Well, I climb to 225 till the fans kick on and then it starts to go back down till 220, then back up, then back down, etc. With the A/C on it still climbs. This is while cruising, at idle it pretty much just stays around 200. So I figure I'm not getting enough air through my radiator. I used a front mount intercooler with the ATI single fan setup(w/ SPAL fan), I would like to lower the radiator at some point but money is not allowing for that yet. So, it appears that my front mount intercooler is blocking too much air from getting to the radiator. How can I get more air to radiator in the mean time? Will opening up the fog light housings help at all? I'm thinking about removing the center license plate cover as well. Also, because I don't have one of the aftermarket tuner kits, I don't have the top radiator shroud piece to direct air into the radiator, think this is a major item in my overheating? No ducting? Oh, and I have a 160 degree Thermostat installed and I will be lowering the fan temps once I get to the Dyno, but I don't want it overheating on it, so I need to fix this first.

Basically, I'm looking for free or cheap ways to help cool the radiator down so I can use the A/C out here in 110 degree Phoenix. I don't think I should have to be using fans to keep the radiator cool while at cruising speed.

 

Using the front mounted screen unit (takes place of the license plate cover) and the Big mouth Air dam to direct cold air to your radiator would take care of your problem... it did with my car.

VR

 

if you are running a large front mount intercooler on the C5 you will definitely have some cooling issues in high ambient temperatures especially when you're running the AC system. A larger/more efficient radiator with additional air ducting is a very worthwhile investment along with a full flow engine oil cooler to help maintain engine temps at a safe level.

Peter

 

Also I would check to make sure that your radiator is clean of debris.

 

Alright, I'm going to try cutting up the stock radiator ducting/shroud so that I can fit it on over the FMIC. I hope this helps, I don't have the money to replace the radiator or move it quite yet.

Oh, and what about the fog light areas, would it provide worthwhile air to the area of the FMIC or radiator if that was opened up?

Oh and the radiator is quite clean, I removed it and cleaned out the fins even when I was installing the SC this past weekend.

 

I'd try this first. Without this, air will spill over the top of the radiator into the engine compartment instead of going through the radiator, although I'm not sure this is as much of a problem if the radiator isn't laid down.
Costs almost nothing to try though. Can take a piece of sheet metal or plastic, or even stiff carboard for now, and close off that area, bridging between the top radiator support and the top of the bumper cover. Can look at some engine compartment pictures on the board and copy.
Your front end is stock with the stock air dam in the original location, with room for air to come in at the bottom in front of the intercooler, right?

 

It was hot here just last weekend, say ~92° F.
I was trsveling down the interstate 80-100 mph.
Air conditioning on.

Car ran good.

Coolant was at ~200-210
Trans fluid was 210-223
Oil was 225-235.

I would say the missing shroud gizmo is hurting you a lot.

I dont have anything but open fog lamps and it seemed to saty aool.

 

When I had the 160 thermo and the Z06 screens open my car ran 200-220 deg on the freeway. With the items I talked about it now runs 178 - 190 deg.

 

And I'd open the fog light surrounds with a hole saw until I could afford to get the Z06 screens.

 

I'd try several of the ideas mentioned here but also be sure to check your air dam to be sure that it isn't flexing back when driving.

Also as a temp and cheap fix, I saw someone had cut the opening behind the license plate cover, and, using the license plate frame, made a wire screen cover so that more air is directed to the intercooler/radiator. Just a thought.

Keep us posted

Ray

 

Your temps seem to be normal to me since we are both in the desert. Actually last summer my temps were much higher. I had the dealership check out my radiator before summer hit and it checked out fine. When i had the turbo install i decided to get a Ron Davis radiator just to be safe. Today coming home at 5pm the temps on the freeway were 108 degrees. My coolant temp was 180 degrees. Once i hit the city streets it went up to 201 degrees. If i still had the old radiator my freeway temps would have been around 220 degrees and in the city i would be between 220 and 245 degrees. But for the extreme heat we get in the desert everyone i have talked to has the same issues.

 

So, you have any detonation issues at those temps? I guess just do ultra safe timing on the tune? I'm pretty sure I can get mine to run cooler though. This weekend, I'm planning on trying to remove the front license plate cover and install a homemade grill with the license plate frame like mentioned above, cutting out the fog light areas, and fabbing up some type of shroud. Oh, and I bought a bottle of watter-wetter to help out. Hopefully this works out, I'll probably try one at a time to see the effectiveness and post my results.

 

You can run pure water with the Purple Water Wetter, it includes lubricant for the pump, and it will help. Also the front license plate thing is easy. I used a jig saw to cut out a square behind the cover. A little aluminum gutter guard from Home Depot, and the licence plate holder and your in business. I would definitly cut out the side holes unitl you can afford the screens.

 

Yes i did have some pinging during WOT in the summer months. My tuner said there was no signs of detonation. But with the twin turbos i didn't want to chance it so i use Torco. The Torco took away my pinging issues. Plus it put a wider when i hit the GO pedal

 

So your fans dont kick in till 225 there's your problem. lower your fan settings so they come on sooner. Also if your fans kick in at 225 then there is no way your car only gets to 200 at idle. I noticed when i first installed my vortech kit that on the freeway my car would get hotter even at high speeds were normally you would get more than enough air through the radiator. Problem was that the aftercooler radiator was restricting air flow and at higher speeds the air would go around the little radiator easyier than through it thus fighting the oncoming air flow. Put it in the front lisence plate area problem solved.

 

I cut of the front license plate area and used the license plate holder with a piece of gutter-guard. While it looks like the intercooler recieves a lot more airflow now, it did nothing to the temps. That's all I got done this weekend, I'm probably going to be laying down the radiator so I can move the intercooler out of the way enough to allow more airflow to the radiator, I really believe this is my problem. Plus it will allow me to use the stock fans, smoother tubing, etc. I bought a couple of L-brackets to use for this, now I just need to figure out where to put them so it fits correctly. I want to do something similar to the way A&A does there's.

 

Just after I bought my 04 in August of 04, I was driving in 90* heat in the city and the temps climbed to 232*. I went back to the dealership and told them of the problem. The service advisor asked me if I had synthetic oil in the motor. I said Yes. He asked me if the temp gauge needle was in the red zone of the gauge. I said no. He asked, then whats the problem? I said I wasnt used to that much heat and he said it isn't a problem. But it does tend to promote detonation. However, the intake manifold is composite material so it doesn't heatsink like a metal manifold does. Get a thicker radiator. Your radiator is getting air from directly above the asphalt and the asphalt is hotter than outside temps.
If you are worried about high temps while on the dyno, go to Xtreme Motorsports in Tempe. Their shop is air conditioned and the dyno is in the shop.

 

Ron Davis radiator from Xtreme Motorsports

 

Thanks, I'll check them out. I probably am going to end up getting a radiator, but darn it, I'm going to do everything in my power to not have to fork out that money. Also, I know the car runs hot out here, but I saw a large jump in the temps after installing the blower, intercooler, single-fan. I did the install over 2 days and the outside temp didn't change much over the 2 days. I'm also not sure of the max temp, I've seen 238 so far and I've shut the AC off, I guess I could try and see if it will reach 260, but then again, I don't want to hurt it, 238 seems quite hot enough and is overheated for a lot of cars.

 

Stop by the shop and we can help you out with options for keeping your cool. It might be as easy as adjusting fan temps and showing a shroud that we have. If all else fails we can point you in the right direction for a radiator, upgrade to the rad. laydown kit or a larger flowing fan.

Chad