Aluminum radiator install 99 gmc 7.4l

[L31MaxExpress]

I bought mine off eBay, and it's a great piece, all aluminum tanks, 3 row, and came with a 20psi cnc cap.

When I put mine in, I deleted the oil lines. Talking to an old gm calibration engineer, he said the coolers don't really do much good on our trucks anyway, at the proving grounds the put a temp sensor on the main bearing caps, there was only a 1 or degree difference. I just got some plumbing plugs and screwed in the block, with some tephlon tape. Works great, oil pressure is the same as before, and no future oil line leaks.

My old radiator leaked where the plastic tank is. With the new one, and a 180 t-stat, I cruise down the freeway or in town at about 178, if I pull a long grade with the trailer on, it will go up to about 200, and quickly cool back to 178. The OE with the same t-stat would get up to about 210 and not cool off as quick. I understand there is some junk on eBay, but eBay shouldn't be knocked in general, or 3 row aluminum radiators, mine was physically much larger than oe and bolted right in.

While I do not have a 454, the factory oil cooler setup on both my small block and my 8.1 both make a noticeable difference in oil temps. My hot idle oil pressure runs 10 psi higher with the cooler.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

And stop with the aluminum 3 row units. 2 rows of 1"+ tubes is what you want in an aluminum radiator.

If only someone made one. I had a OE replacement TYC blow up in a short period of time. I tried to find a factory style replacement big block van radiator and they are unobtanium. I ended up with a 3 core aluminum from Ebay that shipped from an outfit in California. The cooler lines bolted right up and it fit perfectly. My engine runs around 185°F. I will say my cooler lines are all -6AN but are all OE size fittings.

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[Supercharged111]

Here ya go.

94-01 GM Truck 7.4L Aluminum Performance Radiator

www.coldcaseradiators.com

I have heard these are thin and not repairable, but I have also heard that their customer service is pretty good too. We have a couple folks in my race group with them and they seem to work well.

 

[ralmo94]

but if it doesn’t make that much of a performance difference to plug the engine oil cooler and Plug the lines at the oil filter housing then I can go get me 4 plugs and have this thing mobile again.

That's what I would do. I wouldn't run without tranny cooler either. You should just need two pipe thread plugs for the engine.

 

[Erik the Awful]

I run WCJr without an oil cooler, but I do prefer to run one. Many years ago we overheated the original XK motor in my Jag until the gauge pegged at 280°F, did 8 more laps on track, and drove it into the trailer. The factory oil cooler was pretty good-sized.

 

[ralmo94]

I'm not against oil coolers at all, but I wouldn't go through hoops to hook up the factory one on these trucks. If you are going to make a project out of it get an aftermarket one that's not part of the radiator. Jmho

 

[Supercharged111]

I'm not against oil coolers at all, but I wouldn't go through hoops to hook up the factory one on these trucks. If you are going to make a project out of it get an aftermarket one that's not part of the radiator. Jmho

You should only put one in front of the radiator if you've verified with a gauge that you need it. The factory oil cooler doubles as an oil warmer in the winter time. There is such a thing as too cold for oil. 99% of us here do not need it.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

I'm not against oil coolers at all, but I wouldn't go through hoops to hook up the factory one on these trucks. If you are going to make a project out of it get an aftermarket one that's not part of the radiator. Jmho

100% disagree, the factory method is the only way I would install one. I have installed 3 of the OEM setups.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

You should only put one in front of the radiator if you've verified with a gauge that you need it. The factory oil cooler doubles as an oil warmer in the winter time. There is such a thing as too cold for oil. 99% of us here do not need it.

I think anybody in the south needs one 3/4s of the year.

 

[Supercharged111]

I think anybody in the south needs one 3/4s of the year.

In my cars, the oil tracks with the coolant. In the dually, not so much. That may end up getting a cooler, but first I want to see what it does in the cold. I recently installed an oil temp gauge.