I've got a 92 RS bone stock, 170 hp, 1 wheel peel. It's in really good shape and I plan on keeping it stock since I bought it for my 16 yr old daughter for her first car. Any way, it did overheat some and after reading a bunch of threads this is what I came up with:


I'm going to go with a Champion 3 core radiator set up with their 16"in electrical fan set up and shroud set up. Also I'm going to replace the waterpump with a highflow one, new coolant temp sensor and coolant temp switch, along with a new 180 degree thermostat that fails in the open position.


The questions I have will the radiator be a direct bolt on/in with no mods and will the fan plug up directly without having to do any mods, are the pigtails the same?


When I called them they said there fans move about 1700 cfm I believe and stock ones only move about half as much, so I think I'll be ok, however that's why I'm asking to make sure because I believe many o fyou have been down this road before.

 

Those are pretty good choices.The coolant temp sensor is mostly for the comp, it has no effect on the fan.That's what the coolant fan switch is for, which you have your list already.I would get a lower rated switch though, maybe a 195*.

The rad will mostly likely not be 100% stock fit.Most if not all need some kind of minor tweeking.This is not to say you shouldnt get it, I have one.All non oem rad will need to modding to fit.

The fan as well, will most likely not have an OE connector, you will need to splice it.As for cfm rating, they vary from brand to brand & most are rated with no load.Meaning once installed behind a radiator the rating will drop some.Spal fans are an exception though.
Also standard procedure, flush the system, clean the crap in front of the condenser, replace old hoses, use distilled water.I'm sure there's a thing or two I forgot.

 

I will be flushing everything, taking the thermostat out first, draining it all flush with water then, running cleaner through with no t-stat, reflush, then bolt on the parts. With distilled or de-ionized water.

 

I think working on my car, even when very difficult at times is fun.
So the last thing I would want to do is rob you of the experience.


But .........As you may already know the ECM controlled fan kicks on its fan at around 222* and the secondary fan controlled by the fan switch in the head wont even engage until around 235*

So with the stock 195* thermostat the car is basically programmed to run at those higher temperatures.That’s stock.

If you change the fan switch in the head (as already mentioned)to one that comes on at, lets say 180* than leave the ECM control fan as back up at the stock setting of 222*. ( you can have that fan reprogramed at a later date if you want to ,lets say around 190*)
That way now your secondary fan has become the primary.

Just doing that with a 180* thermostat "first" to see if it runs now in the 180*to 190* range would save you allot of money and work.
A properly maintained stock radiator with the system adjusted as mentioned above should be good into 300 HP or even higher range keeping the cars coolant system at the lower temperatures.

If that works for you ,and you still want to add a cooler I would suggest a transmission cooler.
Heat kills transmissions.


Anyway, installing nice, new, shiny, parts that are an upgrade to the stock system is IMHO a good thing to do.
My car overall looks nothing like stock and that's the way I like it.


This is a lot of information on just about any fan configuration you can think of. Except mine.
= https://www.thirdgen.org/cool/

 

Ron is right, the stock spec radiator is effective for cooling these cars with 305/350/383 engines. With a 400 you could consider going to a better radiator but just using a better water pump might be enough for a 400.

I wouldn't recommend the three core champion for a stock engine as it will be more trouble than it's worth. You have to carve out the radiator supports and the top cover may or may not fit well anymore. Then there is the issue that 1/2 of all the champion radiator owners experience-Leaking develops. Mine took a year to develop the leak. They're a gamble since they are all cheap chinese radiators with no quality control.

Flush the system as best you can, use new coolant and distilled water, use a new stock spec radiator and see about reprogramming the ecm to turn the fans on earlier and maybe see about running an aluminum water pump.

 

I totally agree with above statements.
There are not very many of us who got lucky with the Champion.

A good flush, water pump, T - stat, fan (s) controll & CFM
with a stock rad should do for a daily driver.

If you are looking to get a new rad, see if you can get 1 without plastic tanks. IIRC, if someone does not remove or install the rad cap, the neck will crack. I have not experienced it, I have heard of it.
There are some here that have used.the plastic tank rads with absolutely no issues at all.

 

I have been using a stock replacement "Murray" brand radiator for over 4 years with no problems.
Its only using a 14in puller fan and with the adjustments I have made to fan on temperature = 180* and a 180* thermostat it stays in the 180*/190* range.


Just incase , as back up I have a large 16in. pusher fan on the front of the Condenser that will come on at 200*. ( stuck in traffic , etc. )

 

Hey guys thanks for the info. Here's an idea, if I go with another stock radiator, however change the fan set up will that work. I guess I'll need a 16" fan with another relay. Also there was another guy on here that turned me onto a guy that "makes/burns" chips. That being said, I guess I could have him reprogram that chip to have the fans come on at a lower temperature or where can I get a lower temperature rated switch? This vehicle only has one single fan on it.

 

You can run the dual fan setup and wire the first one up as normal stock configuration and the second one you can run off a simple switch (wired from a relay of course).

 

I think I'm going to go with just one 16" fan. I talked to the guys at Ledfoot racing today, they recommended going with that combo and a American Eagle 2 core radiator which has 1" tubes. Also he said I wouldn't need a relay kit. Just remove the spade connectors from the OEM factory harness plug and get 2 female connectors to add to the fan and hook that together? I've never heard that before, is that true, can that be done. It seems that everyone I've talked to says that a relay kit is required. Now I'm not sure what to do. I guess that would eliminate using an aftermarket temp switch that is provided which drops the temp the fan kicks on at and would be the standard 222 degrees I think? Any suggestions on that?

 

I have a 350 horse 350 in mine and I use a Howe radiator, all aluminum made in America and not too pricey, good stuff.

http://www.howeracing.com/c-450-raci...radiators.aspx

 

adding aftermarket parts and alternate wiring tends to decrease the reliability of the car. simply more things to break or malfunction. not an issue for most of us that pay attention to the subtle clues of potential failure and don't mind some maintenance. but: 16 yo daughter's car would make me strongly consider keeping as much of the car's systems as stock (and well maintained) as possible.

In your case the stock on/off temps for the fan worked perfectly well for 24 years...

there is no reason they won't continue to function as intended for another 24 years if properly maintained.

were it mine, I'd replace the radiator with a stock replacement, flush the system, replace any hoses that were suspect, examine the water pump for signs of failure, install a new radiator cap, get a new overflow bottle from modern day muscle (well worth it to get rid of that yellowed 'thing') and fill with a mix of my favorite anti-freeze and distilled water.

I'd save the modifications and alternate engineering for a toy for me.

 

The TBI fan is fan switch (238°F on) / HvAC switch controlled. The ECM doesn't do squat with the fan.

I used a sw505 (a-zone, 215°) fan switch on my DD '91 (8 years, 238k miles) which is reasonably close to the ECM fan control temperature (220°) and was the most practical for a stock 305 TBI with a 195° t-stat.

 

I think he is saying if you use a single aftermarket fan instead of the stock fan that you can just cut off the stock connector and crimp on whatever terminals you need, which is correct. If you add a second fan you will need another relay for the second fan.

 

It sounds to me that even though I want to go with the upgraded radiator the car doesn't "need" it per say, however an upgraded fan sounds like the ticket along with flush, water pump, t-stat, hoses, etc because it is only stock and I'm not going to do any upgrades at this time.

 

Replaced the one in my 91 RS a few years ago with a NAPA radiator. Mechanic that did install said it was straightforward no surprises . It keeps the 383 Cool with ease. Have dual fan set up.

http://http://www.napaonline.com/nap...951_0240341744

 

Actually I just found one from OSC model OSC 91. I watched a few of their product videos and it seems to be better than stock. These have a 1 3/8" core vs. the 1" OEM, also their build construction and fins per inch are better than other stock ones I've seen. Has anyone ever used this brand?

 

Don't recall ever hearing of them, but the description sounds promising.

 

I've come to the conclusion getting the champion radiator isn't necessarily the primary need, it getting air flow across the radiator being the biggest culprit. I've deduced this by all the posts I see here and learning from all of your experience with these, I know my situation may be different. I'm going to go with a 16" fan, shroud and new relay kit and an OEM upgrade radiator from OSC, they're only $110 from Summit with free shipping ). If you call their tech line you speak to the guy who actually designs and builds these things-he is spot on and will be able to give you all kinds of tech data if needed.