well every fd owner's nightmare happened to me in sacramento 3 weekends ago. i just finished autocrossing in 100 degree heat and was 3 blocks away from the race site when my radiator sprung a leak. luckily i noticed the car was overheating immediately on my greddy water gauge when it was at 125 celsius (257F). i immediately pulled over and shut off the engine but not before the stock temp. buzzer went off and the temp got up to at least 130 (266F). i completely thought my engine was toast.

i finally got around to replacing the radiator with a fluidyne this sunday and started the car to see if it was blown. luckily the car is running the same as before and the engine was damaged as far as i can tell. this is on a 72k original engine. so it seems as though the fd's engine is more robust than most rumors make it out to be. the picture attached is the stock radiator and fluidyne together. even though i'm lucky i'd suggest anyone living in hot weather or racing their car to upgrade the radiator because it probably a good piece of insurance.

 

Pic 1/2

 

Pic 2/2

 

hi, did your stock temp gauge go up by any chance? Mine went up a little but i shut it off right away. Does anybody know the temperature when the stock gauge is at 3/4ths up? It didn't hit the white line before the red. It also starts up fine after the incident.

 

how do you like the new fluidyne? were there any fitment probs? im thinking of getting one SOON.

 

i'm not quite sure if the stock gauge went up because it hasn't been acting right since i got white face gauges but i'm pretty sure it was probably registering higher than the middle setting. however, by the time the buzzer goes off you're overheating by at least 30 degree farenheit...~260+F.

 

the fluidyne fit perfectly. i was a little concerned when i put the radiator fans on because the fan assembly stuck out a little beyond the radiator. i was concerned my m2 intake wouldn't fit anymore because it has as slot down there that leans agains the assembly. however, i figured out that the only reason i didn't notice it sticking out beyond the stock one is because the it had that foam stuff on the side making it look wider.

on a side note, the lowest price i found for fluidynes was absoluteradiator.com for $412+tax=$443. check to see if jason can match that when shopping.

 

I checked out the website and it shows a Koyo made 55mm core and a thinner 38mm core. I suppose you chose the 38mm core to avoid fitment issues with your M2 IC? I'd prefer the 55mm core but concerned whether my stock location Trust IC may fit. Experience anyone?

 

The stock fans turn on at 230F so there is very little safety margin, thats why a upgraded rad is so important. Since I live in Hot South Fla. I went with the thickest rad I could get the SR Ultimate fitment was not that bad, but its really effective at keeping temps down.

 

I have a PFS intercooler......think i'll have any problems putting the fluidyne in with this larger intercooler in place......by your pics the two radiators look to be the same size........how does the fluidyne end up working better.........i understand it does work better but wonder what's the difference between them......
Thanks for your story........it's pushing me to do the upgrade......

 

i went with the fluidyne mainly because i had heard many peoples good experience with it. i didn't hear of a lot of people going with the koyo. i did ask the sales rep the difference between the two. he mentioned the thicker core issue but also said the quality was about the same. however, the koyo's are all made in indonesia or something like that and shipped here in one huge batch (like 50 at a time). the fluidynes are made in ontario, california and after looking at their catalog the company look reliable.

the lowest my temps would go while cruising on the freeway was about 82C before. i thought if i'd upgrade the radiator the temps would fall uniformly a few degrees at least....what i've actually observed is the highway cruising temps staying about the same and a noticeable decrease in city driving temps. my theory is that in freeway driving both radiators are getting substantial amounts of airflow so there is a marginal difference between their cooling capabilities. but in city driving where there is less airflow, more accelerating, and sometimes no airflow the fluidyne *all aluminum* radiator dissipates heat faster than the *half plastic* stock radiator because of the greater heat transfer properties of aluminum over plastic. plus the fact that the aluminum endtanks are less likely to crack than plastic ones.

i think we'll probably see more fd radiators dying in the near future as our cars get older. get a new radiator and replace the hoses and thermostat while you're at it.

 

The stock fans turn on at high speed at 230F?

 

I like your logic. The stock FD radiator is very capable except for the crappy plastic ends. What really makes our engines VERY happy is extra oil cooling.