Hello All,
Though I've searched archived posts, I am not yet convinced that I need to change my radiator, so here 'goes...
I have a '91 L-series with an EA82 motor. I run the car with concentrated coolant and oil at the proper level (though in need of a change). Air temp is around 70F. The rad appears to be in acceptable shape, though a circular section the size of a cooling fan is slightly damaged. There is one cooling fan, though a friend of mine suggested that there may have been a second fan on the car at one point, and that it may have actually caused this damaged section of the rad. Could this be?
While driving in the city or at highway speeds (65mph in 5th gear), the temp gauge sits at about 50% (in the middle of the 'normal' range indicated by the gauge). If I drive at 60mph in 4th gear for a few minutes (once the car is at running temperature), the gauge goes up to
60%. If I've been running for a while, stop at say a traffic light, then accelerate reasonably 'hard' so as to bring the revs up to what I'd guess would be 4500 rpm before changing gears, the temp gauge also goes up to 60%. The other day I did some 4W-driving through deep sand where I had the revs in the 3500-4000 rpm range for a few minutes, the gauge got up to say 75%; after driving conservatively for a while the temp was back to normal in less than 5 minutes.Do I need a new rad? If so, the archived posts suggest I get an old Subaru rad. Do I need to find one that was running on a similar '91 L-series, or any model that had an EA82, or are there other options that would open the door to more prospects?