AMS Radiator plus JWT TT = PITA!
#1
08-12-2007, 11:49 PM
AMS Radiator plus JWT TT = PITA!
Well, I track my G, and since it also has the JWT TT kit installed, it generates a good bit of heat. Never ran the coolant temp higher than 220, but I would still like to keep it cooler.
So, I looked around, and the AMS radiator looked like the best fit, and best radiator for the money. And if my G were stock, the AMS would be great. Of course, if it were stock, I don't think I would need more cooling capacity.
So, I had planned on doing the install in a Saturday afternoon. Shouldn't took to long. I was definitely wrong there!
So, going back to the fit; if my G were stock, the fit would be decent. You would still have to drill some new holes for the bottom mounting pegs to go into, as the AMS is sufficiently thick to make it impossible to get into the stock holes. The top mounting points have the same problem. This is solved by using extended bolts to bolt from the front. Not too difficult.
Now for the problem: The JWT TT kit has a long pipe the goes in front of the engine block and behind the radiator. Given a stock radiator, this is no problem. However, give a thicker radiator, the OEM cooling fans just won't fit, no matter what you do. So I got some thinner 12" aftermarket fans, and mounted them behind the radiator, as pullers, and since they are both thinner, and slightly smaller than the stock fans, and since I was able to mount them lower than the stock fans, I could get them in there, and still fit the long JWT pipe.I'm sure the fans aren't quite as powerful as stock, but they do pull a good bit of air, and I wired them up to the stock fan wires, so they should work.
Once everything is back together, it works good. Since my G is still up on jack stands (still have some other, unrelated work to do), I was not able to test the cooling capability under load, but I did high idle it for a while, and normally, I can get the temps to keep climbing until the fans kick in. Here, I could not get the temp to rise above 178 degrees, and the fans would not kick in. I could get the fans to turn on if I turned the A/C on (normal operating procedure), but without the A/C on, the temps would not rise at all above 178. With the A/C on, the fans kicked in, the the temp stayed steady at 178.
As a note, I run 50/50 coolant/water and Royal Purple Purple Ice (similar to Redline Water Wetter) We get some cold winters in Colorado, so I don't like to run 30/70, or even less coolant.
As I get some driving in, and especially another track day (August 25-26, Hastings, NE!!!), I will post back on the results.
Dave
So, I looked around, and the AMS radiator looked like the best fit, and best radiator for the money. And if my G were stock, the AMS would be great. Of course, if it were stock, I don't think I would need more cooling capacity.
So, I had planned on doing the install in a Saturday afternoon. Shouldn't took to long. I was definitely wrong there!
So, going back to the fit; if my G were stock, the fit would be decent. You would still have to drill some new holes for the bottom mounting pegs to go into, as the AMS is sufficiently thick to make it impossible to get into the stock holes. The top mounting points have the same problem. This is solved by using extended bolts to bolt from the front. Not too difficult.
Now for the problem: The JWT TT kit has a long pipe the goes in front of the engine block and behind the radiator. Given a stock radiator, this is no problem. However, give a thicker radiator, the OEM cooling fans just won't fit, no matter what you do. So I got some thinner 12" aftermarket fans, and mounted them behind the radiator, as pullers, and since they are both thinner, and slightly smaller than the stock fans, and since I was able to mount them lower than the stock fans, I could get them in there, and still fit the long JWT pipe.I'm sure the fans aren't quite as powerful as stock, but they do pull a good bit of air, and I wired them up to the stock fan wires, so they should work.
Once everything is back together, it works good. Since my G is still up on jack stands (still have some other, unrelated work to do), I was not able to test the cooling capability under load, but I did high idle it for a while, and normally, I can get the temps to keep climbing until the fans kick in. Here, I could not get the temp to rise above 178 degrees, and the fans would not kick in. I could get the fans to turn on if I turned the A/C on (normal operating procedure), but without the A/C on, the temps would not rise at all above 178. With the A/C on, the fans kicked in, the the temp stayed steady at 178.
As a note, I run 50/50 coolant/water and Royal Purple Purple Ice (similar to Redline Water Wetter) We get some cold winters in Colorado, so I don't like to run 30/70, or even less coolant.
As I get some driving in, and especially another track day (August 25-26, Hastings, NE!!!), I will post back on the results.
Dave
#3
08-13-2007, 08:39 AM
I'll put some pics up when I take some... 
As for the aftermarket fans, there are two wires coming from the fans; positive and ground. There are four wires going to the stock OEM fans; 2 positive and 2 ground. Normal operations, it runs the OEM fans at either low or high speed. Low speed is 1 positive and 1 ground, and high speed is 2 positive and 2 ground. I just spliced the 2 positive OEM wires together, and soldered those to the positive aftermarket fan wire, and same thing with the ground wires. Pretty simple, once you see it.
Dave
As for the aftermarket fans, there are two wires coming from the fans; positive and ground. There are four wires going to the stock OEM fans; 2 positive and 2 ground. Normal operations, it runs the OEM fans at either low or high speed. Low speed is 1 positive and 1 ground, and high speed is 2 positive and 2 ground. I just spliced the 2 positive OEM wires together, and soldered those to the positive aftermarket fan wire, and same thing with the ground wires. Pretty simple, once you see it.
Dave
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
