Installed the radiator I got from Carcandy
Mishimoto 2 core aluminum and here's some pics:





Lower splash pans removed


Looking up from the bottom of the engine bay



2 fan clips you must disconnet from fan shroud before removing assembly


Old setup with fan attached:


Stock fans:


An empty engine bay...kind of


The new parts heesy:


Comparison:



Upper hose:


Lower hose:


Thermostat replaced as well...Right side is new one



After 2 flushes and thermostat out:


2 core radiator installed without fans yet:


All parts back together


Clearance:



Overall install difficulty: 1-5....3...wasn't bad at all but just take your time. I'm using about a 60-40 mix(60% distilled water, 10% Purple Ice, 30% Coolant for better cooling effects but still enough of a mix to prevent freezing and harsh starts in the winter).

Thanks Carcandy!


Review:
It's just a preliminary review, as I have not tested it fully yet, but right now....I LOVE THIS RADIATOR!

Install wasn't long....took me 3 hours while stopping to eat and do the 2 flushes to rid the system of the Dexcool I used. Oh, and to the thread that was about how Dexcool causes problems and is bad....yeah, I am going to post on their my thoughts b/c I now agree on it's junk. That's another thread though...

Basic hand tools are all you need and a little know-how as to running a flush or 2, removing old radiator hoses and optional thermostat housing. Other than that, it's just bolts and a little wiggling to fit into the slots.

QUALITY: The quality of this radiator is amazing. The welds are very smooth and consistent with no gaps or bubbles. OEM fit is exactly that...a perfect fit even with aftermarket header. A little heavier, overall, than the stock unit, but for the extra cooling capability, the extra 1-2 lbs is not going to be a factor.

INSTALL: Install was very smooth and things just fit into place easily.

TEST: I took the car out, with a buddy following me (just in case of failure) and drove it about 8 highway/city miles. I took it easy/normal for about the first 6 miles and all was well. In normal driving, the coolant was "slightly" cooler as it was with the water wetter mixture I had before. Then I wanted to get into it just a bit, not maximum force, but enough to get the pressure really surging. I launch around a U-turn in 2nd as my buddy was chasing me and hit it up to high 4th and the whole way, I noticed the needle stay fairly constant. When I came to a stop, I wanted to do a full launch so I went from 1st through top end of 4th and checked back at the needle and watched it fall about 1/4 of an inch just above the 1/4 mark on the meter. It was a nice drop and it stayed there for about 5 minutes then slowly re-heated back to operating temp.

It's sitting in the garage now, just hanging out and "chillin'"...haha, bad joke, but I'll take it out tonight again when it cools down to see how the ambient temperature will effect its overall cooling.

I may get a digital temp gauge soon to get a true reading of the numbers I'm cooling, but for now, the H/L will be fine..haha

 

 

For the winter, you're probably going to have to fabricate a panel to block off about half the radiator, or you'll suffer from overcooling. That happened to me when I put a full-width Integra radiator in my Sol-- without the blocking panel, winter temps would run ~160º, and I couldn't even get the heater to work.

And the high-temp thermostat just makes it worse-- on the highway, the T-stat will be closed most of the time, so the contents of the radiator will cool down to below 100º. Then when the T-stat does open, it gets a surge of cold water, and your needle plummets.

This is why it's a gamble to add extra cooling capacity to a motor that doesn't need it-- mine did need it, and I still had consistency problems unless I was pushing the motor HARD.

 

If it comes to it, I'll get a piece of cardboard like my buddy does with his jeep and wedge it between the core support and the radiator. The condenser, which I didn't really every pay attention to, is a full size (as large as our radiator basically) and helps in a bit of wind block....."a bit". haha......... Winters aren't HORRIBLE up here but they can get pretty damn cold at night. Thanks for the heads up and I'll keep an eye out for it in the winter.

Trimmed the upper shroud back to show the niceness :

 

yup for a cold winter area and a stock tc heating might be a problem.. But this a good radiator for boosted application.. quality is indeed nice

 

what header is that? its filthy lol

 

^^ isnt that the oem header? lol

 

Nope, it's HPR. I painted it black a while back but it just pealed off so I said screw it.

 

Any updates on the radiator?

 

good to hear it is a perfect fit.......I am gettign one to install next year as well.....looks great.

 

Radiator is working GREAT! Just dropped in a 170 thermostat so that'll cool it a bit more for the summer. I will swap the thermo back to a 180 and make a block off plate for the radiator for the winter time, but summer time....this radiator is amazing! Constant 80 mph cruisin' on the highway and the engine stays nice and cool.

Feels a bit more responsive during a lot of stop and go as compared to stock so I'm guessing the heat was a lot worse with the one core setup.

Wrapped my header and put 6 layers of heat treatment spray under AND over it all so my header can be held in your hand after 1 hour of driving SUBSTANTIALLY reduces under hood temps so overall, my setup right now (although not FI ) is great.

New engine pics:

 

Added a Gates 170 degree thermostat and it runs great. Idle heat was very luck warm at first but now, my heat works perfectly and still feels nice and hot. Depending on how it feels when the outside temp drops, I may throw the 180 back in or just leave the 170 in and build a block off plate for the radiator.

 

My turbo sits pretttttty dam close to my radiator fans, lol.

Which do you think has more space.

The stock radiator with the shround and fans? or the Mishimoto radiator without the shroud and using slim fans instead?

Just wondering. I might just put the fans in front of the radiator, instead of behind if its a problem.

 

^^ mine is at the shop being installed, we'll see how it goes

 

awesome post.

 

so you used water wetter and had bad results??

 

DIY!!

lol

 

So thats what your getting installed =D

Might wanna tweak the maps a little after that, lol.

 

With a turbo setup, I'd say you would need a slim fan setup over the stock fans. My header was less than 1/4" from the stock shroud with the new radiator.


I used water wetter before this but I just wanted to try the Purple Ice this time. Both work the same though....same chemicals and properties/effects.

 

Thanks....I'm definitely enjoying this setup.