I have the thin 1" stock aluminum radiator in my truck with air conditioning. During the hot, humid summers here in South Carolina, the engine runs a little on the high side with the stock 192 degree thermostat. I understand that the trailer towing package gets the heavy-duty "super cooling" radiator.

Will the thicker 2-1/4" "super cooling" radiator cool better than the "standard cooling" radiator under normal driving?

Edit: Can someone recommend a good quality aftermarket radiator that fits like the stock "super cooling" radiator? It looks like Ford discontinued these a while back, and they were over $300 new!

 

I've always heard that bored out engines run a little hotter. Yours is .060 over though so you don't got much metal between the cylinders...lol

As far as whether or not the SC radiator will cool better under normal driving, I can't say, since I've never had anything but the stock SC in my truck. I run a 180F thermostat and it rarely ever gets past like 185 or 190 unless I stop and shut off the engine and it builds up heat to about 210. It goes back down to 180 once I start it back up though.

For what it's worth, I would just look around the junkyards for a decent looking SC radiator and not waste $300. You could probably get it pretty cheap. I've got one from the factory on my truck and it's yet to leak after 30 years.

 

I just got the one that O'Reilly had. They have two versions of the super cooling rad, I got the "better" one. I think I paid like $145.00 for it last summer.

I reach operating temp fairly quickly, and it's rock steady, summer or winter.

BTW, I'm also in SC. Between Aiken and Columbia on 302. Where are you at?

 

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing with my engine being bored out so far. When I drive the truck for a while in moderate temperatures, the gauge reads a bit over 3/4" up the gauge consistently. It goes right up to the last letter on the gauge during the summer with A/C on sitting in traffic. When I check the radiator hoses, the top one is HOT and the bottom one is usually very cool.

I have tried a few different thermostats, and all have the same result.

I wonder if the thicker 2-core "super cooling" radiator will help?

I see quite a few aftermarket "OE style" replacement radiators from different vendors for about $130, but I would like to know I am getting a good quality unit. I generally don;'t like to buy aftermarket parts.


Where does your needle point on the stock gauge when you reach operating temperature?

Florence. Hello neighbor!

 

When I rebuilt the 400 in my F350, I also bought a brand-new brass radiator from NAPA.

It cost something like $300 but that's less than 10% of what the engine rebuild cost, I wasn't gonna risk overheating the thing (the original radiator (still in my garage rafters) looked only "OK" inside, not "good").

 

If you worried about cooling, get a Diesel rad support and a Diesel 4 core rad

 

Steady between O and R in traffic, and between N and O during steady driving on freeway, or back country roads. Granted, I don't have A/C, but I can't imagine that it would be too much difference.

Edit: I use a 195° thermostat

I'yup!

 

I bought a fairly new stockish one out of an 85 F250. Its a 3 core I believe, vs the lighter duty 2 core and it works great for medium duty towing.

A friend has a nice Buick 455 in a Wagoneer and the last thing he did when finished was put a $300 aluminum unit in. Like others have mentioned it was spendy but so was building the motor.

 

My 80 had one of the first versions of the heavy duty cooling, and while the radiator looked fairly normal(didn't look very thick) the fan had a lot of blades and was straight drive with no clutch. I brought that up in case you wanted to approach the problem from that angle rather than a thicker radiator.

 

Sorry if this turns out to be a double-post, but what I typed disappeared.

Anyway, I did quite a bit of research a year ago on radiators. Talked to a technical support guy at one of the last US-made radiator companies, read a lot of technical literature on some of the manufacturer's web sites, etc. The consensus was that an aluminum radiator is almost twice as effective for the same thickness as a copper/brass radiator.

Apparently Ford thought so as well because the '85 Lariat XLT w/a 351HO, C6, and A/C that I parted out recently had a single row aluminum radiator. Said Ford on it and I'm sure it was original. The guy I bought it from said they didn't have any heating problems here in OK, and I've seen it at 114 degrees more than once.

So, I'm sold on aluminum. In fact, even though Dad's truck apparently came with the HD towing package, including the 4 row radiator, I'm going to swap it out for the new 2 row aluminum one that is in Rusty. I figure that new they would be about even on cooling, but with 30 years of service on Dad's it is probably partially plugged. Oh yes, that's another advantage of aluminum from what I read - the tubes are much larger and do not plug nearly as easily.

 

The 2 row rad will provide additional cooling capacity. The fan shroud will have to be changed. Mine has the hd cooling and tow package which has the 2 row radiator. I believe it is a 5 blade fan, would have to look, I would stick with a fan clutch as well. Alluminum does dissipate heat better than copper/brass, always has. The allunimum radiators use 1" tubes, where the CBR radiators uses either a 5/16" or a 3/8" tube I would recommend looking for a Spectra Premium or Vista-Pro radiator. They would fit your budget the best and be the best quality for the buck. ThermaSys (TCI) makes a very nice unit, but are hard to find and are more expensive when you do find them. They do a lot of OEM manufacturing. In the past Modine would have been the only choice, but Modine Aftermarket went under in the early '00s.

 

Yup, that's the one I got, the Spectra Premium. Work's great for me. Old rad temp would climb right on up there in city driving, but this one is quite stable in normal range.

 

Thank you, gentlemen.

RockAuto lists both the Spectra Premium ($104.79) and the Vista-Pro ($133.79). Is one any better than the other?

That is the same thing mine does in city driving. I am hoping the 2-core radiator will solve this problem.

 

I prefer the Spectra Canadian made units over the VP Mexican units.

 

I'm with you, Chief!