So i bought a koyo rad a few weeks ago, threw it in my car with water wetter and went to CSCS tmp. Car would start to get really hot after just one lap.
I bought the koyo cause it was the most easily accessable in my time frame and i was given a great price. At shannonville the week before i would overheat half way though one lap while i was drifting using the stock rad. i have a stock clutch fan and electric fan running all of the time.
I was attemting to further solve my problem because water wetter and a koyo didnt solve much, i decided to install a fan shroud while still incorporating clutch fan and electric fan, i had to trim some plastic to fit and while i was cutting the fan shroud with a razor blade my hand slipped and the blade of the razor cut one of the galleries in the core radiator and put a pin hole slit leak in the core, fucking razor blade cut through the aluminum core like butter.
So i took my rad to a rad repair shop, just called him to see if it was fixed and he said he tried but he cant get it to stop leaking and the rad is garbage.
so i cant go to gymkhana this weekend because im not blowing a headgasket on my daily driver. its not worth the consequence.
i will need another radiator eventually as i was going to swap this to my ka-t eventually.
Is there anything out there better than a koyo in the $500 range? i am not pleased with koyo, i have seen 3 koyo rads this year with holes in the core with pin hole leaks like mine (mine plus two in ACP’s evo at 100 acre woods) i remember there was a radiator thread years ago on here. Im thinking a dual core and something a little more durable.
Do you have the proper ducting to your rad? I seriously doubt the Koyo is the culprit here. Its a piece of metal with some cooling fins and at that its just as thick as most of the applications for the 240.
In regards to the ducting, that plastic diffuser that is found underneath the front of the car is key to have. Without it the air flowing through the FMIC just escapes downwards. Also are there any gaps between your rad and the front frame assembly? If your car had AC and you removed the condenser it creates holes around the rad where the air escapes. Its key to close that off.
I had some of the same issues with my SR at track days, then I filled the holes and just recently installed that lower plastic tray and its helped a million. My problem now is lack of airflow with the JDM bumper but thats a whole different story.
wow you should not be overheating maybe your problems lie elsewear like a thermostat and get a flush and i hope your not just running water and waterwetter put coolant in as well and get e-fans quit being dumb your smarter then this jesse
it seems that the diy cooling panels above and below (with low pressure tab) really help things out. check out the link i think it’s something you might be looking for or it’ll at least give you some data to check. doesn’t really help you with your leak though…
if im lapping i dont have problems with the koyo in there, but drifting is a different story because the car is going sideways and airflow goes to shit. A friend also has the same setup with a koyo and said it never overheats and i drove his car for 2 laps and it started over heating. It is a mixture of driving style and ducting.
Im looking for something 3 core. I realised the thread i read about koyo’s sucking was on ziptied. There were guys reccomending other rads but i dont remember any of the brand names.
i will try the thermostat and will work on other ducting solutions but im not impressed with the core design and durability. Also not the rad was not stabbed the razor blade skimmed the core with slight pressure. We had the same problem on the rally car, put in a stock evo rad to run the end of the race. The oem rads are stronger than koyo’s.
One word, “GRIFFIN” they make sick custom rads around $500 I think. Mine is a huge 3 row over 3" thick and it slides right between the frame. Never overheated or even started to overheat, even without a fan.
Stock fan & shroud, oem engine undercover, working thermostat, should make it work good, I had that with my sr for a while with the stock SR rad and never had problems. Stock KA rad is made out of different grade metal with a much worse heat exchange rate, so it wont work nearly as well as the rad that comes in front clips. Im now running a 3 row aluminum rad with the stock fan, stock shroud, and engine undercover and having no problems while drifting.
afco is a better choice than griffin, griffin won’t fix their defects… but there are plenty of double-pass rads on ebay, look for the right dimensions and note the hose locations