Tonys 94

Hello Everyone,

I recently purchased a 1994 5.0 GT, 5 speed that did not have the correct radiator in it. The radiator that was in the car was held on with coat hanger wire. Things like this drive me nuts as I am a real perfectionist about things. Anyhow I went to the local junkyard and bought an OEM radiator that was out of the same year car as mine only it was an automatic. I installed it and the car now runs hot when before with the wrong radiator that was not any bigger than the correct OEM radiator the temp gauge always stayed steady at about the 1/4 mark. Now it gets to the last white line on the gauge and then the fan finally kicks on. Before installing the OEM radiator I had it professionally cleaned at the local radiator shop, installed it, burped it, changed the thermostat to a 188 degree tstat and then the problems started. The thermostat is working correctly so I changed out the temperature sensor, the computer that is mounted behind the overflow bottle, the radiator cap, etc., etc. and nothing. Still the same problem. I have taken my car to several radiator shops and they can not figure it out. The water pump is working fine, I do not have a blown head gasket. I know that the stock temperature gauges suck but my motor is running very hot so I know that what it is reading is somewhat accurate. Two people have told me that I need to install a radiator that is specific to a manual transmission car and others have told me it does not matter which makes more sense to me because auto tranny cars have to be cooled too and the only difference I can see in the radiators on an auto car and a manual car is the extra tranny cooler. I have considered installing a Mishimoto aluminum two row, manual tranny specific radiator with two 12" slim fans and installing silicone hoses. Will this help. Any advise as to how to remedy this situation will be greatly appreciated. This is driving me nuts and I have never felt comfortable driving a car that runs hot even it does not get to the red zone. Help!!!!

USMC1775

Sheeshh.. sounds like youve done everything I would have done... haha I guess if you havent already, take it to a shop, or mount the fans on a switch that you can control yourself..

mjr46

WHEN DOES IT OVERHEAT MOST?? cruise or sitting still/idle??

Tonys 94

It gets hot both at idle and while driving. It is driving me nuts. I have checked around to see if anyone offers a temp sensor that would make the fan turn on at a lower temperature but everyone I have spoken with tells me that there is only one available for this car. From what I understand the aftermarket aluminum radiators have almost twice the coolant capacity and I would think that this would be a huge help. Any other suggestions?

Tony

Jrichber95GTS

I really urge you to not purchase that radiator off of ebay if its from tunerzimage i ordered that radiator and never got it took me 4 months to get my money back i would sugest spend the extra money and get a fluidyne from brothers performance on ebay they are a lil cheaper than from the store its self and also i am told that the fan module on 94 95 goes out for low speed and only kicks in for high speed i have the same problem but mine some times kicks in on low and most of the time only works on high

Tonys 94

Thanks for the information. Actually there are two different sellers of this radiator on Ebay but the cities for both sellers are right next to each other. Since I live in So. Cal I would probably go pick it up in person rather than wait to have it shipped so that should avoid any hassles with that but it is nice to know who to stay away from. Is the fan module the part that is just behind the overflow bottle which is mounted just behind the radiator and has a big plug attached to it? If so, I have already replaced this part, twice!! Did you install a new aluminum radiator in your car? If so did it help any? I have heard that the aftermarket radiators have nearly twice the coolant capacity which to me would seem like a huge improvement over stock. Thanks again for the info.

Tony

Jrichber95GTS

Im not sure if the fan module is the part you are talking about or the part on the fan its self me and my buddy put a test light on mine and it would some times give power and sometimes wouldnt maybe mine is just worse off but i did however purchase that fluidyne i was talking about kept the stock fan and i am running a 347 so i already have overheating problems but now with this new radiator when my fan actually kicks in the temp drop very fast so if you are still woried about the temp getting to that fan point i quess you would have to just go with a new fan

5.0 85 GT

well i just had the same problem in my 94 gt, i had a Mishimoto race radiator myself and the thing **** itself in 5 rows, my car would over heat whenevr i hit the gas the temp guage would shoot ot eh moon then cool down when i went down a hill, so i brought it to a radiator shop and 440 dollars later, they put in a radiator that was better than stock but not as good as a race radiator, a 180 tstat, new fluids,and did the wiring for the fan, it works beautifully now, no issues, the radiator ran me 140$$ for it, i also got a new cap, which also contributes to the heating issues but not much, but yea basically get a bigger radiator, nothing too crazy just better than stock, and u did the tstat which is good, so get a new radiator cap too...and re check ur fan