Alupis

I live in the valley in California and with summer temperatures coming up i would like to increase my cars cooling capacity. I have a 2004 Rx8 with M/T. Our summers regularly reach 105-115 F and i do a lot of driving in traffic so i am naturaly worried about cooling.

They both seem to be better than stock, which i would guess means better cooling. How much cooling? I have found the Mishimoto one on sale for an average of about $185 and i have found the Mizu one priced about the same.

I did find the Mizu one on sale for as low as $131.18, which sparked my interest.
http://www.advancespeedshop.com/mizu...4-p-13586.html

My question is if anyone has any experience with either the Mishimoto or Mizu Aluminum Fan Shroud kits? I have done a lot of searching on the forum but it seems not too many people actualy have posted anything about these.

Does installing this require removal of the nose? what about the engine? Are the cooling effects worth the money? Is my money better spent on an Aluminum Radiator with a radiator screen?

Thanks!

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

if you really have to ask, then the answer is no. Dont waste your money

what you can do (try to do) is maybe switch your coolant mixture to something with more H2O

SleepeR1st

iTrader: (2)

I'm not sure if this would be an advantage with the RX8's dual fan rad setup....BUT....on my FC's, whenever i didn't have the clutch fan shroud installed, they started to develop minor over heating issues.

"Description:

The Mizu Aluminum fan shroud kit is the perfect upgrade to your existing fan shroud and helps cool your engine when used in conjunction with your Mizu aluminum radiator. "

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

that means you either don't own an Rx-8, or you dont know how RX-8 works (mechanically wise)

Lemme "Tell you" that stock car comes with a shroud for Dual fan setup. I forgot the exact cfm for each fan, it was something like 1300-1700 , has couple speed settings depends on coolant temp, sensor located behind the thermostat cover, all ECU controlled

So getting some "aluminum fan shroud" might look pretty, but it doesn't do anything really. Plus you can't even see it cuz it will be blocked by the Battery box & Air box (assume everything else is stock)

bse50

I would spend my money in other cooling mods

VashGS

Yea just need manual fan switch mod. Put the switch into one of the empty slots where the DSC and light dimmer is. Turn fan on when moving slower then 30mph in hot weather if it's not on already from A/C.

shadycrew31

iTrader: (6)

I can see no need for the aluminum shrouds since the plastic ones cover the same area...

Alupis

i think the aluminum is more for looks/lighter weight? mainly i was interested in the fans since both claim higher CFM's than stock... and it would make more sense to order the fans pre-installed in a shroud since i'm mechanically not the best lol. if you guys dont think its worth the money i'll probably go with something else.

do you guys think evan's npg+ waterless coolant would be the best for the money? i've seen the redline waterwetter stuff but i'm not too keen on dumping more/different chemicals into a system that has had 120xxx+ miles of who knows what flowing through it. my thoughts were to do a complete radiator flush using some cleaner from autozone/kragen, and then doing two flushes of the pre-evan's stuff, then going full evan's npg+. thoughts?

shadycrew31

iTrader: (6)

Do a flush with distilled water. coolant should be green if there is any brown in it you have issues.

When you are filling it back up use pre diluted coolant diluted even more. i run the 50/50 prestone diluted down 50% more with distilled water.

Water wetter is a no go I wouldn't use any additives. You can search around for the reasons behind that.

if I were you id get the mazmart upgraded waterpump and thermostat and call it a day.

Alupis

hmm... this sounds like a plan. thanks guys for all the input! one more quick question (i'm sure its been asked before but i'm hung over a the moment and dont want to think lol)... how often should i be changing my coolant for maximum cooling efficientcy? i'm really trying to take care of my car now that i have some extra money and am worried about heat mostly since i can't afford a new engine (i have the original engine still with about 120xxx+ miles) lol. thanks again guys!

Alupis

oh and one more quick thing... adding more distilled water wont cause corrosion? i've always thought that its better to have less water since the chemicals in coolant are designed to prohibit corrosion among other things... which is why i was asking about evan's npg+ waterless coolant... basically i'm trying to make this last lol.

shadycrew31

iTrader: (6)

Have you had the car for all 120k? there's a 99% chance that engine has been replaced at least 3 times. I have 125k on my car and when I pulled the engine I had no water damage whatsoever. most of the places coolant runs through are aluminum anyway. It will not cause corrosion. The only issue you run into is freezing the water will freeze if you like in a very cold climate which you don't.

Anyway if your worried about blowing yrou engine. cooling the engine down another 2 or 5 degrees isn't going to help.

Rotary's suffer in the carbon buildup/shotty oil area more than anything else. if your not changing your oil every 3k with 10w20 or 30 your screwed. 5w-30 just doesn't cut it in the higher mileage engines.

If I were you I'd be prepared to rebuild that engine real soon. Save up around 3 grand for labor and rebuild and possible replacement of internals.

With the rotary its not a case of it will happen, its more of when it will happen. I would get a compression test from mazdatrix it costs around $54 and see where you stand then go from there.

Alupis

Hmm... Good info. Ya it's the original engine with 120xxx... I'm the second owner and I bough it at 98xxx...

Kind of off topic but while on the carbon buildup issue... Is this what the Mazda zoom cleaning foam/seafoam stuff is for? I had someone tell me to clean the engine with that stuff from Mazda and the DIY guide on the forums doesn't look too hard... Will this have any affect on the car's performance/mileage/longevity? Thanks!

shadycrew31

iTrader: (6)

It will improve the car's performance/mileage/longevity.

I bought mine at 96k but these engines get replaced quite often, so we never really know, if you bought it from the owner ask the owner.

If you bought it from the dealer you can assume the person sold their car before the 100k warranty was done.

I would do sea foam cleaning and id do it twice over the next 3 months. then I would go get a compression check.

Alupis

Sounds good. Thanks for all the help and advice guys!

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

save weight ?

seriously, how much u gonna save? like 0.5 lbs ? or even less.

For me it just doesnt make any sense to spend hundreds of dollars just to save that 0.5 lbs or so.

I think TEAM is running Evans NPG+, but I would not recommend it unless you have really deep pockets. Cuz once you use it (and lets not forget the pre-flushing part) , you can't go back. I mean you can go back but as soon as you dump anything other than NPG+ into the bottle, its gonna be completely useless.

For your oil question, you might want to use 10/20w40/50 right now.

Alupis

hmm... i just did an oil change and the guys at my local mazda dealership told me to use 5w-20 even in the weather here in norcal. i should be ok going until the next oil change and then switching to something like 10w-30/40? i currently use Castrol GTX but almost bought the Castrol High Mileage stuff... should i use that instead of a thicker oil? i've read a lot of posts on the forums about oil and i know its a constant debate so i'm not expecting an exact answer lol...

Highway8

iTrader: (11)

Evans NPG-R is not that expensive. It's $25 Per gallon and it will last as long or longer then regular coolant. The flush process is easy. Drain the radiator and the block. Dump a gallon of sierra coolant in the system and use compressed air to blow anything remaining coolant/water out. There are 2 big advantages of using it. 1- Won't boil or have localized boiling which can save you a motor if you blow a hose or reach temps in the 260 range. 2- You can run a lower pressure radiator cap, I run 12 psi, so less strain on hoses, radiator and coolant seals.

An aluminum fan shroud won't do much, if anything at all except look pretty, but if the shroud and fans are lower profile, it may help air flow by making more engine bat space. Similar to removing the battery/battery helps with air flow.

However the biggest question is fan cfm. If the aftermarket fans flow more air then the stock fans, then it would be a useful modifcation.

Razz1

No.. use heavier oil in summer.

Those kits don't work on our cars. But they do work on my 1965 Ford Econline.

A plastic one is just as good and 4x less the cost.

Highway8

iTrader: (11)

I am not saying either kit is worth the money but why don't they work for out cars? The fans are the same size, but if they flow more cfm they would help. Obviously if they flow less then they would be worse.

I just wish I knew the max cfm of the stock fans. I

Highway8

iTrader: (11)

According to a post by MM in another thread the large OE fan is 1700 CFM and the small one is 1250 CFM. So these aftermarket fans are going to be worse then stock. So its a dont do it from me. Spend your money on a mazmart thermostat and waterpump. Then a radiator like BHR or mazmart. And Evans NPG-r get s thumbs up from me too, but it wont run cooler, just a safety net.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

Dont buy any high mileage stuff, all they did is they added some Brake Fluid into their mixture, it makes the seals swell. That's all.

most dealerships are loaded with morons, but honestly speaking they have to listen to "recommended" stuff cuz they dont want to hold any responsibilities.

You can use whatever you want. I use 20w50 100% PAO or ESTER BASED SYNTHETIC OIL ONLY. bite me

shadycrew31

iTrader: (6)

Thats cause your a nooooob! naow put yer noob hat on!

RX8fest

there's an interesting article in import tuner this month on radiators. They dynoed an evo with the stock rad then with an aftermarket (don't remember the brand). The aftermarket rad was a few degrees cooler during the first test. For the second test they sat the evo at 4k rpm and a few pounds of boost to simulate an uphill trek and the coolant going into and leaving the aftermarket was 5-7 degrees cooler than stock.

Most of my interest has been in the lighter weight of the aluminum radiators. Cooling i don't see too much point in a few degrees, but racers want to drop every pound they can off the car.

As far as Mizu vs. Mishimoto goes, has anyone seen those Mizu parts?! Totally insane! Every single on of their radiators and fan shrouds are hand-welded, and don't even get me started on the silicone hoses. i can't believe they're the same price, or even cheaper than Mishimoto.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

YOU NOOB !



...

I dont think you get a lot of "weight savings" from an Aluminum Radiator. in the older days when they still use Brass radiator then yea, but now days, not really.

Plus sometimes you can't get certain results from a Dyno.