xjs 1990....anyone recommend a replacement radiator? how is radtech? aluminum alloys? anyone who has replaced their stock oem radiator please pipe in on what they done and if their car temp was good afterwards any leaks etc which brands to avoid etc......thanks

 

Just had my radiator rebuilt at a local shop so I can't help you with a location but I will say that it had a dramatic effect. It solved my overheating problem and it was over 50% clogged

 

appreciate the comment on recoring....but what i really want to know is experiences with replacement radiators....i.e. brands, aluminum alloy versus other etc...

 

There is a guy here in Sydney who runs an XJS twinturbo race car he has gone back to a stock XJS radiator. End tanks removed and brush cleaned. This car is making 600hp on the dyno.

I was talking to him a couple of weeks ago as I am in the process of upgrading the cooling in my XJS. I was surprised that he had removed the aluminum radiator and gone to a stockie. He was telling me with the alloy rad he would do one lap of Bathurst and the thing would be overheating, with the stock radiator he can lap Bathurst with no overheating.

The ONLY mod is an electric 115lpm water pump and this thing has huge intercoolers upfront.

here is link to a pic of his car http://www.jagworks.com.au/

 

I'm not trying to highjack this thread, but I'm also interested in methods of keeping the V12 cool.
Is it possible to just remove the mechanical fan and mount an electric one onto the existing shroud or braces? Is there a minimum CFM?

 

Google "Be Cool Radiators". They offer, or at least used to offer, a big aluminum radiator for Jag V12s that I've heard good things about

Cheers
DD

 

I have just had a dual 26mm core alloy radiator made total core thickness 52mm cost $780AU it is a 2 pass with both inlets on the same side as the outlet. It was too wide due to large end tanks and is being rectified at the moment one I have it in I will report in the thread I started. If anyone is interested this guy makes radiators for Australian's top burnout king.

As I said in an earlier post I would have stayed with the stock had I spoken to Bruce before having this made. If a stock radiator cools his twin turbo XJS race car around Bathurst (a VERY steep track) it should be ok for a road car.

An engine fan is around 5-10HP NO electric fan is rated at this HP. If your car is running hot with the mechanical I would suggest fixing the problem replacing with electric I don't believe will fix the problem unless the fan clutch is faulty. Just my 2bob

I'll stop ranting now.

 

The fan is only a real factor when at idle or lower speeds. After that the air flow is really due to motion. That' s why viscous fan drives and electric fans came into vogue. They offer less parasitic losses when the fan is not required.

 

my original mechanical fan is cracked, so I wondered if electric might be a reasonable alternative. Also, if a thicker radiator is used the electric would provide more space in the engine compartment. Right?

 

just to summarize, and please anyone you have gone further down the road on these topics please pipe up....

--stock radiator recoring.....yes you can do that with your xjs, but and this is a but it costs $400-600 usd here in the states....i would have gone down this route as mine was in pretty good shape, but the cost was prohibitive....if it was $100-200 usd i would have done that and thats it.....so instead i starting looking for a replacement radiator....

--there are oem type all metal replacement radiators out there, but they are either unavailable or "out of stock" and i found out permanently.....and avoid any cheapo epoxy type thats priced at to good to be true.....it will leak etc....

--now we are onto aluminum alloy replacements....the above poster metnioned becool...and yes they have one, but you notice that your oem has 2 inlets, and 1 bigger outlet, and 2 auto transmission inlet/outlet....the becool only has one inlet.....you cannot use your stock hoses, you need to rerchitect your system....to accomodate this one inlet, and i was worried about backpressures as well.....i am not saying it cant be done, but i wanted to use the current oem setup....

--i have sent my radiator to a radiator factory, they are going to make an all aluminum copy....i will post on how that goes...

--here is the summary on all metal versus aluminum---the aluminum makers claim a 30% cooler system.....they can make tubes much larger than the brass/copper set up....also it is 50% lighter....but if your brass radiator is clean i.e. non clogged i cant imagine that it would do worse....again each manufacturer claims theirs is better....

--fans---i want to replace my mechanical fan, as i am worried about idle overheating.....to do that i want to keep my fan setup with aux fan, just get a large 16inch fan to replace the mechanical fan...

--anyone you has WIRED this setup please pipe up.....evidently, a large electric fan needs to be wired properly, or you get a problem with alternator and fuse box.....not good....it stresses the oem system....again anyone who is really familiar with wiring this setup please post something on your epxerience it would really help everyone out...and details on what you wired where etc.....not just i put a 16inch fan in there and it works fine etc...thanks...

 

I thought BeCool offered both a single and dual inlet? Oh well. My memory isn't that good. Anyhow....many have simply converted to the single inlet. How well this comes out, aesthectically speaking, varies a bit. But it's perfectly doable.





A common modification




-
Yes, the bigger fans generallly have quite a draw and require a dedicated circuit.

There area numerous wiring and switching options depending on how elaborate you want to be. I once had a system with two, two-speed fans set to operate in stages. A bit silly, really...but I had fun making it.

If you simply want the fan to come on whenever the key is "on", that's dead simple. You just need some wire, a fuse, and a 30amp accessory relay.


Cheers
DD

 

Brass/Copper has a much better emissivity than Aluminum the problem is the solder joints holding everything together if these are not very thin and high quality (silver solder) this reduces the effectiveness of the Radiator.

Aluminum radiators are much easier to make and even with dodgy welding have better heat transfer in the joints.

Another thing is to paint the radiator BLACK this will also improve the heat transfer.

These thermo fans have been used here in Australia to great effect.
Ford AU Falcon Fairmont Radiator Thermo Fan Assembly (eBay item 400192077216 end time 02-Apr-11 09:19:37 AEDST) : Cars, Bikes, Boats

cheers W

 

Hi,

I just ordered an aluminum radiator and electric fans from Brian Welker at Faster Jags for a 1993 XJS. The radiator is supposed to be a direct replacement. I'll let you know what it looks like and how the system works.

Cheers,

Roger

 

Hey Roger, It's been over a year. How do you like the FasterJag rad and fans?

-Paul

 

Faster Jags / V12 Performance (Brian Welker) - Avoid this seller!! He has stolen the money from multiple Jag owners. I ordered the intakes and he took my money. Here is a link to other owners he scammed:

Ripoff Report | V12 Performance Complaint Review Dallas, Texas: 996771

 

I ordered an aluminum replacement from Wizard, super fast shipping and looks to be a drop in replacement. Great customer service!
Cant say how well it works yet, its on the bench till I get the "V" cleaned up!

 

Any updates?

 

v12s - Home makes very very nice drop in aftermarket parts, twin fans and can even order with attached trans cooler to among other things.

I was going to do this and get a replacement aluminum radiator until I realized I could just run a gallon of metal rescue in the system with a high-capacity coolant filter this has totally fixed the temp issues and the engine now idles around 160f in summer temperatures as opposed to slowly creeping higher and higher.

 

Which high-capacity filter did you use? Any links?

 

I spliced in a standard 6.0L ford aftermarket coolant filter with the big spin-on type canisters I drill the hole in the filter out abit to allow more flow, that was my temporary solution.

In the near future I'll be getting the compact/magnetic high flow unit from IPR https://www.iprresearch.com/6.0-IPR-...oolant-Filter/ These are 'ment' for trucks but the unit for a 6.0L diesel is quite adaptable its just a matter of setting up lines from the heater core intake or exit hose which ever side you choose. Will look very nice once I find a nice spot for it.