Looks like my eBay dual core half sized aluminum radiator is not cutting it. Is this because I chinced on an eGay part, or can I expect similar heat dissipation from a name brand dual core aluminum radiator?

Here's the setup:
Motor was rebuilt 800 miles ago...
Chrome tuned B18C ITR (Calling it an ITR at this point is a stretch)
81.50 mm PR3 pistons
skunk2 stage1 cams
supertech valves
dual core eGay radiator
New OEM thermostat
New Hoses
Silm Radiator Fan
Stock ITR Oil Cooler

Basically the oil temp wants to hover around 195 - 205, when I hop onto VTEC the oil temp jumps to 210-225 depending on how hard I push it. In traffic it jumps to 215 - 220. Yesterday the oil temp hit 235, the water temp started going up to the top of the temp symbol. So I pulled over, opened the radiator cap and let it blow off some steam. Then I refilled and kept driving. I haven't had a temp over 220 since it over heated. Once the motor hits ~210 it wont drop back down to 195-205, it's acting like it can't get rid of the heat. Even with the heater on full blast the temp stays 210ish.

The weather outside is cool mid-70s so it's not even that hot out... In the summer I plan on getting owned unless I address this issue.

I'm going to try and re-purge the coolant system of air, I'll give that a shot but in the mean time I'm considering a full size radiator.

Any thoughts from the HT world?

 

If it's new I would imagine you flushed the cooling system when you installed it?

Fill it up, and try letting it idle with the cap off for a few minutes to see if there is any air in the system...

 

Friend of mine ran a stock single core D-series rad on a GS-R swap that was daily driven and beaten on constantly and had no overheating issues.

 

I did the same thing with no problems. It's quite possible he has some air in the system and needs to properly bleed the air out or that the fan is not adequately cooling the radiator. Check and make sure your fan is coming on at the proper times, or at the least that it is in fact coming on. The radiator can only do so much on its own

 

I also have an issue with my DC header, which lies right up against the oil pan. I placed a sheet of exhaust insulation material between the pan and the pipes, but it's still going to cook up a storm with it being right up against the pan. DC headers are complete ****.

It is possible my slim radiator fan is not moving enough air... I'll see what it does after I let the coolant system cycle twice with the cap off.

 

DC headers are not complete ****.

 

I'd blame the fan before the radiator. Unless the radiator or something else is clogged. It seems like you're having high coolant temps in traffic, where the fan is most active. Slim fans also don't come with a shroud a lot of the times...which might be an issue also.

A stock single core radiator would have been perfectly fine for your setup...so I'm not sure why you'd have issues with a dual core unless it's clogged up....which might be a quality control issue...which is possible with a no name part.

My EM1 has a 00 spec ITR swap with an Endyn head...has an eBay dual core aluminum radiator because my autozone single core radiator was leaking and the eBay one was free. I beat on it mercilessly when it had the B16 and even more mercilessly now that it has the B18....and I've never had an over heating problem...even in 80+ degree weather with passengers and the A/C blastin while driving in insane chicago traffic immediately after driving like a hooligan.

Make sure you have the right blend of coolant and water also. Too much coolant can cause the cooling system not to be able to carry away enough heat. Water has a higher specific heat than glycol.

 

Alright saying DC headers are complete **** was too harsh.. I will remove "complete" and leave the rest I think a lot of my over heating problems are related to the header slapped up against the oil pan with no clearance.

Does the radiator fan activate even when the car is traveling at freeway speeds? I don't think it is, the computer detects the vehicle speed and deactivates the fan. I could be wrong... Shouldn't air flow over the radiator at freeway speeds be enough? Because even in this case it took about 10 miles for the temp to drop from 220 to 210, and I was going easy on it... 60 mph ~3000 rpm.

 

your speed has nothing to do with fan turning on or off.
at freeway speeds you get enough air flow you dont need fan at all, when you at the stop light your coolant temp sensor sees temp going up and it turns your fan on.
your speed sensor has nothing to do with rad fan at all.

 

If your theory were true, then why is the Toda and all other high end manifolds hug the oil pan? Even SMSP - arguably the best header you can buy for a NA motor tucks up close to the pan.

Do you have all of your grounds properly attatched? If not, the fan will not function correctly.

 

Kind of a dumb question, but are you sure the fan is working?
Is it a ebay fan, aswell?

A few of my friends have ebay rads, and don't have any problems with them.
My friend had a DC header with his b16, no overheating issues. Just saying.

If you are really worried about the header pull it and wrap it. I don't think that your issue is coming from the header, but I wont argue.

 

Thanks for the input guys.

Hondatherdm:
I've been reading various tuning manuals and ECU operation manuals and the speed sensor does play a part in the ECU regulating the radiator fan. When the car is traveling at XX speed the ECU disables the fan, regardless I think you are correct, at freeway speeds the amount of air passing through the radiator should be sufficient to cool off the fluid within.

clean rice
As for other header brands running up against the pan as a standard this makes me feel a little better about my DC header. So thank you for clearing that up. However in all honesty, taking a step back, I think it is a poor design to have super heated furnace pipes under your engine's precious oil reserves with no air space in-between. I literally had to force the header down to get a 1/16 inch layer of insulation in-between the pipes and the pan.

The motor is grounded at three different locations. The transmission, the head (timing side), and the rear of the block.

98civdx
The fan is working, however I do not think it is moving as much air as the stock fan. I could switch back to a stock fan, but it chews up a lot of clearance, which is why I went with a aftermarket alternative.

After all that is said I'm still back to the fact that while cruising along at 60 mph my motor can't seem to dissipate the heat. Once I pass the 210 threshold the motor stays there.

I'll purge the coolant tonight and see if that has the desired effect. I've been dealing with an accident I had Saturday night and haven't had time to play with it... I got my car tuned and on the way home I got rear ended

 

Ehh, that sucks.

Although you loose a lot of clearence it wouldn't hurt to throw the stock fan back in and see what happens.

 

So I bled the coolant system. I don't know what is considered the normal amount of bubbles. If it's none then I have a problem... I let the fan come on about 5 times, and by the 5th time there were little bubbles every now and then. The radiator fan is pushing instead of pulling, but it is moving a lot of air.

I took the car for a spin, on the freeway + VTEC the oil temp hit 215 pretty quick, and then I pulled off and beat on it around town. It stayed 210ish for the entire beating, then oil temp dropped down to 205, but that's as low as it would go. The temp outside is 71F

 

yea, not supposed to be any air in the lines. that could be part of the issue. i have heard of people having trouble with some of those slim fans also, but I have also heard of people having good luck with them. did you fill the overflow to the proper height?

 

I was just about to ask if the fan is pushing or pulling?

If its mounted inboard and pushing....well...that's a problem.

Also, are you sure you have the right mix of coolant and water?? Is your gauge accurate?

 

pusher fan could be blocking enough of the radiator that it is creating a hot spot and not cooling properly.

i'm runninng an ebay dual core, with the stock fan, and the RMF copy header that sits next to the fan, and i had to trim the shroud for... i feel i still have plenty of room in the bay...

may want to go stock fan and see what happens...

 

We had the same issue also on a Ls/Vtec boosted(T67) n we tried to same some funds since we put a grip,in the Dyno @ EricksRacing we had issue's with the dual core half sized aluminum radiator from EBAY!!!! so by trying to save funds we end up buying another one on craigs for $100 a name brand n works like a champ @ 850Hp
I bought stuff from ebay but never a ebay radiator never again no mas

 

If the fan is pushing then couldn't you just switch the positive and negative one the fan and it would make it pull? When I bought my car, the PO had the fan hardwired and it was pushing so I just switched the polarity around and it made it pull. Not sure if it would work since you've got a slim fan and not a stock one but its worth a shot.

 

Best of luck OP,I would use a stock Rad fan as well.Make sure your coolant mixture is correct and make sure you have No bubbles.

 

pusher fan is USUALLY in front of the radiator, pushing air through. puller (like stock) is behind the radiator, pulling air through.

so, reversing a pusher would pull, but it would be against the airflow while driving...

 

I have DC headers on my B18 and I haven't had any overheating problems. It runs really cold actually.

 

What kind of fan and shroud are you running. Most likely that's your problem not the radiator itself. If enough air isn't getting through the rad your not going to cool anything your going to run hot. I bet if you throw the stock rad and shroud in there you will be fine. I had the same problem in my turbo crx I got a koyo alum rad with a slim fan and I ran hot. Once I put a shroud around the slim fan I was fine..

 

oh okay, I didn't know that. I've never had any experience with slim fans or pusher fans...

 

I reversed the polarity on the fan and now it's a puller. There is no shroud on the slim fan, but it is moving a lot of hot air off the radiator.

I ordered a coolant filler funnel, and stocked up on distilled water. I'll do a complete flush this weekend.

I'm also still using my Walmart crap break in oil. The motor is at 900 miles, I think switching over to a better oil may help lower heat and reduce friction.

If the bubbles are a head gasket problem I'd have issues with steam in the exhaust, which I don't have. Maybe it's hose related, I do seem to smell radiator fluid all the time in this car... It's hard to tell if its steam from a bad hose or residue left on the radiator. I used gates racing hoses, which I have had problems with. They seem to not want to mate properly with aluminum. I'll replace the hoses to OEM hoses while I'm changing the coolant.

Worst case scenario I had detonation during the tuning process, which ruined my head gasket seal.