Mr. Smith

I've owned my 2015 Z06 (with Z07 package) for about 6 months now. I live in South Carolina where summer temps and humidity can get severe. My question is; Has anyone replaced their stock heat exchanger or main radiator (or both)? Is there a difference that makes the modification worth it? I think this car has a good amount of power and on hot pavement with warm tires it can put most of it down if you're careful about how you drive, but I know timing will be pulled with hot temps and normal driving. Rather than add power to the car (I already have long tubes sitting in the garage), would it be a better idea to upgrade the cooling system? Would it keep the computer from pulling all that timing? Anyone with experience in replacing the heat exchanger (for supercharger)? I do not track the car, so I'm inquiring mainly for street driving in the hot summer.

BrunoTheMellow

Man.... You can search and find a LOT of info rather than asking. Yes to both . Yes to all. The Z06 desperately needs help in all cooling matters.

Mr. Smith

I searched here and read for about an hour before posting this. Most of the info I found was from vendors selling them, but I didn't really see any proof of lower temps from anyone testing them vs the stock unit. I'm mainly looking to hear from someone that logs their intake air temperature and has some before and after testimony as to the the fact that it is a worthwhile modification. Lots of threads dance around this info but I know there's guys/girls out there that can chime in and say "Yes, I did this and I definitely think it's worth the money" or "Yes I did this and it's not worth it unless you have other mods".. or something to that effect.

Pacembellum

From what I’ve seen nobody has done a proper before/after comparison of IAT’s from a heat exchanger upgrade and the only one I’ve seen post info was Cordes. I’m surprised the vendors don’t pay for inclusion on sites like motoiq, various YouTube channels, or magazines like super Chevy that’s would gladly like to runna test on something like this. My guess is not enough demand. The market for aftermarket heat exchangers on a z06 is pretty low.

us3rname

The cordes hx was a night and day difference. The recovery times are much faster and the temps during long pulls and cruising were lowered dramatically. I don't have my data log computer near me but when I get home I can get the actual numbers. Also the bleed fitting on the top of the cordes hx is a very nice feature that other may have as well .

Gixxerman

don't forget the larger supercharger cover as well .. lol

us3rname

I've talked to a few shops who have said that the larger lid isn't that effective without the new bricks. What sucks is the only upgrade bricks I can find are from weapon x and would cost just about as much as a 17+ supercharger with lid. Still searching for just the OEM 17+ bricks

Bill Dearborn

I am going to take the opposite point of view here. I track my 15 Z06 and did have problems with charge intake cooling that caused intermittent wide open throttle high rpm misfires. These occurred on track and caused a drop off in speed from 150 to 140 mph at the top of the hill on VIR's back straight. Not exactly a limp home situation. It took a couple of years and finally some DTCs to track down the problem. The problem relates to the rear two cylinders of the engine having higher combustion temperatures than the other 6 cylinders. The intake air for those two cylinders needs to be cooled more to reduce the higher combustion temps. That is the reason for the tilted bricks in the 17 and later S/Cs. The lid doesn't provide any cooling benefit it is only larger to make room for the bricks.

GM has a TSB (18-NA-088: Reduced Performance or Malfunction Indicator Lamp Illuminated with DTC P0300 (Engine Misfire Detected) Set After Service or Replacement of the Charge Air Cooler - (Mar 19, 2018)) covering this issue and the fix requires getting air out of the intercooler. There is too much air in the intercooler when the car is delivered from the factory. The first thing you need to do is make sure the intercooler reservoir is bled to the point the air bubbles at the top of the reservoir are no larger than the size of two quarters. That takes some effort (about 2 hours of vacuum bleeding) to get the air out.

My misfires would show up as P0300 and a lot of times wouldn't light the CEL. The history file showed cylinder number 8 had misfired 64 times at 5200 rpm with the throttle wide open the last time the code was set. The affect on acceleration was noticed as acceleration slightly dropping off in 3rd and 4th gears. The car would feel a little doggy. Sometimes the problem would start on the third lap of a track and go away on the 7th lap. It would be really responsive and then not so responsive and then suddenly be responsive again. Passengers in the car couldn't tell the difference unless they were looking at the speedo and saw top speed differences at the ends of straights.

Once the air was bled out of the intercooler the problem disappeared. The car runs like a raped ape on hot days and performance doesn't drop off any more than it does with NA cars.

Try bleeding the intercooler before adding an aftermarket reservoir. From what I have seen bleeding the air out may be even more of a problem with one of them added. I had the air bled out of my intercooler at the dealership and to get it out the mechanic had to lift the front of the car about two foot off the ground. There are a lot of places in the intercooler plumbing that can trap air so you need at least a 25 psi vacuum source to get it out.

If your car is an M7 and think your engine coolant and oil temps are too high then add the GMPP Secondary Radiator.
Last week I made a round trip from Charlotte to VIR and once the car had been on the road for 5 minutes the oil and coolant temps stabilized at 190 degrees plus or minus 2 degrees.

Bill

badhabit_wb

I agree with Bill. If you bleed the factory intercooler well enough you don't need anything else.