running hot

so i bought and fitted a radiator, japspeed alluminium one which is mega thick however it doesnt seem to make any difference to the temps, i assumed a bigger rad would keep the car running cooler than the standard but temp gauge is still sitting at half. have i done something wrong and whats everyone elses temp sit at with bigger rads?

thanks

It should be sitting half way, as the thermostat controls the cooling not the rad

If you were doing some hard driving or track days were the temps can rise to hot the bigger rad has the bigger cooling capacity and will help keep the temps still at the half way mark( car operating temp)

Even the standard single core can handle temps fine on a track car.
As pointed out above the thermostat keeps engine at correct temp & that a good thing so at least looks like your guage & thermostat all good, running too cool is not as good as you may think.
If need a rad then going for an aluminium one is not bad idea but no need go super big, just a waste of space, weight & good old money in most cases.

The stock rad will do on a track day when running stockish power, a car with a bit if power and stock rad would be lucky to last 2 laps.

different to what i've seen, seen temp log of biggish power track car on stock rad & it coping fine, biggest problem is no one actually tests if it works & many who complain have other issues relating to cooling rather than the rad ...

I spent all day on track with my pulsar running stock power, trackday 2 weeks later, new clutch and extra 100bhp and it struggled and overheated. Oil cooler would of helped though.

I'm on similar power, 340ish, standard rad, have oil-cooler, had new pump & over sized pump pulley to help keep pump from chopping water rather than pumping water & my temps are fine & never once been too hot on a track session even on a hot day. Seen a few over the years with no issue on standard rad in good order.

Maybe Im faster then you then lol

Oil cooler might of been my downfall

ok thanks guys, being a noob the box said "cooler running temps" so figured that cant be a bad thing to upgrade to a thicker one, the car is my daily and doesnt really get ragged much so if i knew this i may have just got a standard one :/

replaced stat and radiator for piece of mind

You most probably are :-)
Lot of minor things can contribute to over heating, thermostatic oil-cooler indeed is a big bonus as is under driving the water pump.
Other issues can be shitty thermostats & air flow to rad such as a front mount over some of rad area as then cooling air is already warmed when gets to rad so efficiency reduced. Plus some custom manifolds & downpipe layouts are almost kissing the rad & if not shielded this is a huge amount of heat radiated negatively.
Not a bad thing going for a decent aluminium rad when a change is due but 50+mm cores is overkill for most scenarios.

cheers for the help my std one exploded so figured the bigger the better so got a 50mm one will an oil cooler be a benefit to a daily road car running a bar of boost and some light mods, fmic, exhaust etc, thought they were only useful for track cars and high power, i do like the look of an oil cooler though

Doubt you really need it for your use/spec but fitting one with a thermostat would be ok should you really desire one. Would spend money on good gauges for water & oil with some basic logging features then you can judge if oil cooler really needed or just extra weight/bling.

I would of went for a different rad mishimoto is a good one for the money straight fit or koyo do a good one but not direct fit I don't think. infact if I had to buy another I would get a custom far better and half the price as your not paying for the name

Mishimoto are nice but good £200, like you say getting one made to your requirements/spec would be good option & potentially favourable on price too.
for most a decent made alloy rad with quality 30mm core would be perfect.

 

johnny gtir wrote:I would of went for a different rad mishimoto is a good one for the money straight fit or koyo do a good one but not direct fit I don't think. infact if I had to buy another I would get a custom far better and half the price as your not paying for the name

i did look at these but bills and emergency requirement sort decided to go for a cheaper one all be it was still £160 for japspeed one, well atleast its done and working fine then

these could go for/under £100
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NISSAN-PULSAR-SUNNY-TURBO-GTIR-GTI-R-ALUMINIUM-HIGH-FLOW-ALLOY-RACE-RADIATOR-RAD-/121095766673?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item1c31dec291
No idea how good they are ! perhaps someone on here got one & can summarise

If its the same kind my mate dan bought maybe two year back its just spray painted with a alloy type spray paint

All feedback on gtir one is + . no comments on any sold alloy rad suggest not alloy but I would assume quality not the greatest but I could be tempted if they accepted offer of £90. would of thought someone from the forum got one of these.

Mr B wrote:All feedback on gtir one is + . no comments on any sold alloy rad suggest not alloy but I would assume quality not the greatest but I could be tempted if they accepted offer of £90. would of thought someone from the forum got one of these.

i avoided these ones simply because buy cheap buy twice sort of thing and dont have many good experiences of buying cheap stuff from ebay

True, i'm not an ebay fan but it not super cheap & if reasonably decent an available/affordable option for people.