difference in GU radiators

[SilverBulletBM]

hey all,
My mate has a gu ute 4.2td intercooled model that has an overheating problem, suprise suprise. I had a quick look at it and found that it has a piss small radiator!

I have a 02 non intercooled model and my radiator is freakin massive compared to his, even his brothers non turbo'd ute has a bigger radiator then his. He took it to some place out bush (he lives 7 hrs from brisvegas) and they said that they cant fit a bigger radiator in.

From what i can see the only thing that is different between the fitment of mine and his is the A/C condensor lines are in the way to fit the bigger radiator, he has an expansion tank on the inner passenger guard, and on the inlet pipe i have a hole that has been blocked off while his looks like it runs a pipe up to the turbo or back of block??.

I was just wondering if his radiator is the correct one cause from what ive read it doesnt sound like it, and what other ppl have done to fit the bigger radiator in. From what i can see it just replace a/c lines to the ones i have and block of the inlet pipe hole.

Also someone told me bout modified waterpumps for these things, anyone got any info on it?

[thunder]

i have an 04 gu ute .. I put in a commodore radiator.. friggin excellent. even put a high mount winch up front and flog it and still no overheating..

[simcoe]

as far as i know the zd30 has the biggest radiator!(got one with my v8 gu), should help in solving your problems!

cheers'

[turbo gu]

All the non intercooled 4.2td run a short but wide radiator but the intercooled ones run a narrow but almost twice the height of the narrow one. the radiators aren't that different it size.
My intercooled ute ran standard radiator with more fuel and boost on 37's with standard diff ratios with a high mount winch and 240 xgt lightforces in front of it and never had a problem with it.
If the car is overheating I would be looking for the fault with cooling system not just blamming the radiator just because you think its too small.
The overheating issues was more with early models with the wider radiator

I have just fitted up the early model radiator to my ute to gain clearance under the front of the car. It is easy enough to fit but you have to make new lower mounts as the radiator support is different. Also the top mounts need to be changed, the intercooler bracket also needs to be modified.
If you get the a/c lines off the non intercooled model they bolt straight in.
Just remove the header tank and block off the outlet on the lower radiator hose outlet of the motor. You must use the radiator cap off the header tank not the cap on the radiator

[turbo gu]

as far as i know the zd30 has the biggest radiator!(got one with my v8 gu), should help in solving your problems!

cheers'

There is only 2 size radiators. either the short and wide or the tall and narrow models. They might have different inlet and outlet locations. Core sizes will be the same.
From memory they started changing them when the 4.8 petrol motor came out .

[sw1]

it should be skinny and extremely tall. if not the wrong one is in

i agree with turbo gu.
If the car is overheating I would be looking for the fault with cooling system not just blamming the radiator just because you think its too small.

removing the pressurised reservoir will have a detrimental effect. as you are removing coolant capacity from the system.

radiator aside - first thing i would start with is a new radiator caps for the pressurised sections. - cheap as chips
then if nothing changes i would put new nissan coolant in it at the right mix. with a drain & flush to get all the crap out of the radiator core & block

i have found the coolant system to work rather well, even when towing over 3t up the freeway at speed out of adelaide

[SilverBulletBM]

I dont see how the radiator could be any longer then the one i have in my car, it goes from top to bottom, and from side to side. Basicly the whole space in the front is filled by radiator. The one in this ute isnt so im starting to think that something may have happened before he purchased it and they've put the wrong one in.

The ute is a farm vehicle, often tows way too much on slow dirt roads and also on highways. It will overheat randomly. It will start to get hot at 100kph, the thermo kicks in and it starts to boil.

It has had the radiator removed and cleaned out/tested by some radiator joint and it made no difference. I think that it mayb more then the radiator being too small, but the need for the car to stay as cool as possible in crappy remote locations is a must. The bigger the radiator the better, which is why i was questioning the process of swapping it. Im assuming that the caps hold different pressures, are thermostats different as well? Im just trying to get as much info and parts required as possible before i go out there to check it out, i cant extactly go for a quick drive down the road to pick up some parts if ive forgotten something, so any suggestions are welcome.

Also do the intercooled models have egr valves? Its gutless as so im thinking if they do then mayb one is leaking constantly causing both problems.

Thanks to all for the help and the quick relpys.

Cheers
Aaron

[turbo gu]

the one in your mates car goes down out below the chassis rails by about 20 plus cms. where as your car sits above the chassis by about 10/15cms. Trust me the narrow ones are just about the same core size. I had both types side by side last weekend. IMHO the taller radiator will work better as the water spendsmore time in the core as it has to travel further from tank to tank

The later models have a higher pressure cap on the header tank. If the truck is only overheating now there will be a problem with rest of the system.
Is the a/c condensor blocked preventing air getting thru?
Has the entire system been properly flushed?
Is the thermostat opening?
If the car is gutless are the injectors leaking causing it to run rich and run hot?
The egr's generally block up not leak.

[BowTieGQ]

On the ones that are vertical, the tanks are top and bottom. The horizontal ones have the tanks on left and right. The vertical ones are slightly larger but personaly, not enough to bother changing for the sake of better cooling. They do hang a lot lower as stated. Bit too low I feel.

All 4.8's have them and from about 2003ish everything got them.

[turbo gu]

On the ones that are vertical, the tanks are top and bottom. The horizontal ones have the tanks on left and right. The vertical ones are slightly larger but personaly, not enough to bother changing for the sake of better cooling. They do hang a lot lower as stated. Bit too low I feel.

All 4.8's have them and from about 2003ish everything got them.

All GU radiators have the tanks top and bottom. GQ's had tanks at each end

[BowTieGQ]

I was told this just Saturday. Guess he's wrong. Thanks.

[Farva]

hey turbo gu can you chuck up some photos of the mods you had to do tofit the wider radiator in to get more clearance, im looking at doing the same thing when i get my tube bar made up for the ute.

[turbo gu]

hey turbo gu can you chuck up some photos of the mods you had to do tofit the wider radiator in to get more clearance, im looking at doing the same thing when i get my tube bar made up for the ute.

The only mods you have to do is make some new lower mounts and move the top mounts. Also change the a/c pipe from the compressor to the condensor. I'll try to post the photos tonight or tommorrow

[turbo gu]

hey turbo gu can you chuck up some photos of the mods you had to do tofit the wider radiator in to get more clearance, im looking at doing the same thing when i get my tube bar made up for the ute.

Here are the lower mounts that i made up they were welded on to the radiator support . Clearance wise it all fits in apart from the a/c line from the compressor to the condensor.

Also shows the clearance difference once you chop out the crossmember and how exposed the radiator is.

[Farva]

cheers for that turbo

im looking at scrapping the aircon anyway so that bits not a problem. where abouts did you weld the new mounts to? any chance of getting some more pics up. as for the radiator hoses did you just get them from the turbo non intercooled model?

cheers

[turbo gu]

cheers for that turbo

im looking at scrapping the aircon anyway so that bits not a problem. where abouts did you weld the new mounts to? any chance of getting some more pics up. as for the radiator hoses did you just get them from the turbo non intercooled model?

cheers

The mounts were welded to the radiator support. Once the radiator was out its easy. Don't have many photos of it. I used the top and bottom hoses of the non intercooled model.