Is there any benifit in upgrading my 4th gen Prelude Vtec radiator cap from a 1.1 to 1.3 Mugen cap? My car is turbocharged. I'm also thinking of getting the Mugen low temp. thermostat.

 

It'll help it run a tad cooler. The more pressure it keeps in the cooler the water stays. Something like 7psi for every degree? Maybe I have the backwards... 1 psi for every 7 degrees... I can't remember.

 

Since you have a turbo your engine and all componients are working harder, there for it would be a good idea to upgrade radiator cap, just for safety.

My quesion is, does a mugen thermostat read temps higher than normal to tell ECU to run fan, or does the thermostat tell engine to run colder? If not, then any thermostat should work adquitly.

 

The thermostat doesn't read anything, it's a purely mechanical part. When it senses the coolant is at a certain temp it begins to open. Then depending on if the coolant gets colder or hotter it opens or closes as needed.

In order to fully take advantage of the lower temp thermostat you need a new thermoswitch. Spoon makes one that works with their thermostats to turn the fan on the radiator on at a lower temp. What good is a lower temp thermostat if the coolant in the radiator is still the same temp as before since the fan only kicks on when it gets to the stock temp.

Gabe

 

Awesome, thanks Gabe...

Mugen thermostat - don't need! Save your money!

 

No problem. But the thermostat would probably be worth it if you got the thermoswitch too, you'd just have to find out which one fits. I think it would be a good thing to do on a turbo'd car. I am planning on doing this somethime this winter, hopefully along with a fluidyne radiator.

Gabe

 

heh, I didn't really even know aftermarket radiator caps did anything....I always thought it was a rice/show mod and that the "high-pressure" was pretty much BS