CandyRedRC46

niccce

2x0

Starting to warm up outside again, and starting to have potential issues with the cooling system.

Earlier I had my fan set to come on at 195, which wasn't a problem with cooler ambient temps (30's). It cycled on and off normally.

Today it was about 65F outside, and while on the highway cruising at close to 4000rpm, everything seems to get heavily heat soaked. The fan was staying on the whole time after a few minutes to keep it at around 197 ECT. I turned up the fan temp to come on at 200 and it settled down a bit. ECT would go up to about 205, then fan would cool it down to 195-197 while cruising.

Anytime driving at lower rpms and speeds, the temp stays down much better. I am thinking I need a new turbo blanket and perhaps heat wrapping the downpipe would help keep it cool under the hood. Possibly opening up the front bumper for better air flow as well.

Any other suggestions?

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

what was your coolant recipe again? Water wetter, distilled water, coolant (??)

2x0

I filled it with a premixed 50/50 coolant from Autozone, in the yellow bottle.... Peak maybe?

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

ugggh..

C'mon 2x0, you know better than that.. much better...... y'all and this AutoZone ****, and wonder "well, it was fine when I was NA, how is this different?"

Get the OEM Coolant or Toyota pink, and get some water wetter in there.

H22Honda98

does it really make that much of a difference going from no name coolant to oem? To the extent that you'll actually see a drop in temp? I'm not disagreeing, just curious because i currently run the cheap stuff too. I haven't had issues yet, but if oem is far superior ill be switching.

2x0

Yeah I actually didn't know any better than that but thanks for informing me.

I will be sure to try the good stuff.

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

I wouldn't say it, if I didn't know it to be true. Coming from doing this turbo Honda thing since 1998. 52 circuit events, one head gasket, same block. Only OEM Honda or Toyota Pink coolant.

Boosted Chemist

iTrader: (1)

Ive seen you say this a few times and I'm curious why OEM honda is better than auto zone (not hating generally curious), I am dealing with a coolant issue also and have generic green stuff and was thinking of swapping it out. I too have an crx with a half rad and upgraded to a large Derale pusher fan but have not had a chance to test it out yet

2x0

Well if you want a real life testimonial, I plan on doing the coolant swap either this week or next. I'll be able to let you know if it changes at all.

One thing I can say about my new setup vs. the old. The problem now is definitely air flow, where as before it was the fans. When sitting and idling or driving low speed around town, my temp never gets very high. Only when on the highway cruising at higher rpm for long periods, heat soaks in and apparently not enough air is getting to the radiator. Whether or not the Honda coolant helps, I have some ideas of how I can get some more airflow to it that I am going to try also.

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

I have definitely found that the contents between the companies are not the same. Even from a layman's point of view. The viscocity, lower surface friction coefficient ("slickness") of the Honda & Toyoto OEMs are completely different than what Prestone, Autozone, SuperTECH, or PEAK has to offer. I used to live in a very deserted area where Heavy duty trucks and cars just got horribly hot from the ambient temps alone, Those that switched over from DexCool and the generic brands to a Honda or Toyota OEM saw MAJOR differences in cooling as much as 10*. (And no, it wasn't because of "color", I'm not that naive. )

Even in my OEM Ford Focus Turbo, I dumped out the **** they had there (Dex cool), fully flushed the system and run Toyota OEM. Car stayed much cooler and lower ECTs (I have an SCT scanning tool) than what it ran before.

Now, you're welcome to analyze each chemical compound of the various brands if you wish. But I'd stick with OEM Honda, Toyota Pink, or even the Pentofrost concentrate (I didn't add that earlier because I have no idea how availability of that is to people).

LightningTeg

Interdesting. I wonder if they run the pink stuff in our forklifts as well

9TechNine9

I'm trying to figure out how to wire up a relay atm and am in basically the same situation as you. Did you run the grey wire (indicated in manual that it goes to thermo switch) to A12 on the ecu?

2x0

9TechNine9

Don't mean to threadjack here sorry. Where did you run that wire then? I'm just lost on where to run this grey wire.. I'm kind of assuming you used this relay kit.

2x0

Boosted Chemist

iTrader: (1)

Please do, I see you are also in Minnesota :thumbs up:

This is interesting, i never though about I think I am going to try it. I will run my car with the green stuff and the new fan soon, then swap out the coolant and see if I can see a difference with my hondata.

2x0

2x0

Question:

Doing some reading and pondering, and it makes sense that the usual fan switch location is measuring coolant temp at the thermostat housing, which would be cooler than if measured at the head? So when the fan normally kicks on at around 200 ECT stock, the temperature of the coolant at the head would be more like 220? Is this correct?

boosted94gsr

2x0

2x0

Quick update. Adding some cutouts in the front bumper had wayyy more effect than anything else I've done so far. Today, for the first time when I got on the highway my temps went DOWN instead of up. It was a good feeling.

The fan did not come on for the entire drive, but it was pretty cool outside this morning. ECT peaked at around 197 while cruising. Hotter weather next week will put it to the test, but I plan on adding heat wrap and a block off plate this Friday still.

boosted94gsr

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

Well, to put it honestly, the cutouts made the biggest difference because you had already started the process with the better materials/fluids. That opening just woke up the last bits to get everything to work together fabulously. So don't go back to running that shitty coolant and swap out equipment just because you see the biggest overall difference from the new vents.. Just keeping it 100.

2x0

No way, I still plan to go above and beyond to make sure I never have cooling problems again. I'd like to be able to keep my temps even lower if possible, in the 185-190 range at all times. So I am going to continue working towards that goal.

Thanks for your advice