aluminium vs standard radiator comparison

[.]

Has anybody weighed an aluminium radiator and compared the weight to a standard 3 core radiator? If so what is the weight difference.

 

I guess its not quite that simple though. If the aluminium radiator capacity is bigger then it would hold more water which in turn would add weight???

 

What I am really trying to understand is whether the overall weight of the car would be altered by swapping to an aluminum radiator? Even if it only saves 1KG I'd still consider it.

 

By the way, anyone tried those cheap chinese radiators? If so what are the reports?

[George]

 

Even if it only saves 1KG I'd still consider it.

 

 

That's hardcore.

 

Anyway, the main benefit of an ally radiator is cooling and strength. Bad is repairs and cost. Copper needs to be thinner for heat to dissipate properly which makes it weaker but they are easier to repair. They are joined by solder rather than weld as in ally. Tubes are thicker in ally because the metal is lighter and with thicker tubes you get better cooling.

[George]

Has anybody weighed an aluminium radiator and compared the weight to a standard 3 core radiator? If so what is the weight difference.

 

Btw it's hard to do that because a same tube 2 core ally will cool as well as a same tube 5 core copper. To compare weight you would need to compare two radiators with the same cooling properties and I dare say the weight difference will be fairly close. I could be wrong but I rarely am... haha jks

 

Point is the ally radiators cool so well that you don't have to get the same core as you would with a copper so yes there will be a weight saving and no the volume of water will not add weight (opposite really) because it will be a smaller radiator relative to cooling.

[Zedman240®]

If you asked this question a couple of weeks ago, I couldv'e answered it! Had my ally one out of the car and have a spare 240Z original radiator laying around..There doesn't seem to be a huge difference, but if you can wait a little, uinless someone else answers it, I can.

[Quandary]

I would understand if the engine itself uses some aluminium parts but I have doubts that better cooling will be all that much beneficial.  When I had overheating issues I had the core done and it now sits nicely in the 80's... where it should be?

[sco_aus]

yeh between 84 and 95 is where it should be (debatable).

Alloy is an advantage also due to lack of corrosion, no one likes brown radiator water clogging up their system.

[V8Datto]

yeh between 84 and 95 is where it should be (debatable).

Alloy is an advantage also due to lack of corrosion, no one likes brown radiator water clogging up their system.

 

I think you will find aluminium will corrode even before the iron block does,

 

and copper is way above both on them

[sco_aus]

Plenty of friends have them, none have corroded.  I have had plenty of normal ones and they all have corroded.  Remember I am in canberra, not a lot of salt around here, electrical currents are what usually ruins them.  Just going off my experiences.

[V8Datto]

I'm not saying that the alloy will fail, I'm saying as a metal it will corrode quicker than the Cast iron and copper.

 

That brown comes from the Iron block corrosion, Copper corrodes green.

 

Electrolysis is the problem and alloy will sacrifice it's self for the other metals in the engine cooling system. that's not to say the Cast iron and copper won't rust it just slows it down.

 

There's nothing wrong with alloy radiator's they work fine, if your worried about corrosion add Tin into your cooling system somewhere, it will sacrifice it's self for all most every metal there is.

[V8Datto]

When you have metals joined with a liquid like car cooling systems, the metals produce electricity causing the corrosion

 

 

This is how a dry cell battery works

 

For a battery produce electricity. The + terminal of the battery is a corrosion-resistant metal while the - terminal is a less corrosion-resistant metal and therefore corrodes. This makes the power in the battery. When the least corrosion-resistant metal is corroded away, the battery is dead.

 

So when you think about it our engines are big batterys slowley corroding away from the inside.

 

The best way to stop it is to use one metal for the entire engine and cooling system.

 

alloy block, alloy heads, alloy radiator.

[sco_aus]

Thanks man, that puts it in perspective for me.

[DAT392]

I have a dessert cooler aluminium rad in my zed.They specifically told me to run vn coolant at all times and to rubber bush mount it to stop any current.Five years old ,touch wood no probs.Every manufacturer should tell you how to run their radiator,you"d hope.