Biggest radiator possible for VZ

[redmonaro]

After a recommendation for a big radiator for a customers VZ? Its twin turbo 383, what have other people fitted? After maximum cooling effect? Is there a dual pass radiator available? Thanks

[Blown 454 AWD]

Why do want the biggest for a little 383?

I ran a LS3 6.8 Litre TT R35's pulled 516 awkw 1600 nm?

I did this with the standard cooling system and had no problems what so ever.

It's a fair bit of $$$ what you're about to do, your biggest challenge is fans!!!

The OEM commodore fans set up can't be beaten, it's the way the cowling seals right round the radiator and suck the whole radiator.

This time 454ci with 4 Litre Whipple @15psi I went pwr biggest fans etc, had heaps of trouble bleeding the air out,

guess it has heaps of reserve cooling left, cooling all good now, haven't seen a benefit as no different to the old set up with performance so far?

A clean healthy standard cooling system takes a bit of beating.

Just things for you to consider

Cheers

Steve

[vy2ttr]

I agree with above, my tt 383 runs a std cooling system set-up.

Mine never gets hot, even on 40 plus degree days, and continued pull after pull on dyno.

I have seen people have more trouble with aftermarket radiators that keep on overheating. Why change from a know good system ?

[HSV Listy]

I use a race radiator 68mm version in the vx but the vz have a better set up from the factory. As Steve said the bigger radiators give grief bleeding them. Mine is still not right after 3 attempts and I get peaks of high temp but true temp is perfect.
$850 delivered.

[IJ.]

PWR here, only bought it as I was converting from V6 to V8 at the time and the systems are different enough that I couldn't reuse the V6 one, well worth trying the stock Rad first as aftermarket is damn expensive and I've read a LOT of people getting by with a good condition stocker!

[seldo]

Really don't see the point in trying fix it if it isn't broken...

[johnv]

576 rwkw here with a VZ radiator , 160 deg thermostat and Mezier electric water pump.
Zerrow issues with cooling, can be a pain to bleed without a vaccume bleeder.

Biggest improvement i've seen with cooling was after fitting a reverse cowel bonnet, allows so much more heat to be pulled out of the engine bay.
It will almost run too cool on a really cold day , just cruising at 100 ks.

[feistl]

Hey mate,

Ive gone down the path of a PWR VX (manual) radiator and havnt had any issues. I think being the VX version and running the remote recovery tank (which im using an ASE one mounted near the ABS module rather than the standard plastic one on the passenger side) i dont have any bleeding issues at all, whereas the VZ version doesnt run this recovery tank and can cause issues bleeding.

I changed a number of things when i put the PWR unit in, so no real "comparative" testing data, however anecdotal evidence suggests the PWR can drop temps a bit quicker and obviously has a bigger surface area.

I would be seriously looking at an engine oil cooler though, you'd be surprised how much cooling effect the oil has on overall engine temp. I would say that spending money on an engine oil cooler (Plus thermostat) is a better idea than going a bigger radiator. Of course, if you can do both thats even better again.

I am having heat issues even with an upgraded radiator and engine oil cooler but i think this is caused by the limited amount of airflow through the standard VX SS front bar (~55cm2 from memory). So i am in the process of fitting a VZ Monaro front end, as it has 128cm2 cooling area. Interestingly, GM told HSV that the LSA requires 128cm2 of cooling (HSV front bar actually delivers 130cm2). So yeah, standard cooling system is pretty good but can certainly use an engine oil cooler if the car is going to see any circuit track work.

Cheers

[Micks]

I'm really puzzled why you guys run cooler stats! In reality a cooler stat give you "zero" more cooling capacity!!

[IJ.]

I'm really puzzled why you guys run cooler stats! In reality a cooler stat give you "zero" more cooling capacity!!

It gives a little more headroom at the start of a run until you reach the Cooling system's equilibrium point, then if you don't have enough cooling capacity it's going to overheat no matter what..

Stock T Stat in mine and it's fine under power.

[Micks]

It gives a little more headroom at the start of a run until you reach the Cooling system's equilibrium point, then if you don't have enough cooling capacity it's going to overheat no matter what..

Stock T Stat in mine and it's fine under power.

Spot on Only cap you have is the HOR from the core fins/inch. & tank size! Stock stat is great to get the motor up to norm op temp fast!

[Blown 454 AWD]

Ha ha, I have all you require down stairs done 35,000 Klms

Adventra now runs PWR and got it bang on now,

with bleeding, top up, leave cap off, come back next day and top up again,

takes 3-4 days for the level to settle down,

or vacuum fill the radiator and get it first time.

Looked at an electric water pump, right one is great, you remove the thermostat,

Pump starts slowly (after warming) and speeds up with temperature,

Stops the shock of thermostat opening full and shocking engine with cold water on start up.

Biggest issue with our current water pumps at idle they don't spin fast enough, so we pulley them up,

then it's too fast at high revs, both these conditions can give trouble when you start to change things.

Soon engines won't have water pumps mechanically driven on the front of the engine.

Cheers

Steve

[Micks]

Reckon the biggest prob with the stock Rad if you have prolonged idling, boy that ally sure puts off some heat

[bozodos]

I'd always wondered why the car's temp never seemed to move up the gauge on cold days until I hit the 60km/h zone!

Isn't the weak point of the stock ones the plastic end tanks?

[Micks]

I'd always wondered why the car's temp never seemed to move up the gauge on cold days until I hit the 60km/h zone!

Isn't the weak point of the stock ones the plastic end tanks?

Yes they flex & crack.