[vl2dy4]

Hi all my new zook is heating up real quick when i am thrashing up speed dunes, i dont want it to fark out on my while i'm 20klms from the nearest water source.

It has the std 1.3 radiator in it with the std fan and shroud attached.

I want an upgrade, what radiator should fit the best? (Honda civic?)

And what will be the cheapest?

And also should i put a thermo on it? or a viscous fan?

Thanks in advance.

Conrad

[BlueSuzy]

What tyre pressure are you running? Making the motor work hard in sand with too high a pressure, will heat up your motor. With that zook, you should be able to run in 2wd high with power to drift.

Did Simbo put a new one in?

Don't go honda civic, Too much work and too custom. Custom is a bad thing for a radiator. Stick goes through it, or fan smashes in mud and grinds it, your up shit creek.(from my experience in suzyI)

[alien]

grab a thermo fan and put it on a manual switch... its worked for me and solved my cooling on 40 degree days at the powerlines using 1st gear with high RPM etc - the bonnet gets so hot you cant touch it, but engine stays cool.

[JrZook]

vl2dy4 wrote:

Hi all my new zook is heating up real quick when i am thrashing up speed dunes, i dont want it to fark out on my while i'm 20klms from the nearest water source.

It has the std 1.3 radiator in it with the std fan and shroud attached.

I want an upgrade, what radiator should fit the best? (Honda civic?)

And what will be the cheapest?

And also should i put a thermo on it? or a viscous fan?

Thanks in advance.

Conrad

First thing is how old is your cooling system and what nick is it in? Are you running the standard vit clutch fan and is it actually working 100% when it gets hot (it hasn't lost all the silicon fluid).

Only thing i can compare is mine in knee deep clay revving its fork off in 3rd low getting somewhere but ultra slowly. With a new 1.3 brass radiator, new thermostat and vit viscous fan it didn't even make it past 1/4 after an hour of abuse!

Dan

[vl2dy4]

BlueSuzy wrote:

What tyre pressure are you running? Making the motor work hard in sand with too high a pressure, will heat up your motor. With that zook, you should be able to run in 2wd high with power to drift.

Did Simbo put a new one in?

Don't go honda civic, Too much work and too custom. Custom is a bad thing for a radiator. Stick goes through it, or fan smashes in mud and grinds it, your up shit creek.(from my experience in suzyI)

BluSuzy, i let the tyres down to aroun 8-10psi on the sand, and 18- 25 psi on the street, i'm unsure if simbo put a new radiator in it. I will have to ask him.

I have seen the civic radiators like the one you had in suzyI for $97 delivered, i really want a nice cool radiator.

I really think that i either need a bigger fan or change the radiator and fan. Because when i'm cruising around on the street the temp rarely sees 1/4, but when i'm moving slowly and it is revving it hits 1/2 in no time, and then almost 3/4, but once i start moving the temp drops fast!.

First day i got it, i went to do some dune work, the sand was soft and chopped up and after a few reasonable dunes it blew all the coolant out of the overflow, the ambient temp was about 26-30 degrees.

I had to do a macgyver and cut the window washer hose and pump the windscreen washer bottle and empty it into the radiator, to get home.

What radiator fan will fit the zook, i think a viscous fan/ Mech fan would be good, as opposed to the thermo. What are your suggestions?


Cheers
Conrad

[atari4x4]

Vitara Fan & Viscous Hub, get the radiator rodded by a radiator bloke... he'll be able to tell you if it's rooted or not.

Wants33 had a line on alloy sierra radiators that seemed pretty popular & cheapish.

[vl2dy4]

JrZook wrote:

vl2dy4 wrote:

Hi all my new zook is heating up real quick when i am thrashing up speed dunes, i dont want it to fark out on my while i'm 20klms from the nearest water source.

It has the std 1.3 radiator in it with the std fan and shroud attached.

I want an upgrade, what radiator should fit the best? (Honda civic?)

And what will be the cheapest?

And also should i put a thermo on it? or a viscous fan?

Thanks in advance.

Conrad

First thing is how old is your cooling system and what nick is it in? Are you running the standard vit clutch fan and is it actually working 100% when it gets hot (it hasn't lost all the silicon fluid).

Only thing i can compare is mine in knee deep clay revving its fork off in 3rd low getting somewhere but ultra slowly. With a new 1.3 brass radiator, new thermostat and vit viscous fan it didn't even make it past 1/4 after an hour of abuse!

Dan

Unsure of the actual age of the radiator, mate, the cooling system looks to be in awesome condition, i dont think the std 1.3 fan is viscous? i'm sure it is bolted directly on to the pulley, well mine is anyway.

Cheers

Conrad

[shandy92]

mate,

sounds like ur rad might be blocked or is starting to become blocked. mine had almost identical issues, i left mine to late and ended up on the side of the rd, so while ur car is still ok. take the rad out (10-20min job) take it to NatRad or a similar radiator shop and get them to flush it/rod it, cost $100.

mine was 80% blocked

if ur in perth, and not sure on how to pull it out. im sure someone here or me could help.

mitch

[BlueSuzy]

Alot of people go the vit radiator and viscous fan. New mounts /shroud and hoses though.

After i messed up the civ radiator, i bought a new plastic/alloy one, like what want33's sells. They should be good. But every engine is going to be different. If its been overheated before, if it has a blockage, who knows. I never tested mine hardcore offroad as i put it in new to sell it, no leaks.

If your radiator isnt new, Id suggest getting it recored or buying another new one the same, then go from there. If its no good, sell it, and find a vit one.

[vl2dy4]

So are there any fans that i could try off any other suzukis that are bigger than the std 1.3 one? If so what do they cost around? and looking for a direct bolt on, so i dont have to fark around.

I would rather try a bigger fan than replace the radiator, cos it only ever gets hot when going slow but high revs.

Cheers

Conrad

[atari4x4]

vl2dy4 wrote:

So are there any fans that i could try off any other suzukis that are bigger than the std 1.3 one? If so what do they cost around? and looking for a direct bolt on, so i dont have to fark around.

I would rather try a bigger fan than replace the radiator, cos it only ever gets hot when going slow but high revs.

Cheers

Conrad

atari4x4 wrote:

Vitara Fan & Viscous Hub.

[BlueSuzy]

The vit viscous will bolt on, but it is bigger than the sierra solid fan.

I like the solid one, less parts to go wrong, but not in mud or high water..

[vl2dy4]

The suzistore want $165 for the hub and $66 for the fan? that too me is a farkin rip off.

Will a baleno radiator and thermo fit? Cos i can get one from Simo for peanuts!

Cheers

Conrad

[mr.green]

just like shandy92 said, you can have a radiator that is 80% blocked and it will be ok for most off the time. its not until you make it work a bit harder that the problem shows up... too often radiators are replaced with aftermarket or bigger rads when a proper rod out and engine flush is all it needs.

actually i had the same trouble with my first zook. drove 600 or more ks up the highway and it wasn't until day 2 at fraser island it got hot. after driving home again, i had the radiator rodded out and it was near completly blocked.

radiator service is cheap

[vl2dy4]

shandy92 wrote:

mate,

sounds like ur rad might be blocked or is starting to become blocked. mine had almost identical issues, i left mine to late and ended up on the side of the rd, so while ur car is still ok. take the rad out (10-20min job) take it to NatRad or a similar radiator shop and get them to flush it/rod it, cost $100.

mine was 80% blocked

if ur in perth, and not sure on how to pull it out. im sure someone here or me could help.

mitch

The radiator in my zook has plastic end tanks, so would this be a newer one than std?

I have rodded out my suzuki alto's radiator before, so i might just strip the end tanks off the zook one and rod it out.

Thanks for your help

Conrad

[vl2dy4]

The end tanks just have o rings that seal it, all the tabs need to be bent back and the end tanks removed and then rodded out. Might do this over the weekend.

Cheers

Conrad

[gympzook]

Dude, I'd get a electric thermo fan and stick on the front of the radiator, reverse polarity the thing so it blows. Even a 10 inch, but 12inch would be better. You could set it at a temperature so it only goes when the temp is getting too high - ie 100 degrees plus.

Or get a quality 12inch highflow thermo fan for $150 or so and install it, take off the inneficient mechanical fan all together - this will give you a few more hp and better cooling. And is half the price of a new decent quality radiator.

[BlueSuzy]

Baleno wont fit. It will be a mess. baleno's and other fwd cars usually have a big deep frontal area. Sierra's are one of the smallest rads out there from what i've seen searching for one. Other than civics,

Sierra's, mate had a 94', it was plastic tanked. Mine was a 91'. steel tanked.

Yours definately would of been plastico!

There is many options of what you can do. Now you have to decide which one.

[vl2dy4]

BlueSuzy wrote:

Baleno wont fit. It will be a mess. baleno's and other fwd cars usually have a big deep frontal area. Sierra's are one of the smallest rads out there from what i've seen searching for one. Other than civics,

Sierra's, mate had a 94', it was plastic tanked. Mine was a 91'. steel tanked.

Yours definately would of been plastico!

There is many options of what you can do. Now you have to decide which one.

Cheers mate, i think i will pull the rad out and pull the top tank off and rod it out and flush it first. Then put it back together and try it in the dunes again and see what happens.

If this doesnt work i will get a thermo and ditch the mech fan, or if a vitara fan assembly comes up i will put that on instead of a large thermo.

I'm sure after the rod out it will perform heaps better, we shall see anyway.

thanks for all your suggestions guys.

Conrad

[vl2dy4]

gympzook wrote:

Dude, I'd get a electric thermo fan and stick on the front of the radiator, reverse polarity the thing so it blows. Even a 10 inch, but 12inch would be better. You could set it at a temperature so it only goes when the temp is getting too high - ie 100 degrees plus.

Or get a quality 12inch highflow thermo fan for $150 or so and install it, take off the inneficient mechanical fan all together - this will give you a few more hp and better cooling. And is half the price of a new decent quality radiator.

Thanks for your suggestion mate, really appreciate all the help.

Conrad

[canberramav]

I would hardly call the standard engine fan inefficient?

Unless im mistaken the engine fan will pull alot more air than a thermo. I wouldnt be replacing the engine fan with thermo as your overheating will get worse.

Your problewm is at high RPM? A themo will help more at low RPM. Just get the radiator checked and go from there.

Does the 1.6 motor use the Sierra sender unit? What temp is the motor actually getting to?

[Crunched]

Wait, your temp normally sits at 1/4 and when you're thrashing it it gets to 1/2 and sometimes 3/4 on the gauge and you call that overheating? I wouldn't worry about it. Give the radiator a service for good measure, replace the thermostat and then stress less.

[SuziBlu]

[royce]

I am guessing you have next to no experience driving in soft sand dont you

when an engine that is normally well behaved gets hot its its way of telling you to back off a bit, dont become one of them tards that flogs the crap out of something unecessarily and complains it needs to be rebuilt every 3 weeks

[stockman]

This is strange. On my wedding day the car sat in 27 deg temps on idle on and off all day, the needle didn't move.
The only time the needle moved was when I put the front bar on, but still sat under half.
Maybe your overloading the motor with the 31's with standard gearing on the dunes.
I will get the gears off to you asap as this may help reduce the load.

Also the cooling system is in good order. New thermostat and all new hoses. The only thing I didn't do was the radiator, but it was never a problem.

[zooky08]

Might be stupid thing to say but have you checked your thermostat or water pump

I reckon replace your radiator
My friends g16b over heated cos of high hpm
Was fine on the street but when he sat on high rpm in low for a while he boil the shit out of it.
He replace the radiator and water pump nd it has ran excellent now

A radiator may look fine on the out side, but it can be fucked/block on the inside
Just my opinion

[canberramav]

Before you spend any money find out what the actual temp is when the guage is reading 3/4.

Go from there.

[Gwagensteve]

You're overthinking it. Put a vitara fan on it. It won't overheat. I'll almost bet my left knacker on it.

You can mess with gauges, radiator etc, but put a sierra fan up against a vitara fan and you can immediately see how much more air the vitara fan can (and does) pull. They are also a much tighter fit in the shroud so they work far more effectively.

DO NOT ditch your mechanical fan and put a thermo on the car. It is almost guaranteed to overheat. The people who have done this and have had success are the rare and lucky ones.

Steve.

[alien]

^^ to clarify - i run a manually switched thermo as well as the standard 1.3 fan.... the 1.3 fan works most of the time but if im going super slow etc it does warm up, so i turn the fan on.

i think in my case its because i run the 1.6 with no bodylift so the engine is quite high up - not as much airflow over the top as the 1.3 would have had.

[31zook]

BlueSuzy wrote:

Don't go honda civic, Too much work and too custom. Custom is a bad thing for a radiator. Stick goes through it, or fan smashes in mud and grinds it, your up shit creek.(from my experience in suzyI)

or you winching up a rock step and the O-ring blows all coolant out the bottom