For example will the stock hoses pop off? How about the stock radiator? Yeah I know I should have replaced it by now.

Car sounded like Mr Coffee when I came in from a tuning run in 95 degree temps.

I'm thinking I should undertake a coolant reroute + new radiator + new hoses + maybe high pressure cap before school begins again.

 

Also, recommendations for a radiator? Koyo? PWR? Other?

 

are your coolant temps getting way hot? or are you just pinging from too high intake temps?

 

all coolant hoses are clamped on, so you shouldn't blow one off. however with more pressure in the system you are more likely to have a failure to to burst.

stock is 13psi. 23 sounds extreme. try to find 15 or 16 psi. I actually bought a new rad cap yesterday, all they had at the store was 13 psi. would have preferred a little higher, but my original cap was leaking.

 

No, no pinging.

I just got unnerved by the hissing sound coming from the engine bay when I came back and parked the car. I shined a bunch of very bright lights in there and I couldnt see or feel any steam, so I'm assuming that it was just water boiling in the engine instead of escaping from hoses.

The other problem is that despite redoing the water pump job 3 times, the car still leaks coolant ever so slightly. I'm just thinking these are all signs that I should partially overhaul my cooling system.

Also, recommendations for gasket sealant? I used the Permatex 1 Form-A Gasket Sealant (hard setting) tube 1B and I think that might be the problem even though that is what is apparently recommended. I really used lots of the stuff. It mostly fixed the problem but I still get dampness around the pump area and my coolant levels very slowly go down as I drive the car.

Either that or I have a bad HG, but I doubt that since this all started when I changed the water pump a year ago.

 

[QUOTE=beerslurpy;135325]
Car sounded like Mr Coffee when I came in from a tuning run in 95 degree temps.
QUOTE]

Oh sorry i just thought that was your own little phrase for the car was pinging..

So you still have the stock single core MT radiator?

 

The reason for the hissing/gurgling is the leak. It's letting air into your coolant system. My bet is a 23psi cap would turn the little leak into a bigger one. Fix the leak and the gurgling should stop (if your current cap is good). I wouldn't run over 16psi cap on the stock cooling system - especially a plastic tanked stock rad.

If you want a kick-*** rad w/o the price tag, you can retrofit a circle track rad. You can get a double pass, double core, race grade all aluminum rad for ~$200 that will manage anything thrown at it. I got a "ford" style from Randy's Racemart. They'll also do any custom mods you want (for a fee) - I got the inlet and outlets sized for my application.

 

Rob nailed that. Coolant out means air in. That's your problem. WP time.

 

****. That job is such a pain in the ***. Still, I am pretty good at it by now.

I might as well buy up the hoses and pipes while I'm at it and do the coolant reroute.

I'm just debating whether to do the radiator at the same time.


Also, what do you guys recommend for sealant?

 

Er, I'm not sure exactly what to ask for in terms of size and "custom mods"- I need 37mm hoses, correct? What size and placement of brackets to mount it?

Miata radiator seems to be 26x14x2", correct? All the ones they sell are much taller.

 

It's all about fab'ing up what you need. I did a cradle bar that hangs on the stock mount hangers and bolts to the bottom of the rad. That's why this rad is half the rad and half the cost of the made-for-miata units - you get the bolt-in convenience with the latter. My guess is IF you think the hoses and coolant reroute are a "big" project then you're probably better off getting a made-for-miata rad.

 

Simple jobs aren't simple the first time you do them.

I just don't want to eat 2-3 200 dollar radiators in my quest to make a cheaper alternative to a 400 dollar radiator.

I also learned from difficult experience that if something doesn't make sense before you do it, it is usually because you are mistaken about how you are supposed to do it. I asked a lot of questions about the coolant reroute because I didn't understand which parts I was moving. I'm glad I asked.

 

And I still would like to know what I got wrong on my water pump install. I used plenty of gasket sealant. Either I didn't let it sit long enough or I used the wrong kind or I failed to do something important.

 

So true. Do you have any indication that your current radiator isn't up to the task? You have a Link if I remember right. What's your keypad and/or datalogs telling you about coolant temp while driving?

 

It depends. When temps are above 90, turning on the AC = overheat. I only started noticing this over a year ago (before water pump) when I was driving along at ludicrous speed in 95 degree temps with the AC on and suddenly I got hit by the Link's fuel cut that happens when you hit 110C. Lately I have noticed that running the AC around town and occasionally dipping into boost raises temps.

Without the AC on, I typically stay in the high mid-high 90s depending on how hard I drive. I went over 100C today with no AC use and a few boosted runs up to 100mph to check on fueling. Worrying? A little.

Anyway, tips on redoing the waterpump minus leaks would be appreciated.

 

Ok I just did some searching now that things have cooled off and I found something that definitely looks like a small leak in the heater hoses. I guess 10 years was too long for them.

One weird thing is that the rear cover where my thermostat will be going has a fitting that goes to the heater. Am I just supposed to tee into the thermostat line for the heater? Also, judging from the bolt positions behind the head, it looks like the thermostat cover will be pointing straight up into my coilpack or straight down towards the exhaust side.

I can work around the weird hose angle and i guess that it is ok to have the hot coolant going into the mixing manifold so long as the flow is across the head instead of around the front cylinder.

 

Ok- to install one of the circle track rads in my Miata, I built the cradle from some 3/8" square mild steel tube and used an L bracket up top with a some 1/8" rubber as a bushing between the rad and bracket. The cradle has a C at the top with a rod thru it so it hangs on the OE mounts. I just clipped some hose long ways to work as a bushing there. As far as the hoses go, you'll have to get creative with some tubing and hose- but you'll need to do that anyway with the reroute. The rad I bought was taller but narrower than the stocker so I could run the cold side IC pipe thru from the mouth. That's your call for your app- same goes for inlet/outlet sizes.

You can see the cradle running under the rad below.

 

I already pussed out and ordered a koyo. Since everything is falling apart and leaking already anyway, I might as well redo all my cooling hoses and gaskets.

If I could get ahold of a COP harness at the same time, I could make a one day job out of this.

 

Cancel the order and get a CSF. Same quality, bigger radiator for the same money. My 57mm CSF was $310 shipped.

 

Wow, thats 100 less than a koyo 55mm costs.

*snip*

Nevermind, found a 2 row 57mm aluminum for 329. Kickass.

Thanks dude. That is a solid deal for something with perfect OEM fit.

https://www.radiatorexpress.com/ for any others who want.