Dear fluidyne...

[timbo3282]

The only responses I see on here are Jimmysidecarr power tripping on people telling them to search this and that. Unfortunately the search function on this forum sucks - I've searched for things for hours and not found anything only to have my thread deleted by Jimmypowertrip. Or something hasn't been discussed since 2008 and even though there are a whole line of new products and options you still can't ask a question.

Let's help each other people - and the mods need to get over themselves. You are a moderator on a insignificant website. Get over yourself and be helpful.

 

[timbo3282]

I've had 2 fluidynes fail. Will not purchase from them again

Did you install it so that the radiator had free play? Did you fill it with antifreeze and filtered water? If you installed it incorrectly or misfilled it I am guessing they'd fail 100/100 times. I'm not saying you didn't - it just seems the people with your experience took it as a direct replacement without taking the time to make the little modifications required to make it fit just right. I'm genuinely interested.

I know people that took the time to do it right and have them working fine 5+ years in and others that had issues. I am wondering if there are some failing even when properly installed and if so how many. It seems most folks are just installing them without mind to making sure that nothing is pressing on the radiator itself.

I am definitely taking the time to make sure that sucker has some free play and using the aftermarket supports. I am hoping that buys me a long life for it.

 

[SonicBlueOval]

filtered drinking water (*NOT* distilled water) is the best mix to use per Fluidyne. Distilled water is too active electrically apparently (which totally counters what I THOUGH I knew about water chemistry.

Not sure where you got that info, but drinking water is clearly more conductive than distilled water because of the higher concentration of ions.


Typical conductivity of waters:
Ultra pure water 5.5 · 10-6 S/m
Drinking water 0.005 – 0.05 S/m
Sea water 5 S/m

 

[timbo3282]

Not sure where you got that info, but drinking water is clearly more conductive than distilled water because of the higher concentration of ions.


Typical conductivity of waters:
Ultra pure water 5.5 · 10-6 S/m
Drinking water 0.005 – 0.05 S/m
Sea water 5 S/m

That was my understanding from 3 years of college chemistry (Pure water is not conductive, it is the salts in the water that conduct electricity), but distilled water is more corrosive (and that is the issue here - not conductivity) - it is looking to dissolve something where the filtered water has some mineral and other content to it. I've read multiple places and multiple radiator companies are specifying the filtered drinking water. Since the have to warranty them there has to be something to it.

I do know from a plumbing perspective (like with your hot tub) you add calcium to get the water to a certain hardness as overly soft water (like distilled water) corrodes the heating element and other metal parts where harder water does not. I am assuming it is the same principle here.

It isn't the conductivity that is apparently the issue but the relative corrosive-ness of the fluid.

 

[Jimmysidecarr]

The only responses I see on here are Jimmysidecarr power tripping on people telling them to search this and that. Unfortunately the search function on this forum sucks - I've searched for things for hours and not found anything only to have my thread deleted by Jimmypowertrip. Or something hasn't been discussed since 2008 and even though there are a whole line of new products and options you still can't ask a question.

Let's help each other people - and the mods need to get over themselves. You are a moderator on a insignificant website. Get over yourself and be helpful.

Geez dude! I was getting ready to compliment you on your posts in this thread and then I get slammed!

I have been posting on here since 03 but have only been a mod since Dec/10 so some of my posts before then have have displayed some lack of patience.

The official Jimmysidecarr (as Terminator sub forum mod) policy on bumping old threads is different than the site policy.

I allow and encourage searching(use the google option) and posting in an old thread, if new or helpful info can be added.

Keep up the good work, all the info you posted was valid and VERY helpful... except the jimmypowertrip crap, I would prefer you PM me if you have an issue with me, and if you would like to PM me links to any bad behavior I will edit them.

 

[01cobravortech]

Yep. Same here. No one replies to radiator threads. And when they do they say get an OEM one. :shrug:

Here is my thread: http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/engine-tuning-214/772762-my-mishimoto-radiator-install.html

Most people say go with an oem one because look at all the problems we've seen over the years with all the aftermarket radiators. :shrug: Whether it be Fluidyne or LFP or Mishimoto, we're always seeing posts with people getting leaks of some sort. It certainly is not as frequent for the oem piece. Besides, its been established that the aftermarket radiators are more beneficial for the OT crowd. Its overkill for the street and there are more proven ways of lowering temps with the oem radiator by addressing the t-stat. Everyone looks at the big items, but gives little attention to an itty bitty t-stat. But hey if you enjoy replacing and returning an aftermarket radiator every few months, go for it man.

 

[timbo3282]

Geez dude! I was getting ready to compliment you on your posts in this thread and then I get slammed!

I have been posting on here since 03 but have only been a mod since Dec/10 so some of my posts before then have have displayed some lack of patience.

The official Jimmysidecarr Terminator forum policy on bumping old threads is different than the site policy.

I allow and encourage searching(use the google option) and posting if new or helpful info can be added.

Keep up the good work, all the info you posted was valid and VERY helpful... except the jimmypowertrip crap, I would prefer you PM me if you have an issue with me, and if you would like to PM me links to any bad behavior I will edit them.

Sorry man - wasn't meant like that at all. That is what I get for writing these on my iPhone and not reading the whole thing. I read your posts and your name just stuck in my head - no intent to slam you at all.

I'm an IT guy so I get the whole RTFM thing believe me. I HATE answering the same question 10 times, but I had some posts deleted after searching that rubbed me the wrong way a while back.

I appreciate all the resources you have in your FAQs too. That service manual link you have is awesome - and free to boot.

So long story short - sorry man was not trying to slam you. I was just b1tching.

:beer:

 

[earico]

Most people say go with an oem one because look at all the problems we've seen over the years with all the aftermarket radiators. :shrug: Whether it be Fluidyne or LFP or Mishimoto, we're always seeing posts with people getting leaks of some sort. It certainly is not as frequent for the oem piece. Besides, its been established that the aftermarket radiators are more beneficial for the OT crowd. Its overkill for the street and there are more proven ways of lowering temps with the oem radiator by addressing the t-stat. Everyone looks at the big items, but gives little attention to an itty bitty t-stat. But hey if you enjoy replacing and returning an aftermarket radiator every few months, go for it man.

But you see my car didn't have an OEM one in it when I bought the car. Did you read my thread? I was faced with the need to replace a leaking Fluidyne. So I went with a Mishimoto which was cheaper than a OEM unit and has a lifetime warranty which the OEM unit does not have. No brainer for my situation. I also replaced the Tsat at the same time with a Reische unit.

Not everyones case is the same.

 

[timbo3282]

Most people say go with an oem one because look at all the problems we've seen over the years with all the aftermarket radiators. :shrug: Whether it be Fluidyne or LFP or Mishimoto, we're always seeing posts with people getting leaks of some sort. It certainly is not as frequent for the oem piece. Besides, its been established that the aftermarket radiators are more beneficial for the OT crowd. Its overkill for the street and there are more proven ways of lowering temps with the oem radiator by addressing the t-stat. Everyone looks at the big items, but gives little attention to an itty bitty t-stat. But hey if you enjoy replacing and returning an aftermarket radiator every few months, go for it man.

I never had a problem with cooling my Cobra in Chicago during the summer, but I will tell you down South it is a whole different animal. The air temperature on the street can be 120 degrees when it is "only" 95-100 out, and when you are sitting and idling you need all the help you can get.

Even at Midnight it'll be 85-90 degree air temp but the actual ambient temp sitting at a red light with the radiant heat is over 105 degrees (according to my trusty little thermometer.)

I am definitely going to replace the OEM T-Stat while I have everything apart though - that is a great point. I have the Reische 170 degree stat on the way set to arrive with the rest of the parts.

I roped a friend into helping me for the weekend, so not only am I going to install the Fluidyne Radiator and Heat Exchanger and associated parts, but I am going to install the Whipple too. I am pretty excited about that.

 

[timbo3282]

But you see my car didn't have an OEM one in it when I bought the car. Did you read my thread? I was faced with the need to replace a leaking Fluidyne. So I went with a Mishimoto which was cheaper than a OEM unit and has a lifetime warranty which the OEM unit does not have. No brainer for my situation. I also replaced the Tsat at the same time with a Reische unit.

Not everyones case is the same.

What do you think of the Reische? I am definitely looking forward to putting that in.

 

[earico]

What do you think of the Reische? I am definitely looking forward to putting that in.

Plain and simple it works.

Old setup before I replaced it all:
Leaking Fluidyne and Motorad 170 degree tstat. The Motorad did not seal the bypass as Reische says on his website. Temps with this setup were 12 o'clock dead center of the OEM gauge in 100+ degree desert heat.

New setup:
Mishimoto and Reische 170 degree tstat. You could immediately see that it sealed the bypass in the housing correctly. Temps with this setup are 11:30 o'clock on the OEM gauge in 100+ degree desert heat.

The new setup is cooling better. It's 100% due to the Reische Tstat though. The radiators were almost identical. The Mishimoto is a 3 core though. Fluidyne is a 2 core.

The Reische Tstat will keep the hot coolant in your new radiator longer so that it has the time it needs to cool properly. This will allow you to fully use your new larger radiator's cooling capacity.

 

[03 DSG Snake]

What do you think of the Reische? I am definitely looking forward to putting that in.

Excellent product and makes a noticeable difference in the ECT readings or a water temp sensor.

 

[mu22stang]

First, make sure the car is properly burped. My (Texas) Cobra has NEVER overheated since I've owned it.

Order of business number one is to remove or cut the heat blanket and remove the heat exchanger flaps to allow the hood to perform its function.

Definitely install a Reische thermostat if ECT's are still an issue. If you need additional cooling, adjust the low and high speed fan settings to come on at a lower temperature. If you need more cooling, increase the height of the air dam. If you need more cooling, box the radiator.

The stock radiator is fine, but if you think it's going to help reduce ECT's in street driving, go ahead. I'll save you the suspense, it won't. The same is true for an aftermarket heat exchanger.

If you anticipate taking your Cobra to a track (with turns), pop over to the Open Track section and... you guessed it, search. The search function works perfectly fine.

 

[Ranger5.0L]

the search function on this site is a complete joke half the time it doesn't work with that said i've never had a problem with aftermarket alum. radiators cant say i've ever had a Fluidyne though. i live in iowa lots of dirt dummies around here running alum radiators with out issue and they take way more abuse than anyone could ever put there cobra through. And most run straight water out of the hose with out issue

 

[01cobravortech]

But you see my car didn't have an OEM one in it when I bought the car. Did you read my thread? I was faced with the need to replace a leaking Fluidyne. So I went with a Mishimoto which was cheaper than a OEM unit and has a lifetime warranty which the OEM unit does not have. No brainer for my situation. I also replaced the Tsat at the same time with a Reische unit.

Not everyones case is the same.

No I didn't read your thread. What would have been the difference of replacing that leaking Fluidyne back to oem? I've done it and its not a big deal. The oem may not have a lifetime warranty, but its also not prone to failure like the aftermarket ones. I don't know maybe you enjoy chasing leaks and pulling your radiator and sending it back for replacements, but not me. But hey if that's your thing and you enjoy doing that more power to you. I've personally lost patience with all the minor problems these aftermarket radiators bring.

 

[01cobravortech]

I never had a problem with cooling my Cobra in Chicago during the summer, but I will tell you down South it is a whole different animal. The air temperature on the street can be 120 degrees when it is "only" 95-100 out, and when you are sitting and idling you need all the help you can get.

Even at Midnight it'll be 85-90 degree air temp but the actual ambient temp sitting at a red light with the radiant heat is over 105 degrees (according to my trusty little thermometer.)

I am definitely going to replace the OEM T-Stat while I have everything apart though - that is a great point. I have the Reische 170 degree stat on the way set to arrive with the rest of the parts.

I roped a friend into helping me for the weekend, so not only am I going to install the Fluidyne Radiator and Heat Exchanger and associated parts, but I am going to install the Whipple too. I am pretty excited about that.

From my experience when I had the Fluidyne, in our 90F - 95F degree humidity, and running a 25/75 coolant to water mix...there was a slight reduction in temps. It wasn't anything substantial. I saw better reduction in temps by changing the t-stat. In theory these aftermarket radiators sound like they are going to put a serious dent in temps just based on the shear volume they hold over an oem radiator, but they don't drastically reduce the temps on the street the way you'd think for the size of the radiator.

 

[SonicBlueOval]

That was my understanding from 3 years of college chemistry (Pure water is not conductive, it is the salts in the water that conduct electricity), but distilled water is more corrosive (and that is the issue here - not conductivity) - it is looking to dissolve something where the filtered water has some mineral and other content to it. I've read multiple places and multiple radiator companies are specifying the filtered drinking water. Since the have to warranty them there has to be something to it.

I do know from a plumbing perspective (like with your hot tub) you add calcium to get the water to a certain hardness as overly soft water (like distilled water) corrodes the heating element and other metal parts where harder water does not. I am assuming it is the same principle here.

It isn't the conductivity that is apparently the issue but the relative corrosive-ness of the fluid.

I apologize for my misunderstanding. I thought you had stated it was more conductive, thats my bad. That said I guess I'm still confused as to why distilled water would be bad. The corrosive properties should be somewhat relative to the conductivity. I can understand de-ionized water causing corrosion because it is trying to reach a neutral state, but distilled water is pretty much already in its neutral state, which should limit corrosion.

Anyway, I dont wanna hijack this thread so I'll just search for the threads Jimmy mentioned

 

[Jimmysidecarr]

That was my understanding from 3 years of college chemistry (Pure water is not conductive, it is the salts in the water that conduct electricity), but distilled water is more corrosive (and that is the issue here - not conductivity) - it is looking to dissolve something where the filtered water has some mineral and other content to it. I've read multiple places and multiple radiator companies are specifying the filtered drinking water. Since the have to warranty them there has to be something to it.

I do know from a plumbing perspective (like with your hot tub) you add calcium to get the water to a certain hardness as overly soft water (like distilled water) corrodes the heating element and other metal parts where harder water does not. I am assuming it is the same principle here.

It isn't the conductivity that is apparently the issue but the relative corrosive-ness of the fluid.

BINGO!!! Distilled water is just plain hungry. It is hungry for a sort of ionic molecular snack and once some/most of those ions are satisfied with a few minerals, as in drinking water minerals and not Aluminum molecules, it seems to calm down quite a bit.

Yet once any corrosion starts up, the Galvanic type of corrosion seems to not be very far behind.

Virgin brand new Aluminum radiators when exposed to a 50/50 water antifreeze mix and enough heat cycles will take on a chemical patina that aids in resisting corrosion when later exposed to a straight water plus wetter service mixture. Without this thin coating new radiators are much more susceptible to corrosion and especially Galvanic corrosion.

A classic example of this would be ultra light, very expensive, racing radiators for water cooled motorcycles. These guys are actually having as bad a time with this issue as we are, possibly a worse time, given the speed that they sometimes get eaten up and the price of each radiator.

 

[rudycobra]

Another fludyne is garbage ! Yes I installed it correctly and had nothing touching it and uses bottled water 50/50 with coolant

 

[03vertsnake]

I had a problem a little while ago with my Fluidyne. It was leaking from 2 spots and them when it was pressurized at a radiator shop it ended up that it was leaking from 4 spots. I called Fluidyne and they put me on the phone with someone who claimed to be the owner and he said that he is aware of the problems that exist and he was not willing to do anything about it.
I ended up taking out and scrapping it and replaced it with an OEM one, a Hypertech 160*, refilled the system with coolant from Ford and added some Purple Ice and the car stays perfectly cool.

I would never buy another product from Fluidyne