Increasing Radiator capacity

[Otis Calhoun]

Im having some overheating under heavy tow esp in higher elevations. At any temp of 50 or above. Will an extra core fit in the radiator on a 98. 5 24v Manual? I had a 97 Ram van 318 gaser that was overheating right out of warrenty. A 2 core fit just as well as the single the factory put in.

 

[Silver_Ram]

Look at the back side of your radiator & see if the oil vapor has plugged up the cores. Alot of times the front of the engine gets caked with gunk also.



A radiator shop can fix you up or if your careful you can do it yourself. You may need to have the inside of the radiator cleaned out.



Good Luck...

 

[keimmmo]

It is common to install a radiator for a larger motor in a vehicle when you have only a small gas motor. However, the Cummins is the biggest motor available in our trucks. Without going to something custom and expensive, I doubt that you will find a radiator bigger than stock. You pretty well have to fix what you have.



Steve Keim

 

[Eric_B]

Griffin or other aftermarket?

I remember reading an old thread a while back about a possible Griffin radiator for our trucks. Don't know what ever became of that though.

 

[rweis]

I think I recall reading about more temperature transfer efficient radiators, not necessarily bigger. Do a search on radiators, I think you will find some threads.



Bob Weis

 

[Schlickenmeyer]

I had my 01 radiator to the local shop when I had my crank put in a month ago, and the guy was AMAZED at the amount of crap that came out of it. I will be moving my catch bottle real soon. did not look too bad until we took it out. But man, it was only radiating. from the outside edges, it was not passing much air.

 

[RSimmons]

I remember reading an old thread a while back about a possible Griffin radiator for our trucks. Don't know what ever became of that though.

For what it is worth, Griffin is closed for restructuring. I dont know if it is because of bankruptcy or maybe a buyout ????? I just had trouble finding a replacement for my drag car (griffin)..... Summit Racing had one still on the shelf

 

[The patriot]

You can have it re-cored with more rows. (assuming there's room for them in the tanks)

You could also get a core with more fins per inch.

This will make it more efficient.

I was talking with radiator people about this a while back.

$600. 00 seems to ring a bell.

 

[CumminsPower98]

I have an aftermarket one with 4 rows rather then the stock 3 but I don't know that it helps much. The tubes might be narrower and more of them. The whole core is wider then stock though. Mine will still heat right up when towing hard with wind and or hills on a warm day. I don't think there is any good way around the problem if you have boosted power and are running high boost. All that hot air comes right off the intercooler and goes directly into the engine.

 

[Nate]

I've never seen my truck hit over 190* yet. Though I only tow about 7000lbs.

 

[jtwcummins]

As mentioned, the rad air flow gets a good, actually bad for you, oil bath and plug the flow with road dirt, etc. See if you can see thru using a light. Best way to clean is remove it. Also, the fan clutch can be bad. When it is working it sounds like an airplane prop, real loud and very noticable when you first take off in the morning.



One thing is the cummins isn't known for running very hot and the factory rad is almost overkill. Thermostats are also a potential problem. I can tow up steep hills at 100+* and never get above about 190*.

 

[CarlJensen]

What about the "wetting agents" that are sold aftermarket? Do they help at all? I was wanting to try this but am a little nervous about putting something in there that may do damage.

 

[RustyJC]

I guess I don't understand. My truck won't go past 200-205 degF (where the fan clutch kicks on) pulling a 16000 GVWR 5th wheel up a 6% grade at 70 MPH on a 105 degF Texas summer day - with the factory radiator and off-the-shelf low silicate ethylene glycol/water mix coolant.



My experience says, if it's overheating, there's a problem somewhere.



Rusty

 

[The patriot]

I've seen mine at 190 several times while towing the TT.

I guess full of everything it weighs about 9K lbs. There are no real hills/mountains around here to speak of. Even when I'm out in Pa theyre not that big compared to out west.

I' also noticed that it runs a little hotter since I had the UTE on it.

Eric

 

[Otis Calhoun]

Pulled the radiator out tonight and it was packed full of oily dirt. most of the small holes between the fins were about 50% pluged . Poured a quart of motor flush over it, let it sit, used a full can of engine cleaner on it let it sit the took it to the car wash ,pressure washed it and probly got at least 5lbs of crap out of it. Took about 20 min of pressure washing to get it clean. Didnt bend any fins. It did however take quite a bit of black paint off the fins. After I got the rad home if flushed out the inside and checked flow as best I could with a garden hose. Its seems to flow good . I had it up on end and blocked off the lower outlet and filled it full . Water came out the lower outlet with a lot of force and empted itself with the hose still running in a few seconds. The truck really needs the vent tube relocated. We need to somehow entice the engineer(s) who aproved the vp44,APPS,lift pump,vent tube, and front seat cushion to free dinner at a rented hall somewhere... ... . and lock the doors