Ideal cooling system setup question.

[NEVER ENOUGH]

If you could create the ideal cooling system setup for an 87 GN, what would it be? (Not a full time drag car. Mostly street.)

Would it be a one, two or three row all aluminum radiator with internal trans and oil coolers? Maybe the same with external coolers, maybe separate fans for each?
Maybe an aluminum with plastic tanks with internal coolers for all?
Or maybe a two or three row brass/copper radiator with internal or external trans and oil coolers?
How about power steering cooler? Internal or external of the radiator?
What temp stat?

Single or dual fans?

All suggestions & opinions are welcome and encouraged.

 

[Red C5]

A quality aluminum radiator with both coolers is pretty much all that's needed. Throw in a new thermostat while you're at it and enjoy the car.

 

[TurboDave]

Ya know what I've found, after all the fancy high dollar stuff I've wasted my money on over the years (Griffin, etc.) I found that a good high quallity re-cored stock GN radiator works the best!!!!! My 87 never has overheated.
My 86, has had dual fans added ONLY because I put a huge front mount out in front of it. But it's working perfectly also.

 

[NEVER ENOUGH]

So ideally you plumb the trans and oil through the radiator?
Why does it seem so many run external coolers for everything?

 

[hiboom]

external cooler

one reason would be if you have had any type of engine or transmission failure risking the chance of the damaged material not getting cleaned out good and trashing a new system

 

[Buix893]

F-Body rad...dual fans...160 stat...call it a day....:biggrin:....car has never gone above 175...:tongue:

 

[novaderrik]

a good aluminum radiator with external trans and oil coolers is the ideal way to do things. they used the internal coolers at the factory to save a few bucks- and it gets the job done- but external coolers are better.

 

[johnplogii]

F-body radiator, external tranny cooler with a fan, no oil cooler & either dual intrepid/ramchargers fans or a mark 8 fan. I run the mark 8 fan on mine, they are about 4500 cfm, the dual fans are around 3500 cfm & I have some for sale in the for sale section The f-body radiator cools much better in my car than the rebuilt stocker did plus its quite a bit lighter.

 

[SCOOBY DOO]

f-body rad...dual fans...160 stat...call it a day....:biggrin:....car has never gone above 175...:tongue:

x 2

 

[TurboBuRick]

Do all guys who are running a external trans cooler only, monitor trans and oil temp? There is no way I could get away with external cooler only for trans.

I have a f-body and a external trans cooler. Still gets too hot for my liking.

Recently I'm thinking the trans circuit in the f-body is not sufficient for a moded street driver.

If I ran with just a external cooler, the trans would overheat in no time.

I would like to try the aluminum one that Red C5 sells. Looks like a real quality piece at a good price. I bet it's cooling capability's are superior to stock and far superior to the f-body.

 

[GullsGN]

x 2

x3. The Fbody cools 2 to 5 degrees better than stock. And it is only 90 bucks and 1/2 the weight. Spend the xtra bucks somewhere else. I am sure you can find a use for it:biggrin:.

 

[INEEDAGN]

a good aluminum radiator with external trans and oil coolers is the ideal way to do things. they used the internal coolers at the factory to save a few bucks- and it gets the job done- but external coolers are better.

Nope. Not flaming you, but this has been hashed out already.
http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/transmission-talk/191915-trans-cooler-radiator.html

Also if they get debris in them, they CAN be flushed. Any good trans shop should have a heated flusher that can do either trans or engine coolers. Very rarely we would get a cooler that was either plugged tight and wouldn't blow free, or just had so many particles that they seemed to take forever to flush and we gave up on them after a day or two.

"Ideally" a radiator with welded tanks on the ends is less leak prone and less prone to pop open than one with plastic end caps. I'm sure that both styles have failed someone somehere, but i'd imagine the chinese f body radiators do it in much greater numbers. There is a HUGE cost difference, and I understand the F body is a better "deal", but we ARE talking about "ideal" setups.

 

[Victory]

x3. The Fbody cools 2 to 5 degrees better than stock. And it is only 90 bucks and 1/2 the weight. Spend the xtra bucks somewhere else. I am sure you can find a use for it:biggrin:.

x4 This is what I'm running. It was inexpensive and it works. My kind of deal.

 

[Red C5]

Nope. Not flaming you, but this has been hashed out already.
http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/transmission-talk/191915-trans-cooler-radiator.html

Also if they get debris in them, they CAN be flushed. Any good trans shop should have a heated flusher that can do either trans or engine coolers. Very rarely we would get a cooler that was either plugged tight and wouldn't blow free, or just had so many particles that they seemed to take forever to flush and we gave up on them after a day or two.

"Ideally" a radiator with welded tanks on the ends is less leak prone and less prone to pop open than one with plastic end caps. I'm sure that both styles have failed someone somehere, but i'd imagine the chinese f body radiators do it in much greater numbers. There is a HUGE cost difference, and I understand the F body is a better "deal", but we ARE talking about "ideal" setups.

Haha, pretty funny talking about an "ideal" cooling system and people suggest a plastic, made overseas radiator that's not designed for our car and can't directly replace the 23 year old radiator that our cars came with. Guess the word "ideal" is subjective.

Peter

 

[Red C5]

Do all guys who are running a external trans cooler only, monitor trans and oil temp? There is no way I could get away with that.

I have a f-body and a external trans cooler. Still gets too hot for my liking.

Recently I'm thinking the trans circuit in the f-body is not sufficient for a moded street driver.

If I ran with just a external cooler, the trans would overheat in no time.

I would like to try the aluminum one that Red C5 sells. Looks like a real quality piece at a good price. I bet it's cooling capability's are superior to stock and far superior to the f-body.

Let me know when you're ready. I've got one left in stock but 50 in process. :biggrin:

 

[Boost231]

red, is this the same one bruce sales?

http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/ad...radiators-all-aluminum-bolt-replacements.html

If so i love this cooler. Car never goes above 180 even in arizona heat.

Also for the ideal cooling system.

Alum Rad. like listed above, with ramchargers dual fans

Then i have a external B&M cooler with fan for the trans. Running a N/L converter and works great.

 

[413turbo]

my setup is a f body radiator from the parts store. then in place of the stock intercooler(it could be anywhere, this was my place of choice) i put both a oil and transmission cooler 11x11 that are plumbed no where else. dual fans from a dodge intrpid.

i have a stock t stat i belive. i set the fans in the fast system to come on and that is where it stays. true i haven't tried it in hot weather, but it's staying at 145-150, now. i just turned the fans to come on at 175 and it's hovering there now. i'm thinking it'll do fine come summer in georgia. BTW, i've got a a/c and powerstroke i/c in front of that.

whit that said, let me now asked, what is the ideal tempature to set the cooling system, and then the oil/trans system tempature to?

 

[novaderrik]

Nope. Not flaming you, but this has been hashed out already.
http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/transmission-talk/191915-trans-cooler-radiator.html

Also if they get debris in them, they CAN be flushed. Any good trans shop should have a heated flusher that can do either trans or engine coolers. Very rarely we would get a cooler that was either plugged tight and wouldn't blow free, or just had so many particles that they seemed to take forever to flush and we gave up on them after a day or two.

"Ideally" a radiator with welded tanks on the ends is less leak prone and less prone to pop open than one with plastic end caps. I'm sure that both styles have failed someone somehere, but i'd imagine the chinese f body radiators do it in much greater numbers. There is a HUGE cost difference, and I understand the F body is a better "deal", but we ARE talking about "ideal" setups.

external coolers cool better than internal coolers, that's a fact. they also keep the heat out of the coolant, which allows the engine to run cooler. why would you want to put heat from the transmission fluid and engine oil back into the coolant after it has already been cooled and right before it goes back into the engine?

with external coolers, the radiator cools the coolant, the oil cooler cools the oil, the trans cooler cools the trans fluid, and the PS cooler (if you have one) cools the PS fluid.
if getting things up to temp is an issue, then you can get thermostatic valves that go inline on the oil and trans cooler lines to shut off flow thru the cooler until it reaches a certain temp. Summit and Jegs have them listed and they aren't terribly expensive.

Remote Oil Thermostats - Oil Coolers - Cooling & Heating - SummitRacing.com

 

[Victory]

Haha, pretty funny talking about an "ideal" cooling system and people suggest a plastic, made overseas radiator that's not designed for our car and can't directly replace the 23 year old radiator that our cars came with. Guess the word "ideal" is subjective.

Peter

I took this thread as meaning what would provide ideal "cooling" not what "part" would be ideal, so anything that cools our cars down to the appropriate temperature could be up for discussion. But, as my wife is always telling me, I could be wrong...

 

[krom]

A recored original works awesome here in the blast furnace. Drops in and cools perfectly in 100 degree temps.