MY11 Defender Radiator Upgrade

**Bush65** · 4th May 2013, 07:39 AM

Originally Posted by Bess

Thanks to everybody for there thoughts on this one. My research continues.
So if my wing top raised intake vents are in a " still air " pocket I guess there not doing much at all! Must do more research!!

Regards Chris.
P.S; Oh & Bess of course the recipient of this wealth of knowledge!

The 'moral of the story is' you should be getting cool air into the engine bay via the radiator only, and hot air out of the engine bay via any other likely orifice.

Land Rover use one of the opening on top of the left wing for cabin ventilation and the other is there for similar use in left hand drive vehicles. The unused vent opening should not be used as an air inlet for the engine bay, but could be an option if used as a hot air outlet.

**tacr2man** · 5th May 2013, 06:15 AM

It has become a common practice to have a water oil intercooler on modern engines to increase the speed of warm up/temp equalisation for emission purposes. This can be a bit of a negative same as transcoolers in engine rads , as it increases the heat load in the radiator. If you are having/forsee a problem , which you seem to have in problem with getting a bigger radiator then I would suggest that you fit an aftermarket engine oil cooler. These are very effective considering their small size. (A "air cooled" VW engine is really an "oil cooled" engine) . If you have aircon fitted then moving the condensor from infront of the radiator , say to a rooftop unit will also improve the usability of the vehicle in extremes eg when climbing dunes in 45C . HTSH

**slug_burner** · 5th May 2013, 10:35 AM

If you go down the radiator upgrade path you might want to consider redback radiators. I can't recall if they are the ones that do the dimpled tubes but I recall a bit of discussion by one of the forum sage Rick130 on redback cores. Apparently they service the mining industry and do copper and bronze cores. I had a look at their website but did not see ref to the dimples.

**FANTOM P38** · 5th May 2013, 01:47 PM

I recently upgraded my radiator to a H/duty full aluminium one made to be a straight swap out with standard. I purchased from Aussie Desert Coolers in Thomastown-Victoria. They also incorporated a top bleed valve to make bleeding system easier. See my earlier post on this including photos.
Since install cae runs consistently cooler than ever before and my needle has not budged offroad on warmer days unlike in past. Installation was a breeze and retained standard factory shroud etc. Cost more than a stock radiator but I belive long term will be worth every cent. They can make to suit any vehicle so would be worth giving them a call. They have extensive experience building for offroad race teams etc! and very good reputation.

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