Any body ditch the OEM cooling system on the diesels???

[riceatingrabbit]

i am running a 'rocco rad in my rabbit...

not coolant tank, it bolts in and works well... and can be had new for around $100


pics:






...and dont give me crap about the TB cover... this is an old pic...

[53 willys]

my car is pretty modded...probaly runs WAAAY hotter then the NA diesel's...I found the info on the rocco rad...it's actually smaller then the stock TD rad so thats not really an option for me.

[rabbitman]

I think modded or not, at cruise it's making the same power and thus the same heat........

[53 willys]

I think modded or not, at cruise it's making the same power and thus the same heat........

not with my 11mm pump head and big turbo.... my turbo is so big I cruise with 0 psi boost @70mph...lol
do NA vw's have oil coolers??

[53 willys]

do you guys think NOT having the oil cooler hooked up would be causing all this extra heat??

[rabbitman]

do you guys think NOT having the oil cooler hooked up would be causing all this extra heat??

NA's don't come stock w/ oil coolers.

I just installed a vnt (still not working right) on my NA and don't have an oil cooler. I cruise at like 650-850F egt and the coolant temp and stays the same, the oil pressure is slightly lower.

[macka]

so a vw stock rad is  25.5 in. x 19.25 in. x 1 in, so technically a late 60's mustang 289 rad would fit, its a 1/2 inch thicker roughly.

[theman53]

I would try the cooler T stat. I bet it would work for you. 205 is hot but if that is as hot as it gets I wouldn't worry too much.

[Rabbit on Roids]

my VW radiator has no problem with my engine. and i dont run an E fan either. you sure you got a copacetic radiator? does it flow good? how bout the water pump? good flow? i just dont see how your engine heats up so much. when im just cruisin, my engine goes from 180* to about 165*. then if i get on a big long hill where im deep into the boost, it climbs to 195* maybe 205* sometimes on long ones. but then it settles right back down in less than a mile once you crest the hill.

are you at sea level?

yes, the highest climb i get around here is 2200 feet, but its not paved. its out in the woods...

and i dont run an oil cooler either. but with your engine, i would be running the water oil cooler, and a supplementary air oil cooler in front of the I/C,rad, and condenser. i would give it as much help as i can get.

kinda sounds like your turbo lags like my K24 on my audi. nothing till 2k rpms, then it wraps the needle around to the other peg instantly.

[mystery3]

i am running a 'rocco rad in my rabbit...

no coolant tank, it bolts in and works well... and can be had new for around $100

What did you do with the hoses?

Can you just cap off the hose that runs to the expansion tank?

What does the hard coolant pipe on the drivers side of the block look like on a car that came without an expansion tank?

[Rabbit on Roids]

looks just like the ones that came on the ones with an expansion tank, but without that nipple there. thats the only difference. my rabbit has  a radiator just like that. i thought it was factory. has no provisions for an expansion tank.

[VelocityConservation]

53Willys,

I can tell you for a fact that my TD runs cooler W/O the factory Oil cooler
(water temperature wise).  I have run mine both ways with no other changes (I have an infrared thermometer).  The oil temperature spikes a little more but doesn't get out of control.  I am going to go to an aftermarket oil cooler before I pump up the boost though.

My water temperature stays at the top of the first third of the gauge (176 degrees) exactly at my thermostat opening.  If I sit at a stop light it will go up to 185, but returns to normal as soon as the fan kicks into the second speed or I start going.

I was having trouble similar to yours (which is why I was testing so much).  I replaced the radiator.  Everything got better.  I checked the flow on the old radiator.  It has an internal leak.  It never sends hot water to the drivers side of the radiator.   When I pull the fan temp. sender water will only trickly out of it.

VelocityConservation

[53 willys]

53Willys,

I can tell you for a fact that my TD runs cooler W/O the factory Oil cooler
(water temperature wise).  I have run mine both ways with no other changes (I have an infrared thermometer).  The oil temperature spikes a little more but doesn't get out of control.  I am going to go to an aftermarket oil cooler before I pump up the boost though.

My water temperature stays at the top of the first third of the gauge (176 degrees) exactly at my thermostat opening.  If I sit at a stop light it will go up to 185, but returns to normal as soon as the fan kicks into the second speed or I start going.

I was having trouble similar to yours (which is why I was testing so much).  I replaced the radiator.  Everything got better.  I checked the flow on the old radiator.  It has an internal leak.  It never sends hot water to the drivers side of the radiator.   When I pull the fan temp. sender water will only trickly out of it.

VelocityConservation

hmm thats interesting VC....I would for sure NOT run the OEM coolant style oil cooler on mine I can see why that would run hotter on the gauge...I have sourced a Volvo oil cooler with a t-stat flow control.

EVRYTHING else in the coolant system is BRAND new...has about 1,200 miles on the whole system...

I got my hot climate tstat from GAP on Friday(71 deg Celsius)...probably gonna pick up that 3" thick 2 row full aluminum griffin radiator and see where that takes me...it's more then I wanna spend..but dang it..I HATE running warm..I don't want to have to worry about getting hot...especially when I start to run my AC next summer...lol

thanks for the tip VC

[mystery3]

Let us know how the griffin piece looks and mounts?

[arb]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/92-95-vw-corrado-vr6-godspeed-aluminum-radiator+12%22-fan_W0QQitemZ130332998564QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20090924?IMSfp=TL0909241810002r7285

WOW !!  That's some serious cash !! I got an all aluminum radiator that is about 25% larger than my stock VW radiator for my Caravan conversion. Paid $95 delivered with lifetime warranty http://www.radiators.com It works well enough that I stayed at 195 degrees (my new thermostat setting) in the heat of the summer pulling a camper at 70 mph !

I kept my VW reservoir as it does a good job of getting the air out of your system. In a VW, the head is usually a little higher than the top of the radiator, so this is an important feature and I suspect why the German's used this design.

I should also probably note that my oil cooler has not been hooked up so maybe thats the whole problem?

Oil performs a significant amount of cooling for your internal engine parts... with your turbo your oil likely sees 400 F !