[Vwdiesel] Radiator Choices

Tue Aug 23 21:23:17 EDT 2005

Just another bit of info for you.  My formerly owned 1.9td  
transplanted Jetta and the truck I currently have, suffered from high  
temperatures to the point of almost over heating (especially in the  
1.9td jetta).  My son, the mechanic now turned sailor, noticed that I  
was running the red antifreeze in the cars.  He told me to get rid of  
it and go back to the green antifreeze.  He said that from his own  
personal experience in 2 Sciroccos and one Corrado, the cooling  
systems in the A1s and A2s didn't seem to work as well with the red,  
long life antifreeze.  Now please note that both vehicles had new  
radiators, new hoses, new thermostats and , on the Jetta, a new  
radiator temperature switch for the cooling fan, plus MULTIPLE  
attempts and flushing but still got too hot.  I flushed them out put  
in the green stuff and temperature stayed right at the normal level  
just about mid way.  The TD in my truck has the GTD high flow  
injectors and can produce a considerable amount of heat upon  
acceleration or a hill climb, but the gauge rarely climbs above  
midway even in the heat of the summers we have here Texas (101  
yesterday at least 100 today). Now some people have claimed to use  
the red stuff with no problems but that has not been my experience in  
A1 or A2 platform cars.  Hayden

On Aug 23, 2005, at 5:41 PM, Roger Brown wrote:

> Wade Yorke wrote:
>
>> Hi Chris:
>> Sounds like you are having the same problem as I am.  I have a  
>> 1996 Eco
>> 1.9TD and if I run at over 3300-3400 rpm on the highway it slowly
>> overheats until the red light is flashing.  I have installed VDO oil
>> temp and water temp gauges for accuracy, but since the high speed fan
>> was being triggered by the higher water temps I kind of knew that  
>> I had
>> a real problem.  The VDO gauges both show elevated temperatures on  
>> the
>> highway (approximately 220 degrees at 3200-3300 rpm).  My radiator is
>> only four years old so I believe that I do not have a flow  
>> problem.  I
>> have heard that the stock Vanagon radiator is not adequate for the
>> diesel (although I always thought they ran cooler than gas engines).
>> The problem is that a larger radiator may not help much as they  
>> cavity
>> behind the stock radiator is small (just large enough for the stock
>> radiator I would guess).
>> Under normal around town and moderate highway speeds the water and  
>> oil
>> are at 200 degrees F and the needle is just above the LED in the  
>> stock
>> gauge.
>>
>
> On my '82 pickup, w/ 1.9D engine, I did a couple of things that  
> really cut the running temps.  One was to have the old radiator
> re-cored with a 3-row core at a local radiator shop (it was a  
> copper/brass Modine radiator).  Then I installed a smaller pulley
> on the water pump, using one from a 1.6D A/C equipped Rabbit that I  
> modified to fit the 1.9D.  This has the affect of spinning
> the water pump faster than normal to flow more coolant through the  
> engine (an overdrive condition).  Those two items did a lot
> to reduce the high RPM temps from up near the red zone on the  
> factory gauge down to 1-2 marks above normal.  Then I found that
> increasing the max load fueling and advancing the pump timing to  
> the upper limit made it so the temperature gauge almost never
> moves, since I can keep it in a higher gear and keep the RPMs  
> down.  A diesel engine's heat output really climbs as the RPMs go
> up at full load, since the combustion process becomes less  
> efficient the fast the engine turns over.
>
> -- 
>     Roger
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Vwdiesel mailing list
> Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/vwdiesel
>

TX AND US DISTRIBUTOR FOR DIESELPOWER TUNING BOXES.  GO TO  
www.dieseltuning.com, LOOK AT THE INFORMATION AND THEN EMAIL ME TO  
MAKE YOUR PURCHASE.  MORE POWER, MORE TORQUE, GUARANTEED!!!!

Visit my website at:  http://mysite.verizon.net/resosxp8/mydieselpages/
Proud owner of:
2004 Passat TDI GLS, 2.0l, 8 valve, 134 HP, 247 lb/ft of torque, Blue  
Graphite, Anthracite leather interior, ABS, ESP.
1998 Jetta TDI (Wetterauer Chipset, 2 1/2" exhaust, K&N Filter, 119K+  
miles, and running biodiesel)
1981 Rabbit Pickup -Awaiting a TDI engine swap with a 96 Passat 1Z  
engine.
And many, many, many VWs; from a 1946 Beetle (11 Beetles total), to  
Vans (5 - 3 splitties, 2 bay window), Rabbits (3), Karmen Ghia (1),  
Jettas (5), Passat (1), Dasher (1), New Beetle (1), and Rabbit  
Pickups (3) most now gone but not forgotten.
1982 Suzuki GS 650GL - resurected from a farm, now back on the road,  
Old school bike for an old school guy!