Radiator Relocation

[MUDFINDER]

Hey guys! Probably a well covered topic.. BUT, Just wanted to get some information on radiator re-locations that have been done. I've only just got my truck running after the new engine build and have recently located my radiator in the back of my truck. Obviously this isn't ideal being a terrano as it's inside & does turn the truck into a bit of a mobile sauna.. but I no longer have the space in the front for it anymore & it's become my last option. I think that it's okay, but like anything there is certainly room for improvement! Would like to know how people have got on with there radiator re-locations and what issues if any they have run into?

That's roughly my setup. My piping routes through the floor just bellow the radiator & underneath the truck alongside the chassis rails & up to the engine. I have two large fans and have removed the window & replaced it with Poly-carbonate which has a 'nacca duct' similar to what the v8 super cars run with a shroud feeding air from the outside of the truck into the radiator. Not too sure if it is going to be adequate at high speeds like on the motorway but i'm sure it should get enough air flow considering most people locate the radiators behind their truck which is out of direct air flow too...

I've got a new waterpump & thermostat but find that the temperature of the truck fluctuates quite ridiculously according to the temperature gauge on the dash. I'm not 100% sure if it is the temperature sender itself or not as it's not something that i replaced when i built the new engine. You can have the truck running for roughly 5 or so minutes and take it for a little drive then the temperature, according to the dash is through the roof! Gave me a huge fright at the start, so i double checked everything again to make sure it had bled through correctly without any air-locks and it did. I don't believe that the temperature gauge is that accurate as you can touch the radiator piping, which is steel & you don't burn yourself. I mean, its warm, but not hot by any means. I'm kinda unsure what to do at this stage.. Do i run an aftermarket temperature gauge to get a more realistic idea of what the temperature really is & not rely on the factory one at all?

Not too sure if the water pump is keeping up with the extra distance of piping & all the extra fluid too. It obviously has a long way to pump it from the engine, under the truck and back up to the radiator to circulate with the 'cool' water in the radiator.. Has anybody else had this issue? I've tried keeping the distance of piping to a minimum with as less joiners as possible in between.

[derk]

don't even bother looking at the factory gauge in the dash mate they tell you shit about what's really going on temperature wise you've just thrown a pile of money at the engine and whatever else you've done so throw a little bit more at a reputable quality mechanical temp gauge to help protect that investment and shove the sender into the head that's where the intensity of the engine temperature is. when you run the pipes to the radiator which you've already done you want to run it in exhaust tube as much as you can and just use rubber hoses for the bends etc the exhaust tube will help conduct and dissipate a lot of the heat out of the coolant on the way to and from the radiator assisting with cooling where rubber hose is an insulator and will hold the temperature in the coolant, run a small bead of weld around the end of the tube to give the hoses something to bite onto it sounds cool when the hoses keep blowing off the end of the tube everyone's truck seems to like different things try and keep the thermostat in but I know one or two people that find they run better without them, the water pump should be sweet to circulate the coolant its unlikely you'd need to put anther pump on it, you may have to play around with ducting to get enough airflow through the radiator core if your driving it on the road again its all different with different vehicles just play around and experiment and lastly it can take quite a while to bleed the system so get the back of the truck parked up a bank somewhere so the radiator and filler neck is the highest point and keep topping up and topping up till there's no air left oh yeah and one more thing because you aren't restricted on size you can stick a 19x33 inch ford or chev v8 thick core radiator in there if you need the extra cooling capacity you pick them up pretty cheep theses days

[MUDFINDER]

don't even bother looking at the factory gauge in the dash mate they tell you shit about what's really going on temperature wise you've just thrown a pile of money at the engine and whatever else you've done so throw a little bit more at a reputable quality mechanical temp gauge to help protect that investment and shove the sender into the head that's where the intensity of the engine temperature is. when you run the pipes to the radiator which you've already done you want to run it in exhaust tube as much as you can and just use rubber hoses for the bends etc the exhaust tube will help conduct and dissipate a lot of the heat out of the coolant on the way to and from the radiator assisting with cooling where rubber hose is an insulator and will hold the temperature in the coolant, run a small bead of weld around the end of the tube to give the hoses something to bite onto it sounds cool when the hoses keep blowing off the end of the tube everyone's truck seems to like different things try and keep the thermostat in but I know one or two people that find they run better without them, the water pump should be sweet to circulate the coolant its unlikely you'd need to put anther pump on it, you may have to play around with ducting to get enough airflow through the radiator core if your driving it on the road again its all different with different vehicles just play around and experiment and lastly it can take quite a while to bleed the system so get the back of the truck parked up a bank somewhere so the radiator and filler neck is the highest point and keep topping up and topping up till there's no air left oh yeah and one more thing because you aren't restricted on size you can stick a 19x33 inch ford or chev v8 thick core radiator in there if you need the extra cooling capacity you pick them up pretty cheep theses days

Awesome man! Thats what i wanted to hear haha. I'm actually already running exhaust tubing! I was told the exact thing by a friend of mine, he said it should work really well! It was just the reading of the temperature gauge that made me stop and think.. I believe the radiator has a very small pin hole in it too, which obviously won't be helping at all so i am definitely going to invest in something bigger! Would an alloy radiator be okay?

[derk]

alloy radiator is sweet mate just make sure its a continuously welded one and not one with press on tanks only other thing to bare in mind is good secure mounts and brackets to support the radiator pipes under the floor there's a few kilograms of water circulating around down there

[Team Tonka]

I took a small 1/4 bore pipe out the top hose housing and routed it up behind the snorkel, over the roof and into the top of the radiator. End of air lock woes. I know how much heat comes off mine so I'm surprised you can live with it in the back.

[MUDFINDER]

I took a small 1/4 bore pipe out the top hose housing and routed it up behind the snorkel, over the roof and into the top of the radiator. End of air lock woes. I know how much heat comes off mine so I'm surprised you can live with it in the back.

I've had it running up to operating temperature and it's really not as bad as what you'd think.. I first thought it'd turn my truck into a mobile sauna but you can comfortably have the windows up without the fans going for a while, till it reaches maximum temperature.. I've even tested it under load giving it a good thrashing and you only need to put the fans on periodically which also happens to blow nice cool air throughout the cab !