hello guys

uprated my ford standard intercooler to an airtec full mount with town fans, so fitted it, fans are sucking not blowing, the car now runs hooter, the oil is reading 110 not 95 like it used to, the water temp gauge is at say 2 o'clock on a clock face where before it used to sit at say 4 o'clock

checked fans again, flushed and drained all coolant and checked thermostat was opening, even with twin fans on switch they can't bring the water temp back down, booting it makes the water temp and oil temp go higher

so my conclusion the radiator is not getting the air flow it needs or could it now be running leaner because more cooler air is getting in???

is this normal? it was better with the ford intercooler on, its running 1 bar of boost, mfi,

please help

 

Full front mount ic are known to raise the temps a little at low speed/traffic .
Something to try is seal the ic to the slam panel and also to the rad
This will insure as must air will past through the ic then the rad with no short cuts
Just to see if it works use a good tape
Once you have proof it works then then get some nice plates made and screwed in place

I am assuming you already have a alloy rad ?

 

ok i could take it off and seal around it with sheet metal or aluminium to force the air through it, its still got the original ford stock radiator, could this be a problem?

it was fine running 1bar on a standard radiator and standard intercooler before this mod

 

I myself would put a good alloy rad on it .
Before you change the ic the rad don't have to work as hard .
Have you got a swirl pot ? As this may also help a little
There is also a mod you can do to the stat if needed

 

just everything standard, got a pipers filter and mongoose, lower temp thermostat and fan switch with group A coil, thats the only mods.

So a bigger radiator then, will a swirl pot help? it was fine before with standard radiator, I'm half thinking of reverting back to the standard intercooler and just having the boost lowered a little, less hassle then

 

Thomas stop ragging it around after changing parts like coolers etc. You should get it back on the co% machine and check out the state of tune and adjust for the changes.
It could be that its just running lean or out of tune.

No doubt the fans are not up to the job as I see regular. The cooler is very thick, very heavy and does not let air flow very well. The core is not the best for the job tbh.

 

Standard rad is fine if it's in good order, an additional swirl pot is pointless (there is one as part if the stat housing).
Some prefer fitting the IC as close to the rad as possible and then the fans on the IC, but remember the fans only work at standstill/low speed, once your moving natural airflow is what should be cooling the rad/ic.

It is worth checking you are not running a little lean now too.

 

Had same problem with mine, I had a gap between the rad and Ic. I changed the standard rad for a air tech one, closed the gap and also fitted low temp fan switch n stat from MSD And when it was running it run a lot cooler, with the gap between rad and Ic the fans were basically running non stop on idle and temp was still rising but once driving temp would drop.

 

I had a std rad and airtec in my first RST we put the fans on the rad not the IC, dropped temps massively!!!!!

I also have a pre rad that dropped temps even more!

They feature the car/pre rad fittings and all the data in performance ford a few years ago also run good quality coolant 50/50 mix

 

hello everyone, so thanks for all your replays, all taken note of and since my post

i have bought and fitted a new airtec alloy radiator that sits nicely in position, the fins are wider the channels are fatter so more water gets through, slim line fans mounted, the intercooler back on. Been out today and has made a total difference, running cooler, like it used to. The standard radiator really is not up to much if its blocked by a full front mount.

Also heat wrapped the manifold, going to do the elbow and down pipe also another evening as ran out of wrap.

Many thanks

 

Good to hear

 

Does the fans cool it better between the rad and intercooler or in front of the intercooler?

I think between the rad & intercooler

 

You say the fans are sucking not blowing, I thought they were supposed to blow on Rs turbos.

 

They should blow onto the radiator/IC, same direction of flow as if the car was in motion.

 

Yes they suck from the front blowing onto the radiator through to the engine bay.
I dropped a piece of paper infront and it sucked it to it. So it's certainly the right direction blowing air through radiator into engine bay.

Also question to everyone. Is it worth cutting the front bumper to allow more air to the ic and radiator or does thst look naff?? Even a little!

 

More airflow to the rad/IC is always better but looks and styling are a personal choice mate, entirely up to you.

 

I recently read up on exhaust wrap and it seems that if you don't cover 100% then you can end up with hot spots in the areas that are not wrapped meaning you get the same heat but from less metal...not sure how true. I am just about to drop my down-pipe and exhaust to Zircotec...expensive but is better and lasts...heat wrap is supposed to degrade quite quickly.

 

Yeah that's what I meant, should blow through the radiator.