum variety.
I know the diesel spec parts can be a chore to get. Post up a want ad and people will chime in. I know I did when I put a want ad up.
Well that's was a good suggestion. Looks like I'm in line for the brackets and shroud already. It's a 6.5 shroud. The 6.5 shrouds are essentially the same as the 6.2 other than being 2 piece vs. 1?
Is that some custom place plastic or rubber i spy to cover the fan blades just right due to the engine sitting back farther than stock?
Good eye dude. The engine is actually sitting in the stock small block location. We used Dirty Dingo slider mounts but left the trans in the stock location so we didn't have to move the trans x-member and screw with driveshafts. The issue is, a LS small block is actually shorter in overall length than a big block or 6.2 that would have had that setup from the factory. So even with the large 9 blade LS truck fan, the blades were completely outside the shroud. Ideally, you should have at least have half the blade in the shroud to be most effective. So I added a section of plastic to cover it up.
Look at Larry's photos of his setup in the K10 and Burb with his 8.1's. The front of the engine is much closer to the front of the truck than mine is. It was a surprise I wasn't expecting.
I haven't used that combo so I cant vouch for the use. One thing you will notice is the opening for the fan on the 6.2 shroud is off center to the whole unit.
I'm biased, I have the big 4 core radiator and a mechanic fan with a hd fan clutch. If anyone was near me in Moab it is obnoxious, it's loud and annoying. But it's funny going from 203 to 196 hitting the skinny pedal in low range. You can hear the clutch over my 1 7/8 headers, 2.5 y pipe to 3 inch through a cat and a magnaflow muffler.
Down the highway in 110 degree weather it runs 205. I would prefer to not hear the clutch and the electric fans win on decibles.
Down the highway in 110 degree weather it runs 205. I would prefer to not hear the clutch and the electric fans win on decibles.
That late model fan does wonders.
