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M923A1 Aluminum radiator install

simp5782

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I decided to go over to an aluminum radiator that had an intercooler and oil cooler attached to it. I removed the intercooler since i do not need it at this point.

I used one square foot of aluminum. 1/2" plate. Cut it in half and welded it together. So it was 1 inch thick overall. The lower mount to the truck is 12" x 5". Drilled and tapped the aluminum plate to 1/2"-20 then welded the plate to the radiator. No spool gun so i used my stick welder and 1/8" 4043 rods

As far as hoses go. I got two reducers from napa # 903. I used a few take off hoses i had laying around as well as a upper cross pipe and i cut it down to make the bends work. Basically i used 2 housing to heat exchanger hoses to make the drivers side bend work. The passengers lower i just cut the original hose and slipped the pipe in place.

Upper mount is just 1/8" 1"x1" angle 4 bolts to the upper radiator lip that was on it using 1/4" bolts. The two upper mount plate bolts are 5/16". I had to cut the upper mount where the shroud bolt together piece is to allow it to sit further forward in the slot.

Shrould bolts to the upper lip the mount angle iron bolts to. I had to cut the entire lower lip off the shroud to be flush with the protruding of the shroud. Then i drilled two holes thru the lower flat inside piece of the shroud that had the flat lip of the radiator below it to bolt to. All 1/4" x 1" bolts.

Also had to add a plug to the one port on the expansion tank that originally ran to the upper port on the stock radiator.

You also have to cut one of the outlets on the radiator that is a 45 deg and either weld a straight on or just make the hose longer like i did to reach the cut off section.

Yes i put green antifreeze back in it and 2 things of prestone sca additive.

20170716_140452.jpg20170716_140446.jpg20170716_140343.jpg20170716_125414.jpg20170716_125054.jpgrps20170716_142246.jpg

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simp5782

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More pics.

Cost:
Radiator $300
Coolant : $100
1 sq ft of 1/2" aluminum: $20
Welding rods : $25
Adapter hoses: $20
Angle iron: $6
Running transmission cooler hoses to the existing: $60.
Total time : 5 hrs

Still a 10 gallon system. 20170716_140501.jpg20170716_125040.jpg20170715_174223.jpg20170715_121026.jpg20170715_142413.jpg20170715_121030.jpg20170715_174229.jpg20170715_200157.jpg20170715_191335.jpg

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simp5782

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What are you doing with the intercooler? I need one for the massive 6.5 in my pick up.
It has got to be pressure tested. It may have a hole. I may keep it in case i decide to go big cam if i need to keep up with clint's winnebago. Its 53.6" wide 21" tall 3" deep.

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gimpyrobb

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That was kinda a joke, the 6.5 isn't the greatest most powerful diesel under the sun.

It works well for me though.
 

74M35A2

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It has got to be pressure tested. It may have a hole. I may keep it in case i decide to go big cam if i need to keep up with clint's winnebago. Its 53.6" wide 21" tall 3" deep.

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You'll be looking down the barrel of 400 SAE certified horsepower linked to 13 speeds of Road Ranger just after August.
 

silverstate55

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Good job, that looks great!! Glad the radiator & fluid cooler worked out for you! [thumbzup]
 

simp5782

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So after today's tryout i am fairly certain that the heat exchangers suck in the summer time. Towed an SEE back from RRAD. Thru the exchanger trans temps were 220 to 260 on hills. Engine temps up to 220 with 98 degree outdoor temps. High humidity. Got half way swapped the jic fittings out and ran thru the radiator cooler and the trans temp towing at 62 will not budge off of 160. Even on long hills itll just twitch. And engine temps stay under 180. 20170718_220853.jpg

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74M35A2

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That's about as clear as the sideway gauge pic you took with your calculator.

Are you saying your new radiator setup works well or does not work better than stock? I get one ran hotter and one cooler, but unsure which-which.

Or, maybe you got the ol' 250 running so fast you are going for something like this:

side tach.jpg
 
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simp5782

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The new radiator works fine however it has a hard time holding under 200 while towing. That heat exchanger is getting 220 trans fluid to dissipate into the coolant. Along with the oil cooler doing the same thing. So the coolant has alot of heating up going on. I swapped to the air to air trans cooler and bypassed the exchanger. Engine temps hold under 190 at 55,000lb gross and the trans temp doesn't move from 160

Plus the new radiator doesn't have near the area of a stock radiator. 7 inches shorter in the core.

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74M35A2

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Same as I would think. The newer one is matched to a newer ISL engine in its original application, which is going to be more efficient than an older 250 engine (less heat/hp), and especially an older 250 engine turned up, you should really be kicking out some heat in comparison. You reduced your cooling capacity quite a bit. Copper dissipates heat faster than aluminum, so you lowered your dissipation rate, and overall surface area to do so. What are you doing for fans on the new one? Sorry if I missed it. Nothing is more powerful than the stock belt driven fan when needed. Go manual trans and the trans heat disappears (*wink*). Great data though, thanks for stomping through it and posting the results.


snoww.jpg
 
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simp5782

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Same as I would think. The newer one is matched to a newer ISL engine in its original application, which is going to be more efficient than an older 250 engine (less heat/hp), and especially an older 250 engine turned up, you should really be kicking out some heat in comparison. You reduced your cooling capacity quite a bit. Copper dissipates heat faster than aluminum, so you lowered your dissipation rate, and overall surface area to do so. What are you doing for fans on the new one? Sorry if I missed it. Nothing is more powerful than the stock belt driven fan when needed. Go manual trans and the trans heat disappears (*wink*). Great data though, thanks for stomping through it and posting the results.


View attachment 690518
Cooling capacity is still the same. gallons. Stock fan for now. With that heat exchanger not being used i hardly have to turn the fan on.

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simp5782

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Figured I would update this.

Engine temp grossing 55,000lbs @ 65mph @ 55 degree ambient temp at night.

The engine hardly has any heat on it at all just at idle. You can feel nothing radiating from it hardly. it is nice.
With the CAT setup not having a transmission cooler I decided to go ahead and run my engine oil thru the top cooler on the radiator. Seems like a good idea for the summer time and on those long hard pulls up mountains. Apparently the cooler works really well. After running 70 for about 100miles I got out to get fuel and checked the temps. Oil pan sump temp is 135, After the pump its 137 and after the cooler it's 74. I know some people like higher oil temps in the mid 200s but to me the small cooler the NHC250 has isn't going to do enough for the oil to keep it down on long pulls. Plus it adds a lot more heat the engine. Cold oil temps mean increased friction but I think 135 is a good sump temp. Also I have a bypass oil system installed that heats the oil to 210 degrees @ 6gph to burn off water and fuel. So really my oil doesn't need to reach high temps to do that on its own.


This cooler setup is great with the Allison setup to bypass the heat exchanger. It dropped my July temps on the Allison @ 55,000lbs from 225 to 160 and never moved above it. Great for the transmission.
 

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