Just wondering is there a particular method for restricting the airflow into the radiators on an SR3/8. I've noticed there are little fittings top and bottom of the intake, where presumably something clips onto.
Can anyone shed any light on this?
Yes. There are screens that are made to attach to those fittings. I don’t know why the previous owner would have removed them. The recommend method to control the air flow to the radiators is to put strips of duct tape on the screens. My SE3 worked best with 1.5 strips of tape.
As Charley said some grills go in there to help protect radiators.
Blocking radiators for temp is done with tape.
More importantly I spot classic Suzuki colours, pics of the rest of the car please!?
Thanks for the replies. I have some mesh that might be suitable for the job.
Reading around the subject it seems that sometimes the gearbox oil is difficult to get up to temperature, so it's probably best to have the right hand side restricted a lot more than the left hand side, to prevent lots of air going through the oil cooler.
Dan, that sticker is just a backing frame for where the numbers are stuck on - the colours are just a coincidence!
Steven, When I took my side pod off I was amazed how much rubber made it past the screen. You can see toward the back of this picture the intake screen and how much I blocked it off with duct tape to keep the engine temperature in the proper range.
Wow, that's a lot of tyre. Perhaps the mesh acts as a cheese grater...
😉
Anyone have photos of how much tape on the screens? These vehicles are too efficient at cooling when the temps are dropping now.
@stephen ... certainly never had a problem getting the GDU/gearbox temp up on mine... in fact quite the opposite. I've got some of those stick on temperature guides and they tell me the outside surface of the GDU is reaching over 110 degrees C (230 F). I guess actual oil temp is well over 120 deg C!
...I now blank the back of the engine oil radiator only (from the engine bay side) instead of blanking the mesh in the sidepod which restricts air flow to both coolers. That way I'm only blanking engine oil cooler... and leaving the GDU cooler completely unrestricted.... a much better solution in my opinion.
For reference, Tasmania's average maximum summer temperatures range between 17 and 23°C (62-73° F).. but peak at 30+ degrees C... while winter temperatures of between 3° and 11°Celsius (37- 51° F).
@charleyhradicalsportscarregistry-com ... here's my solution to that happening... Nothing a bit of 'fly-screen' material won't fix... and the restriction to air flow isn't a problem in our climate here in Tasmania... still run blanking on the engine oil cooler and the left hand sidepod where the water radiator is located.
Almost zero gets past this into the sidepod.
@nautoncall ....
See other recent replies for Tasmania's climate which will determine if this is relevant for you... As mentioned in the other posts, I only blank the sidepod mesh on the Left Hand Side... On the oil cooler(s) side I separately blank the engine bay side of the engine oil cooler... not the whole sidepod inlet.... this lets the GDU oil cooler get full flow always....
Thanks.
