Data available for effect on engine temperature before & after installing Radiator

Do you have any data available regarding the effect on engine temperature before and after this mod? I'm interested to know exactly how much of an impact this makes on a 996 used for DE's also used as a daily driver. Personally, I question the effectiveness of this mod because I don't recall my engine temps ever climbing any higher on the track than in stop & go traffic on the highway. Obviously, it has to help a little bit - potentially more important for an autocross car than a DE car which gets a lot more air through the radiators. FYI, it would also be nice to know how much in Liters the coolant capacity increases as a result of this mod. __________________ This post was auto-generated based upon a question asked on our tech article page here: Pelican Porsche Tech Article - Installing a Center Radiator on the Porsche 911 Carrera - Porsche 996 Carrera (1998-2005), Porsche 997 Carrera (2005-2008)

I don't have any data on engine temps. I opened a post in our forums. A Pelican community member may be able to answer your question. - Nick

Quotes source post: 7483784

Your normal "steady state" operating temperature will not change with the addition of the third radiator, that is controlled by the thermostat. What will change is how long it takes the car to get hot under acceleration, and how quickly it cools back down afterwards.

I have recently installed the third radiator in my '01 996. Car is stock except for a K&N air filter and a low temp (160F) thermostat. Conditions described are all Florida weather, app. 90F. Radiators clean of all debris. A/C is on (fans running) during testing. Running the prescribed amount of Porsche Pentofrost coolant. Measurements are via a wireless OBD2 reader to my smartphone. No, my temperature sensor is not calibrated nor am I certificated in metrology but I think a reasonable person would agree this test set is indicative of results you might experience. Even with the low temp thermostat, I typically saw 186-188F in town and at Interstate speeds 75-90mph. Nothing of concern but still I'd like more cooling capacity for when I track the car. After installing the third radiator (Pelican's kit), there was no change in stop and go traffic. About 45mph, however, the temps begin to drop to low 180F. At Interstate speed I see 179F to 181F. I also observe that even at speed, if airflow from traffic disrupts airflow to the radiator, the temp will begin to creep up toward the 186-188F mark. There is no discernable difference in the time it takes to warm up the car: the thermostat is throttling coolant flow to the radiators, of course. Cool down time wasn't measured but I doubt it is significantly different since no coolant is circulating with the engine off.

Two problems with the Porsche 3rd radiator, first it's an oil cooling radiator for auto-trans cars, not specific for water. I installed a custom 3rd radiator and used the same mounting points. In the last year I installed a 997 GT2 after market bumper that has the gill vents in the top of the bumper and at the same time I leaned the top of the radiator forward so now I get a flow of air through the radiator. With all of this I saw some improvements in 90-100 plus degrees driving 75 MPH with the A/C on.

If you are worried about the cooling capacity of the stock third radiator, which still cooled coolant on a tiptronic or GT3, you could install a CSF Race aluminum one. Fits in the stock center location will all the factory install components (hoses, mounts, ducting etc).

I had a custom aluminium radiator made, it attach to the factory mounting locations, but is slightly wider, thicker with more tubes. I bought it from Wizard cooling, they have drawings. I think one advantage is that I had them instsall 1" in and out tubes. I had them install the tubes so the hot water circulation entered the top fitting, the cooled water left the radiator on the bottom fitting. The Tiptronic radiator has 7/8" hose fittings and both fittings are on top. I had "Y" fittings made for the connection to the stock radiators, however I ended up with one new "Y" fitting so the water flow out of the 3rd radiator was flowing with the factory flow of water, not against it. My water flows forward on the right side and the cooled water returns to the engine on the left side on my wide body "S". That's important to know how your water travels through you radiators.

Jeff is correct, the stock Porsche center radiators always flowed coolant. Mitch is correct in that it IS important to understand coolant flow. The 996 stock is kinda bastardized in that there are supplies and returns for each of the left and right radiators. The 997 does a better job of management IMO by providing a single supply and a single return. The center radiator further adds to confusion by taking supply from the left radiator and returning it via the right radiator IIRC. Mitch - Can you quantify your observed water temp reductions? Mitch - the GT2 aftermarket bumper is BA! Where did you get it? Any other mods or components needed to install it?

Interesting enough my C4S widebody hot water returns forward on the right side and the cooled water returns to the engine on the left side. I believe narrow bodied cars it's just opposite. As far as having definitive numbers on the temps, I don't. I've done several iderations so some of the improvement is incremental. My system holds over 6 gallons, my 3rd radiator is larger than the factory one, Also it has 1" outlets that are staggered up and down. The 3rd radiator is nearly a parallel system. It doesn't go from one radiator to the other, it's tied into the big hoses with "Y's". I bought the first 996 GT2 bumper from Getty design, I drove my car to the office of Mike Shaw, he looked at the bumper, I ordered it, but it didn't fit my widebody car. He said it should fit so I did some cutting on the bottom tray and it still didn't fit. Finally he agreed that it was the wrong bumper and we settled on the costs. I have that bumper for sale. Good work, but for a narrow bodied car. The 997 GT2 bumper came from RA Auto in Van Nuys. It has been modified to fit the 996 headlights. The Fiberglas is well done, but didn't fit for you know what... I spent weeks getting it right, I could still do more work on it, but for now that will wait. I also have the factory Turbo bumper for sale. I could rant on about after market fiberglas bumpers, not sure if it's the material, or the aftermarket industry that settles for less and charges more. Or if it's a race application then I can understand some of the misfits...

[QUOTE=jmj996;7483784]Do you have any data available regarding the effect on engine temperature before and after this mod? I'm interested Hi I have no data but engine cools down much faster and my operating temp dropped as well. Somebody replied that it's controlled by a thermostat But on a hot, summer day, my engine is 10-20 degrees cooler while driving.