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3 Core vs. 2 Core Radiators

Jeep9717

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Minnesota
Ive been looking at getting a new radiator for the reason that alot of my fins are bent and its been getting hotter than usual (around 210-215 but i plan on replacing my AC this summer). Ive heard alot about the GDI 3 core radiator, some good, some bad. Ive also heard some good things on the 2 core aluminum radiators. Also, what kind of price differences am i going to expect for each?
 
I paid $211 for a brass/copper 3 core sent to my door from Radiator.com last year. The only issue that I have had is that in the winter, sometimes I have to cover most of the grill area, or the XJ will never get to temp. I got lucky, and ended up with an actual Modine. I went with the brass/copper so that I don't have to worry about plastic sides tanks bursting, and ease of trail repair.
 
I couldn't be happier with my CSF 3 row. I bought it from Dirk at DPG Offroad. IIRC, I paid $155.

www.dpgoffroad.com


Hale
 
Had a 2 row CSF, had a small leak (after 5 years) bought a 3 row CSF....190 on the freeway in dead stop traffic in souther california...I like it, but then again I never had a cooling problem with the 2 row either.....
 
If you can try to get the specs on the tubes in the radiator I got mine from radiatorbarn.com its a CSF 3-row and I went with it because the tubes were bigger than the 2 row. I think as long as it upgraded it will work just fine stick with all-metal 2 or 3 core and be done. The debate is endless
 
I am running a 3-core copper brass radiator that I got from Radiator dot com for around $140. I have been very pleased with it so far. If there is enough air running through it you can watch the temp gauge drop.
Airflow is the single most important factor in engine cooling. The more air that flows through the raditor, the more heat it will dissipate.
The things that really matter on a radiator are total cooling tube and fin surface area and airflow efficiency through the radiator. The more tube surface area the more heat that can be exchanged. Some radiators have 3 rows of tubes that are smaller than stock and don't make for much added surface area. On the other hand, there are 2 row radiators with large wide tubes that have lots of surface area. One thing that is being done is called "tube dimpling", this is where the tube is dimpled like the surface of a golf ball. this dramatically increases the surface area of the tube without making the tube bigger, therefore increasing the cooling ability of the tube without hurting fluid flow.
Now, copper transfers a greater amount of heat than other metals. Aluminum, however, transfers heat faster and is less prone to corrosion under most conditions. Also it is much lighter than copper brass radiators. I wish the manufacturers had ratings for total cooling surface area or some kind of benchmarked cooling efficiency rating, it would make choosing a radiator much easier.
 
Same here - A GDI three core, brass, from Radiator. It certainly cools things down when I can get the intermittent elec fan to work. In heavy stop and go rural postal delivery it would do the job.

The relay bypass to make the fan run worked good, too. I think it's high resistance in the wiring that causes the relay to fail to trip. Just touch it and it runs.

The radiator does the job, now for some hood vents.
 
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