Overheating RB26 Silvia! What size is stock GTR radiator?

[rb25_sil80]

I too am quite surprised you managed to get fans between the radiator and engine, theres 30mm max in my rb25 sil80. I'm using a vl turbo radiator with 2 push fans on mine, no shrouds.

It used to overheat like a bitch but since installing the VL rad she's been happy as larry.

After checking that link out I really want a set of those fans

Cheers

Brad

[underground]

Keep in mind, it wasn't just plug and play....

We cut out over 2" inches in the radiator support, in order to put the radiator where that piece of the support used to be...

It wasn't a drop in kind of thing....

I believe this can only be done on the S14, 95-98 Silvia (200SX)... I don't think the S13 body will allow the same modification...

Chris

[underground]

I would be happy to help you get a pair of those fans...

A matter of fact, I am happy to help any of you guys looking to get USA parts...

[underground]

Well guys,

I haven't pulled out the thermostat as I need a flex socket to get in a angle to undue those three bolts. I can't get into the shop until Monday...

Here's the situation..

Today I noticed that I have oil in my radiator coolant. It's not a huge amount, but still...

I thought that surely if it was a headgasket, that I would have water in my engine oil, but not that I can tell...

Today, one of my buddies from the states had me take off the radiator cap and let the motor get to normal operating temperatures...

It got all the way to 100 degrees celsius, and the water level never dropped. So, I think there's a good chance my thermostat is stuck shut... either this, or I have a waterpump that is faulty, because I didn't see any water movement in the radiator..

Right now, I'm ready to pull my hair out. The whole thing with the oil in the coolant has really got me nervous..

Any guidance is always appreciated!

Chris

[underground]

Anybody?

[wrxhoon]

oil in the radiator not good news . head gasket gone i would say and no coolant does not have to be in the oil as well, it can be just oil in the coolant .

take the oil cap of and chack to see if there is like milky stuff under it .

if there was no movement in the coolant when it got hot yea it maybe crook thermostat but usualy when thermostats play up they stay open .

take the thermo out boil water and put in to see if it opens , if you have a thermometer you can see at what temp it opens.

[blind_elk]

Frankly, I don't think it can be a problem with the size of the radiator. AFAIK, GT-Rs don't seem to have a problem, even "Down Under", where it can get pretty fn hot in summer.

The thermo fans should not be your primary source of radiator cooling. They are designed to only come on after prolonged low speed times, like peak-hour traffic. Ordinarily, the movement of the car through the air is sufficient to keep the temperature under control.

Your problem is all related to air flow (or lack of it) through the radiator. There was a recent series of articles on Autopseed (www.autospeed.com) dealing with siting undertrays and vents. Might be worth a read. (might cost you a subscription - about A$35 - , but what will a new engine cost?)

Japanese Motorsport (www.japanesemotorsport.com.au) a while ago built a RB20-something'd 180SX, and encountered the same sort of problem, until they noticed on a dyno run that the spray bottle they were cooling the IC with, the spray was not going anywhere near the IC and radiator - it was flowing straight under the car!!

[Beer Baron]

Hi Underground,

to me it sounds like you have a water pump problem. This sounds silly but have you checked that all the belts and pulleys are on properly? If that is all ok, then you need to check (don't know how) that the pump is all intact and pumping water, it sounds to me like pump has failed, car has over heated, possible headgasket failure resulted. Hope not though...

Richard

[underground]

After removing thermostat tonight, we have movement... So, I know waterpump is working...

I think that possibly the thermostat has gone bad, which is amazing as I just installed it three weeks ago...

However the motor has had a lot of residue (I assume from sitting in a salvage yard in Japan for quite some time), and we should have flushed it before we installed thermostat...

Chris