For all of last summer I could not seem to figure out why my coolant temps consistently ran at or just above 230F. It could be 50F outside and my coolant temps would shoot up to 215F or so and keep going up.

I had added to the car a new thermostat and an AWE oil cooler. My oil seemed to be fine but the car ran very hot. The UE recall or the fan control unit didn't seem to help. Also replaced was my aux. water pump (when it exploded on the track at Mont Tremblant).

So, my car went into AWE Tuning for a bunch of work and I had two choices. First, I could pull the radiator and pay to have it flushed and cleaned by a professional. Given my a/c condenser, AWE oil cooler and the lack of space in the engine compartment, this was not something I felt was feasible with the radiator still installed. The other option was to replace the radiator entirely.

I got a good price from AWE Tuning so I went with a new one. The old one had 135,000 miles on it and had seen many summers and long drives on back country roads (with lots of bugs). I did not expect to see what I did when the old one came out. You could not see any light through the radiator fins (or whatever you call them) and the radiator was caked with tons of gunk, dead bugs, tar-like material and possibly some bird feathers. Todd and Ben at AWE Tuning had never seen anything like it before -- it was good for quite a laugh!

I have not yet had the car on the road but I expect it will be much improved. Take a look for yourself at the pictures.

Old Radiator: [ one | two | three | four ]


These will soon be posted at the CCA Website.


All pictures (c) Copyright, Jason Livingood, 2000.