3rd radiator?

Hi everyone! Any opinion on installing 3rd radiator on 996 3.6 manual? I see water temp on my 997 turbo always at 80 degrees in any condition; my 996 stays at 80 but sometimes goes a little bit higher, especially in very hot days when you�re driving in the city. Fan works correctly and there is no overheating. I was wondering if 3rd radiator will mantain water temp stable as in my 997 TT. Thanks

Quotes source post: 20450557

Well, Charles and Jake from LN/FSI says a 3rd radiator is always a good idea... I will add the fact that Porsche R&D developed the 996 cooling system robustly with more than enough capacity for the hottest days in traffic. And even added a 3rd radiator for automatics and other configurations that do require considerably more btu removal capacity... If it were me, before adding a 3rd rad, I would pull my bumper and a/c condensers to clean the 2 radiators we already have. That can make a huge difference by itself. Also, we must remember these cars are somewhere around 25 years old. A 25 year old radiator has seen better days. Its btu removal capacity is more than likely way down in capacity. A new set of all aluminum increased capacity radiators beefs up BTU removal considerably all on its own compared to the more than sufficient OEM plastic tank Porsche radiators. So, imho, before adding a 3rd band-aide radiator , would upgrade the stock oem radiators or upgrade both to all aluminum aftermarket high capacity radiators. Keep in mind,,,The oem front side mount rads location have thermal control with the speed adjustable fans regulating the amount of BTU removal to keep temps at optimum levels. The 3rd radiator has no thermal control. So, IMHO, a cooling system upgrade should start first with a upgrade to the 25 year old oem rads. With at the least new oem plastic tank rads, or better yet, to all aluminum high capacity radiators. And only after that add the 3rd front rad... Now, don't get me wrong, on the track, or with a high strung maybe boosted mezger, the 3rd rad will probably just help all the time with much needed excess BTU removal...

I agree with updating the OEM radiators to new CSF ones, and then replacing the old fans. However, I would do the 3rd radiator as well at the same time since the system will already be apart.

I always wonder if I have a weird one, my C4S does not have a third radiator, even though it was a tiptronic car before I swapped it.

In my case, adding the 3rd radiator came in useful in managing heat soak. The thing about radiators is that they perform best when you're driving. Once you come to a stop and it's a hot and humid summer day where the tarmac is well into triple digits your temps will still go up quite a bit and cause your oil to heat up too. Adding some extra cooling capacity and good fresh coolant help deal with this pretty well.

I have one for sale, factory setup, PM if interested.

Sorry, complete factory kit brand new.

I think you�ll notice it stay steady if you track or run the car hard. My oil cooler was leaking so by going with the upgraded 3.8S oil cooler� I had to upgrade the 3rd oil cooler.

Quotes source post: 20450816

having a full set of 3 CSF radiators installed on my �04 Turbo this week.

I'm going to go with PWR radiators when mine let go

Living in the boiling SC heat I added one. Cleaning the original rads and adding the 3rd was very easy. I paired this with a new water pump, low temp thermostat and new fan resistors. All easy work and I see 15-20 degree improvements. Especially for stop and go traffic in high heat.

I added a black fine mesh screen late last Summer to my grill. This mesh is noticeable only if I tell you it's there. In my Fall drive with the boys, leaves were dancing and none entered the debris scoop retention device. Prior to adding the screen, if you asked me how much $#1~ was going to find its way to obstruct the radiator I would have said very little. Everything was thoroughly cleaned in April - on the rack, bumper off, washed, scrubbed, brushed. Wrong, really wrong. I found rocks and I never drive on dirt or close behind others, along with the usual leaves, bugs, etc.

I plan to add a center radiator to the targa. It has an FSI 4.0 motor, plus I have one of the excellent oil temperature gauges from @Coopduc so I can see the oil temperature rising during spirited driving, even if the water temp doesn't move as much. The third radiator should help with that.