Put the Autozone radiator to the test and it worked great!

[Steve]

I drove my 10 second WE4 on the last leg of the Hot Rod Power Tour this past weekend and the Autozone radiator worked great. It was hot and very humid in Little Rock(the temp was 92 and the humidity was around 350% I think ) and the car never got over 180 even with the 4.5" thick front mount. My fan still still has the resistor in the wiring so its not forced into high speed all the time either. I drove the car about 600 miles all together with no overheating at all and managed just over 23mpg!

 

[blown okie]

that gives me hope for the drivability of my junker, glad to hear it!

 

[SGRIM]

I installed a couple of these radiators and they work great. My only concern is how much pressure it can take.... I have seen a couple of these, not on buicks but on other fast cars, bust the end tanks I sure would hate to be on the end of a 120mph+ run and that thing bust

 

[bison]

I installed a couple of these radiators and they work great. My only concern is how much pressure it can take.... I have seen a couple of these, not on buicks but on other fast cars, bust the end tanks I sure would hate to be on the end of a 120mph+ run and that thing bust

This could easily happen if you lifted the heads under boost and blew compression into the cooling system. I would be afraid myself.

 

[BMF_Racing]

This could easily happen if you lifted the heads under boost and blew compression into the cooling system. I would be afraid myself.

i've never seen one of these, are they plastic tanks ? or just thinner ?

Is this a TR autozone radiator or ?

sorry for the newbie question.

 

[d0n_3d]

I'm running the same radiator (93 Iroc-Z aluminum with plastic end tanks). Been running it for about 3 years now and my temps with a front mount, dual fans running on high, and aluminum heads, run no higher than 165 during 80 degree days...usually no higher than 170-175 on hot 90 degree humid days. This is even while idling for a long time. Best $120 I spent for a rad!

 

[87GN_70GS]

Get a lower presure cap.

 

[bison]

Get a lower presure cap.

This wont help if you lift the heads. The cap wont vent fast enough and the tanks could still split open.

 

[turbows6]

It's worth the risk in my oppinion. If the end tanks blow off just warranty the radiator. Honestly, has anyone on this board actually had the end tanks blow off the radiator on their turbo buick?

 

[turbo96max]

radiator

i have the same radiator from a 91-92 chevy camaro with a 350. I live in miami and the car has a a 4.5 thick intercooler upgrade. car will run in the 190s without ac, with the ac on rubs 210 still. could the stock fan be bad, the core only looks about one inch think. and the fan bolted to the stock location has about a 1/2 inch seperation to the radiator. also my ac cant seem to cool. local shop blames intercooler for not cooling. useing r12(real) and put a fan in between the intercooler and condenser, still ,having about 72 degrees coming out of the vents. not cooling. any help?

 

[d0n_3d]

1. You need to have cooling fans FLUSH with the radiator. I had to modify my dual fan assembly to fit. I would HIGHLY recommend a dual fan setup as one fan will probably not be enough down in Miami, especially the stock fan.

2. You MUST close off the bottom section of the car with either the factory matting or go buy some rubber matting from a hardware store and seal up around the intercooler pipes and underneath the radiator support so that when you are cruising, air is not escaping underneath the car and you are forcing the air to go through the intercooler and radiators. This is probably why your A/C is hot, because the condensor unit up front is not getting proper airflow.

3. Make sure you have a 160 degree thermostat and confirm it does open at 160 degrees (you can usually tell when you first start the car up, watch the temp gauge, and see what temperature it peaks at before the themostat opens and the temps drop to like 150 ish...)

That should get you on the right track. It probably wouldn't hurt to flush the entire cooling system, add a 50/50 mix of coolant and distilled water, and add some RMI25 or equivelent cooling system additive.

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Likely, the dead area that the "in between" fan creates is blocking more air flow than it's adding....

 

[turbocivic]

It's worth the risk in my oppinion. If the end tanks blow off just warranty the radiator. Honestly, has anyone on this board actually had the end tanks blow off the radiator on their turbo buick?

My buddy who bought my turbo Civic had a "little" boost spike of ~34psi and pressurized the cooling system. The aluminum radiator swelled on both sides rendering it usless. None of the coolant hoses blew off anywhere suprising enough.

 

[bison]

It's worth the risk in my oppinion. If the end tanks blow off just warranty the radiator. Honestly, has anyone on this board actually had the end tanks blow off the radiator on their turbo buick?

If the end tanks blow at 120 mph and you get antifreeze all over your tires at WOT can you warranty your life? I havent seen it happen but it definitely could happen a lot easier with the plastic end tanks. They actually split open and leak rather than blow off when they get old even under normal driving conditions. Ive had it happen to me but not in a high boost application at WOT like our cars fortunately.

 

[vacuum 6]

With the 411 provided by Shane (tank blowing up) I had a custom radiator built for my car. No way I'm risking that.

 

[Steve]

No one here has had a tank blow up, and my old 89 Formula 350(that runs 11.20's on a 250 shot) that has this radiator now has 155K miles on the original radiator and never leaked a drop. It basically has stock rebuilt motor with a bunch of spray and has blown 2 head gaskets in the past and blown the cap off the overflow due to pressure but no end tank problems. Any thing can happen but I am just not going to get excited over something that has never been a problem.

 

[VadersV6]

1. You need to have cooling fans FLUSH with the radiator. .

NOOOOOOOOO.......the area of the fan will become the only area that air can flow through. Leaving a gap between the fans assembly and the radiator will insure that the entire core is getting air flow. The load on the fan will increase, it will slow down, and you'll have 1 small section of high speed air, and the rest will be dead air. I tried this, and my temps rose 30 degrees. The factory gap is too large...I agree with that. But you do need a small gap...around 1" between the shroud and the radiator.

 

[87GNSteve]

I bought the autozone all metal rad for the Regal w/ 307 v8
Works great, fits great, and looks stock.
Not concerned about weight, its not much of a difference.

 

[DonnieShort]

NOOOOOOOOO.......the area of the fan will become the only area that air can flow through. Leaving a gap between the fans assembly and the radiator will insure that the entire core is getting air flow. The load on the fan will increase, it will slow down, and you'll have 1 small section of high speed air, and the rest will be dead air. I tried this, and my temps rose 30 degrees. The factory gap is too large...I agree with that. But you do need a small gap...around 1" between the shroud and the radiator.

I've ran this radiator for over 2 years now with RC dual fans flush against the radiator, car doesn't see anything more than 170° on a KY 92° high humidity day, no more than 177° with the AC blowing full blast. Doesn't see anything more than 165° with normal temps. This being a 10 sec car with an RJC Megacooler. Just my experience btw.