The Cool Factor

Cooling Tools for Longer Engine Life

By Jonathan Wong, Maurice Durand

Photography by Jonathan Wong

By their very nature, internal combustion engines create enough heat to damage themselves if that heat is not somehow dissipated. Prototype vehicles are tested in a variety of climates to ensure that their cooling systems, when functioning properly, will do a good job of transporting heat from the motor. Coolant, usually a mixture of antifreeze and water, is pushed through the engine by a water pump.

The coolant passes through water jackets and passages in the engine block and cylinder head, absorbing heat from the cast metals. Then the super-heated mixture passes from the engine into the radiator. In most Hondas, the radiator features an aluminum core with plastic end tanks whose tubes and fin construction increase the cooling surface that makes contact with the onrush of incoming air.

The waters temperature is reduced considerably as it passes through these air-cooled tubes and fins, and returns to the engine to absorb more heat. Oil, another vital engine fluid, lubricates friction surfaces and limits the heat produced by this contact. To a lesser degree, engine oil also does its fair share of retaining the heat created from the friction of metal components. Engine oil viscosity and cooling capability can be better preserved if the temperature does not reach a point beyond 225 degrees at the oil inlet. Ultimately, controlling both coolant and oil temperatures results in a greater capability for those elements to better protect components from excess heat. This, in turn, prolongs engine life.

Modifying a motor to create more power with increased compression ratio and cylinder pressures creates higher cylinder head temperatures and greater demands on the cooling system. In many cases, the heat that is generated surpasses the stock cooling systems capability of removing it from the piping hot engine. Luckily, the aftermarket is addressing this issue. Fluidynes all-aluminum Integra replacement radiator helps to reduce increased water temperatures. The aluminum construction dissipates heat better than the plastic, factory version. And with its oversized rows and increased fins the surface area of metal exposed to incoming air can more effectively transfer heat from the coolant. The new aluminum radiators are a bolt-on for 94-and-up Integras in order to accommodate the Integra transplant. Your Civic should be fine with their Civic-specific kit even with a bigger engine but we chose to go all out since the car already had the A/C removed.

In an attempt to further lower engine temperatures, we installed a GReddy oil-cooler kit for a 94-and-up Integra. The oil cooler works much the same way as the radiator providing a finned, aluminum surface, albeit smaller than the radiators, for air to pass through and to cool the oil before it returns to the engine via a stainless steel braided hose. The oil cooler kit includes a sandwich adapter with a thermostat to direct oil to the cooler once it has reached operating temperature. Because our project vehicle has been outfitted with an Integra motor, we had to use an oil cooler kit made specifically for the Integra. The fittings from the Civic kit will not bolt onto the Integra motor components. As you can tell, we at Super Street are constantly flirting with danger. Chris from Autolink also likes to flirt with danger and installing parts, so we decided to let him school you on the finer points of this install.