Will it work or should I get a upgraded cold case all aluminum radiator? The car is running warm with both fans on all the time.225/230
stock seems kinda small.

 

I am surprised the stock cooling system in these cars does a really good job. What is your current setup.

 

My friends cammed 6.0 was running a bit hot on the stock 1 fan setup on his RS. He then swapped to the 2 fan setup and said the car is running cool now no problems stock radiator.

 

LS engines don't require as much cooling as a SBC engine. Stock radiator should do the job. Fans and set points are more important.

 

Look at fbody ls cars they use 31x19 like we do on our tpi factory motors. A good condition stock rad with dual fans should do it. Else find 98-02 fbody dual fans that have built in shroud. They fit and work great

 

I have a stock 4th gen radiator in my 92 with 4.8 and T56 and I was able to keep cool enough for 5 laps on the road course at NJMP in 2017 in August. Nothing is going to show weak spots in the car like road racing, unless you're hot lapping drag racing repeatedly, you should be fine.

How are you determining that it's "running hot/warm" anyway? and what thermostat do you have in the car? Are you sure both fans are working?

 

Both fans come on at start up. if car is at idle it get hot pretty quick(few min). I need a fan up front by grill. Rad is a 2 row but they are very thin and narrow. I did a nice HWY fedor run and it got hot quick. To me the rad is already pretty narrow itself.

 

How are you determining that the car is "running warm" and what temp thermostat?

 

I bought the complete front acc drive from HAWKs Im assuming its stock ls1 thermostat. Gauge shows 225 230 DAKOTA DIGITAL and on scanner with HPTuners. Thanks

 

To be honest even the TPI ran hot with it. Maybe clogged radiator. But when I pull the cap off I see water flowing. If I rev it up it shoots out cap hole big time.

 

Is that your stock 3rd gen radiator?

 

Yes. the plastic sides dont look to thin, but the aluminum center is very narrow. Small. Thats why I was thinking it was to smalll for this engine. What do I know.

 

The 4th gen radiator is thinner than the stock 3rd gen and it cooled my car just fine, so that stock 3rd gen should be enough. Just because you have some flow through it, doesn't mean it is working to optimal. Did you have it out when you did the swap? Could there be crap packed in between the radiator and AC condenser? My car had leaves and junk between the two, was only visible once I took the radiator out.

 

Yea, i pulled rad out when i did the swap, it was clean outside. Ill drain it and see if i can see anything like build up on the lower inside cavity. Like I said, even the tpi engine before the swap would run hot.
That was kinda why I was thinking it was the rad. Thanks scooter!

 

Chances are you won't find anything if you drain it. And the radiator shops around me said they wouldn't bother with a plastic tank radiator, so unless someone else has any ideas it may just behoove you to replace it, but you don't necessarily have to go to a Cold Case radiator, but it's really up to you.

 

Cool man, Thanks

 

what Tstat do you think I should have? 180? 190?

 

I like 180

 

When was the last time the fins were blown out?
If you take a garden hose from the backside and are patient youd be surprised how much stuff gets packed in there. Follow up with compressed air youll see a difference.

i try and do mine 1x a year, helps the ac too

 

That's a really good point. I had an AC unit at work replaced and got to talking about my home unit. They said I should get a coil gun and foam clean the unit. It didn't look terribly dirty before I cleaned it, but when I rinsed it was brown. Cars are also picking up contaminates and cleaning the radiator is a good idea.

 

on the outside of the radiator its clean. fins and all. Nothing between ac and radiator either.everything was washed when I did the swap. Radiator was completely removed from car. I pulled the cap off What is a normal Tstat for my application. Thanks

 

Is the Cold Case a direct bolt-on? As in, no modifications whatsoever like the Dewitt?..

 

Yes T.L. ten times better than frostbite. DEWITT is just super$$$$$$$

 

On my Ls1 swapped car I changed out both stock single electric fan and stock radiator at the same time so I'm unsure which was most responsible for going from a high temp of 235 to 190. I suspect the new dual fans had more to do with the results than the new three row aluminum Champion but after 35 years I felt the radiator could go at any time.

 

No need for the fans to be on when youre at speed. In fact if they are off the air can make its way through the radiator quicker in some case.
Do you have an air dam on it
I understand the problem youre having is at idle, that 6.0 may just be creating a lot more heat than the 5.0.

OEM or a good brushless fan can usually handle the job they move tons (like 4kcfm+)...not sure most aftermarkets are as good as hey are said tobe
Even a factory electric off our 00 E320 blows like crazy, makes my spal seem like a cheap toy.