I just chucked a fairly new radiator from my I6 into my EB Xr8 and it wasn't overheating today, sitting idle with the bonnet down, aircon on full. It got about 3/4 the way up on the gauge, but it wouldn't overheat, and it got damn hot today! I had it running for 45mins with the aircon on full, before i turned the aircon off & it cooled down a bit. I didn't measure the radiator core, but i have to take it out again, so i'll measure it up soon & see what size it is. I do know the radiator i have in my 6cyl torana is a lot thicker, but it's a 3 core radiator!

Without the aircon on it only got to 1/2 way up the temp gauge. Still has the clutch fan, obviously it's in good shape.

Have you thought about fitting a craig davis thermo switch to switch on one fan a bit earlier? Would it work or cause the ECU to have issues? Manual over ride switch to kick one fan on to high speed when you want it? Like on hot days?

Cheers

ToranaGuy

Get a 3core from a EA/EB and mod end tanks to suit EF/EL and any reputable radiator workshop can do this job and should cost more than $550.00 if they do the complete job for u.

still looking into it, will call a couple of radiatot places to see how much a custom one would be or else see if i can find a thicker 2nd hand one and have that checked and cleaned

Heres a thicker one

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Ford-EA-EB-ED-Falcon-Fairmont-XR8-5Ltr-V8-Radiator_W0QQitemZ350310840628QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Car_Parts_Accessories?hash=item5190273934

They dont mention the thickness on this one, but it would be worth asking

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Ford-EF-EL-Falcon-Fairmont-Fairlane-LTD-5L-V8-Radiator_W0QQitemZ380200301566QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Car_Parts_Accessories?hash=item5885b433fe


You can always put the EF/EL end tanks on the EB/ED radiator. If theres any difference? I know the 6s are different but I dont think the 8s are?

Email adrad and they will help u and can direct u to a dealer of theres

I'm running a 6cyl alloy radiator in my wagon. The only difference between 6cyl and V8 is that the V8 ones have more fins per core. I have had no problems ever with my ebay 6cyl radiator and for $100 delivered, I can't complain either.

just finished installing and road testing the xr

ended up putting a 32mm copper/brass core radiator that i got from sss

took it for a 50k drive, both freeway and suburban driving (mostly suburban) needle didnt go past the A on the guage. heatsoak into the engine has been drastically reduced so much so that i can touch the top of the manifold without melting my hand.

i know its night and the air is cooler, ill have to wait for a day over say 25deg and see how she copes but i reckon itll be alright.

fyi a 24mm radiator came out of it. co yeh im happy (well so far) thanks again for all of your input guys/girls now i can focus on getting the exhaust sorted.

cheers again

If its the ADRAD 32mm u have then there a very good radiator as i have it and in the peak of Sydney summer it didnt go past half way with aircon on, and usually under A after 1hr of driving.

What temp thermostat do you have? a 180F is what you should install

A 24mm radiator come out of it? Wonder what that was suited for, a 3.2 CFI? lol

Cheers

ToranaGuy

These cars handle heat really well as it is....yeah its a given that the heat soak is shocking but say I run my V8 XH over here in the Kimberley and on a 48C day it sits between the r & m on the gauge and when I pull up and idle it sits on the r. On the highway it sists on between a & l. I've had the temp readout on and even ad idle it only goes up to about 100 - 101C. If your car is getting a bit warm, turn the a/c onto flat out and the thermos will go on to high and it will cool radiator down.

If you have thermo's lol! I'm going to convert my Xr8 to thermos if i keep it.

Cheers

ToranaGuy

cant remeber exactly, but itsa genuine ford thermostat suited for the make/model/engine

Sorry to revive an old thread, but that is what search function is for right? How did everyone go with their respective heating issues? Im wondering if it is worth running an external trans cooler and mount it somewhere away from the radiator. In my EB, the first 15 -20ks of a journey, even on hot days and stop start traffic, the needle sits below the N... but once its been running for a while it goes way up to the A and L and sometimes higher. Today I replaced the thermostat with a 180F one (wanted a 190F but they didnt have one) and put a new belt and tensioner on the heater, as well as got the vacuum hooked up for the AC vent controller (hadnt been done since the BBM convo in August). So anyway I have cold aircon now, and took the car for a run, it did the same sit at cool thing for about 10ks and then up to A and L. I flicked the heater on and the air got hot, then went back down to just above ambient and then the low water light came on. Im guessing this is because the heater hasnt been run since the last coolant change and took some fluid to refill the heater box. It was also venting water at the overflow on the bottle by the time I got home. It took 3L to top the coolant level back up. My question is should I bother putting the trans cooler in to take some load off the radiator?
The car already has thermo's, new water pump, new thermostat, new overflow bottle, near new radiator but still gets too hot.

You should run the heater whenever you do a coolant change or hose change on a car to bleed the air out of the system. Once the car has the correct amount of coolant in it you can then check the temp out.

Has the radiator cap been replaced? They don't last forever.....

Cheers

ToranaGuy