Overheating Issues with My SR: A Solution

I'm still running my SR and I'm probably still going to be running it for a little while while we're finishing the 2J swap. Rather than constantly overheating the engine and potentially doing damage, why not fix it so I can get it running perfectly and preserve the life of the SR? My car pretty much stays in Florida, which means I can run a very large water-to-decoolant ratio, making it easier to drain the coolant on my driveway.

Removing the old radiator is extremely self-explanatory - just have to pull the two silicone hoses off and disconnect the fans. There are two bolts that hold the radiator in place; make sure you don't lose these little rubber pieces, as they're both on the top and the bottom of the radiator. Last time I changed a radiator, I lost them, which was not fun.

I'm going to be installing an MIMOTO X-Line 3R radiator and their fan shroud kit. Initially, I reached out to them trying to figure out some sort of cooling solution for my 240. Alberto told me that their race fans push like crazy air, but with my little SR, they thought that their X-Line radiator paired with their fan shroud kit should be enough for the Florida heat.

The fans come assembled onto the shroud, which is nice - they've already got connectors on them. However, I think I'm going to have to change them because the ones I have in my car right now are different. The new radiator is super light, so we've got the radiator, the fans assembled on the shroud, some weather stripping that'll go between the fans and the radiator, and then the hardware to attach the Shroud to the radiator.

Cooling System Basics

A radiator works in a very simple way: coolant from the engine flows from one side to the other, and all of these little fins increase surface area so that heat can disperse. Air flow is also important because it cools those fins when you're driving. My car has been in a front end accident before, which might be why the radiator doesn't seem to sit perfectly straight.

Installing a New Radiator

Installing a radiator is one of the few things I've actually done before a couple of times, mostly because I've had so many overheating problems with this car. It's very easy and straightforward; if you've never done something like this under the hood with a car, it's definitely a good starter project. Upgrading to a different radiator is also common on Miatas.

However, bleeding the system is always the most important part that I've messed up in the past. If there's air in your coolant, what happens is your temp readings are wrong because it's reading steam - your engine isn't getting coolant because there's air in the system and it's just a big whole mess. With some cars, you jack up the front end, undo the cap, let the car run while you fill up with coolant; sometimes you can squeeze these lines to bubble away the air. It's also important to top off your overflow because when it cools down, it'll suck some of the fluid in from there.

Conclusion

I made a mess and got to clean up - I've got to pack my car because I'm going to drive at an event tonight, but it's like a family day tomorrow with Nicole and her family. I won't be filming for that one; instead, I'll split it into two different videos. I hope you guys like my little install; simple but fun.

I want to know if there's any way you could want me to change the style or format of this video because I'm going to be installing bash bars, a new body kit, and possibly even some other little things this week. Came back hyped and motivated from that Texas trip, trying to get my 240 dialed in, and for all you people who are going to ask what's happening with the 2J - why aren't we putting the 2J in? We're waiting on parts; there's no point working on the 2J when we don't have the parts that we need.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enyou might remember that I've been having issues with my car overheating for what seems like ages and today I'm going to do something about it you might be wondering why I would even buy bother trying to get my Sr to run right when we're eventually going 2J well the thing is I'm still running the SR and I'm probably still going to be running the SR for a little while while we are finishing the 2J swap so rather than constantly overheating the engine and potentially doing damage why not fix it so I can get it running perfectly and preserve the life of the SR since my car pretty much stays in Florida I'm able to run a very large water de coolant ratio so it's not the biggest deal to drain it on the driveway although in theory you should be disposing of all chemicals properly sorry removing the old radiator is extremely self-explanatory just have to pull the two silicone hoses off and disconnect the fans there's two bolts right here that hold the radiator in place make sure you don't lose these little rubber pieces they're both on the top and the bottom and last time I changed a radiator I lost them which is not fun today I'm going to be installing a mimoto xline 3 R radiator and their fan shroud kit I reached out to them initially trying to figure out some sort of cooling solution for my 240 Alberto told me that their race fans push like crazy air but with my little Sr they thought that their xline radiator paired with their fan shroud kit should be enough for the Florida heat see what we're working with here so it looks like the fans already come assembled onto the Shroud which is nice they've already got connectors on them but I think I'm going to have to change them because the ones I have in the car right now are different radiator is super light so we've got the radiator the fans assembled on the Shroud some weather stripping that'll go between the fans and the radiator and then the hardware to attach the Shroud to the radiator if you don't understand how a radiator works it is super super simple coolant from the engine flows from one side to the other and all of these little fins increase surface area so the heat can disperse when you're driving and you have air flow that's good because it cools those fins but when you come to a stop that's when you might hear your fans kick on because there's no air flow that needs to keep it cool but with drifting you're going sideways so there usually isn't that good of air flow to the front end of the car so having a good Radiator in fans is super important the fans just attached to the back of the radiator and when they go on they pull air through it keeping it cool I was warned to check the plug before I put it in because they come hand tight which is an easy thing to miss so I'm going to tighten that up real quick before I forget old versus the new I believe my old radiator was a two row this one's a three row quite honestly I really don't know anything about the lifespan that that old radiator has had because it was on the car when I got it it's an old Isis radiator and it's done the trick but now that I'm pushing more power out of my car and I'm like sitting at Red Line the whole time my temps will creep up to like 220 230 if I run two laps in a row it sucks having to go on cool Downs all the time so I'm hoping that the new radiator will cool it down it's also very easy to forget these little rubber gromets that are on the bottom of the radiator as well you got to take these off and switch them to the new radiator not to mention it's also 100 times prettier than this old hunk junk shiny not shiny luckily I have some nice connectors laying around to match the ones that are in the car so I get to take these ones off strip The Wire the connectors on crimp test to make sure they don't fly away and then heat shrink them on should really be using a heat gun I just don't feel like pulling mine under the drawer right now this just makes it so the connector can't really pull off the cables easily when it's snug up on the wire it's always nice to clean your engine B when you have your radiator out cuz there's obviously way less stuff in the way God my intercooler is disgusting that's definitely next to my list time to drop her in all right so it's sitting in there all nice I'm just going to hook up the fans real quick to test them and make sure they work before I go any further the Moment of Truth we have airf flow now you just want to zip tie these wires to like the fans just that way they don't really you know hit anything important I could be wrong but I think it has something to do with the fact that my car has been in a front end accident before if you notice the radiator like sits a little bit crooked nothing ever seems to line up right the front of my car but the good thing is the frame is not pent solid put the silicone hose back in there isn't a ton of pressure so I know you don't want to overtighten these please don't make fun of my puny funnel that's all that I have time to fill her up dang this thing takes a lot of cooling installing a radiator is one of the few things I've actually done before a couple of times actually cuz I've had so many overheating problems with this car it's very easy very straightforward and if you've never done something like very under the hood with a car definitely a good starter I know a lot of you guys have Miatas and those radiators suck so like upgrading to a different radiator is very common with those cars but the most important part that I always have messed up in the past is bleeding it because if you have air in your coolant what happens is your temp readings are wrong because it's reading steam your engine's not getting coolant because there's air in the system and it's just a big whole mess with the SR it's simple I can bleed it right here on the water neck but with some cars you jack up the front end undo the cap let the car run while you filled up with coolant sometimes you can squeeze these lines bubble bubble bubble and it's just a process all done also important to top off your overflow cuz when it cools down it'll suck some of the fluid in from there I made a mess I got to clean up I got to pack my car because I'm going to drive at an event tonight but it's like a family day tomorrow with Nicole and her family so I'm not going to film so I'm going to split that into two different videos I hope you guys like my little install simple but a lot of fun let me know if there's any way that you could want me to change the style or format of this video because I'm going to be installing bash bars a new body kit and possibly even some other little things this week came back hyped and motivated from that Texas trip trying to get my 240 dialed in and for all you people are going to ask what's happening with the 2J why aren't you putting the 2J in we are waiting on parts there's no point working on the 2J when we don't have the parts that we need to work on the 2J race car life thank you guys and I will see you tomorrow me me nobody knows you like I do I do\n"