theksmith 5,778 Posted August 6 (edited) update on the cooling upgrades... to re-cap, Gadget's coolant temp and overall performance up a long steep grade was typically acceptable when it was under 100* ambient. over that and she would get warmer than i'd like, or i'd have to turn off the A/C and back waaaaay off the gas. the new Mishimoto performance v2 radiator seems like it shaved off 3 or 4 degrees. next i removed the Rugged Ridge perforated grille insert and custom vertical strip daytime running lights that i've had for a long time. that change seemed to get me another 3 or 4 degrees cooler. the old look: i really didn't like the way it looked without any insert: so i tried adding a more "open" mesh insert from Custom Car Grills: of course more open to air flow means more open looking, so i don't like it as much as the old insert in terms of just appearance. however... i did several test runs up the I-17 to Sunset Point while it was 109* to 111* in Phoenix and around 104* in Black Canyon City. i wrote out a little script for what speeds and RPM's to hold at various points along the climb, trying to drive it consistently each time. i recorded the engine coolant temps at those points and having the new mesh installed was NOT noticeably worse than having the OEM grille completely open, so the new mesh gets to stay! current results - with ambient temp in black canyon city around 104* - then when i crest the hill just before Sunset Point, i'm now only down to about 60 MPH and the coolant temp will hit a max of 250* for less than 5 seconds before starting to drop. this is with the A/C on the whole time. previously to get the same temp results, i had to turn the A/C off just a bit before the top and would be down to 50 MPH or less as well (due to having to back off the RPMs a lot more). so the new radiator and the improved airflow did make a big difference. i still had to really watch my RPM's carefully on that climb to get these results. i'd love to be able to set the cruise-control to 75 and just let her run up the hill like she did when she was stock... but considering her increased weight and poor aerodynamics, i don't think that is a realistic goal anymore. Edited August 8 by theksmith 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
