Basic Questions: Straight Answers

Our 15+ years of experience in the automotive and equipment cooling industry provides a solid foundation for the way we do business and the way we design and manufacture custom products for automotive enthusiasts. These are some of the questions we're most often asked. If you don't see an answer you're looking for, it is our aim to serve as a resource to answer your questions. Simply email or call us and we'll get an answer for you quickly.

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Answer:
It is true that Copper does dissipate heat better than aluminum, but the benefits are in the design differences. Because aluminum is much stronger than copper aluminum core manufactures are able to make the tubes up to 1.50" wide, opposed to .50" wide for a copper tube. The benefit of this extra tube width comes from the additional contact that is created between the fins and the tubes, as there are less spaces or voids between the tubes (due to a fewer amount of tubes). If you take a look at a cut away section of copper brass radiator that is 2.25" thick, then multiply the number of tubes in a row by the width of the tubes you will find that there is a total of 1.50" of "contact" between the fins and the tubes on every row. Now, do the same evaluation on a 2.25" aluminum core and you will find that there is 2.0" of "contact". That is 33% more "contact" than the copper brass. This is critical as the fins accomplish a large percentage of the heat dissipation. The less contact between the fin and tubes, the less effective the fins.

Another benefit of the wider, aluminum, tubes is that a larger volume of coolant is now placed inside the core, were the heat dissipation is occurring.
Between the additional contact between the fins and tubes, the additional fluid in the core, and the additional contact between the fluid and the tubes you can expect to see at least a 25% increase in the heat transfer capabilities of an aluminum radiator over a copper/ brass of the same thickness.
In addition to performance benefits of the aluminum radiators is the obvious weight difference which can be as much as 50% in many cases.
When considering a new radiator, ask a lot of questions. If your dealer believes the only difference between the copper/brass and aluminum is the cost, look somewhere else. Anyone suggesting you deviate from an original brass copper radiator either doesn't know any better or just wants to sell you what's in stock. A good radiator is the only way to protect your engine from excessive heat.

Before we begin, let's think about how much we have invested in our engines ....yes, perhaps thousands of dollars!

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Answer:
No, not necessarily. The important factor is the amount of heat dissipation surface the core has. The coolant flow direction is not important. Many aluminum radiator manufactures make "cross flow conversions" for many original down flow radiators. Although these radiators will cool better than the original, they do not look, mount, or fit like the original These cross flow conversion can require anything from new hoses to major sheet metal modifications. Cross flow conversions are the easiest and cheapest to design and manufacture. An installer must consider the cost of additional modifications that are needed when considering a cross flow conversion. Although Wizard Cooling is fully capable of producing cross flow radiator our primary focus is to design a build a radiator that will be configured like your original, fit the original radiator mounts, and cool what ever horsepower you have.

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Answer:
No, running a lower temperature thermostat will not bring down engine temperatures, it only controls OPENING TEMPERATURES. The only "benefit" is that you have now increased the amount of time it will take for your vehicle to reach operating temperature. A thermostat is supposed to modulate, just like the thermostat in your house turns the furnace on and off. When the coolant reaches the thermostat setting it opens and lets coolant go through the radiator. The radiator, if capable, will drop the temperature down to a point the thermostat modulates.

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Answer:
The big three put a lot of time and testing into flow rates to calculate maximum performance to match the engine with the radiators. The test results show a DEFINED window of efficiency, anything less and anything more CAN be a deterrent to cooling.

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Answer:
The effects, if any, of these additives are very rarely enough to solve any cooling issue.

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Answer:
Running a higher pound pressure cap than standard will only serve to increase boiling points, which does benefit the cooling system to a small degree, but it can increase the degradation of the major cooling components, particularly the radiator.

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Answer:
Yes! Today's electric fans have the capability of pulling and/or pushing more air through your radiator while you're at a stop light than your original motor driven fan can pull through while driving at 50 miles an hour. Another fact to consider is that by replacing the motor driven fan with an electric fan YOU WILL GAIN HORSEPOWER.

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Answer:
Our customers insist on these important standard wizard cooling features:

• Designed to fit like the OEM radiators.
• Our products are designed to fit the original radiator mounting positions.
• Requiring no sheet metal modifications by the installer.
• If the original radiator was a down flow, our radiator will be a down flow.

Frequently Asked Questions