High pressure radiator caps

[David Truax]

Has anyone swapped out the stock 1.4 bar cap for an aftermarket 2.0 bar cap? Good idea? I was looking at doing the swap since it is just a $30 mod.

 

[CKeeler]

Just wondering, why?

 

[David Truax]

Just wondering, why?

Supposed to make it cool better

 

[MerlintheMad]

Supposed to make it cool better

How does that work?

 

[David Truax]

How does that work?

http://www.tuneruniversity.com/blog...at-advantage-of-a-high-pressure-radiator-cap/

 

[Stinger GT SS]

I wouldn’t over pressurise the cooling system eg: 1.4bar = 20.3psi & 2bar = 29psi that’s an increase of almost 9psi which is a 45% increase in pressure.

 

[CKeeler]

Well... increasing the pressure of the cap just raises the boiling point.
I’m guessing the reason that the fans in our Stingers run so often is because Kia wants the engine to run within a very strict operating temperature range. Hence the reason our engines have an electronic thermostat instead of a copper thermostat.
I’d rather wait for a dual wide core radiator upgrade than raise the pressure of the coolant system hoping it helps the engine run cooler.

Not trying to come down on your idea.

 

[CKeeler]

http://www.tuneruniversity.com/blog...at-advantage-of-a-high-pressure-radiator-cap/

Like I said in my other post, it just raises the boiling point of the coolant mixture. It doesn’t help the car run cooler.

“By upping our cooling system pressure to 1.3 bar we gain about 8.7 degrees. Antifreeze only adds 11 degrees to our boiling point, so the main reason for running a 1.3 bar cap is to run straight distilled water (with water wetter to prevent corrosion) or a significantly reduced antifreeze ratio without danger of boiling over. Specifically, in the summer months.

They are a small amount of insurance against possible overheating, especially for tracked cars or for excessive idling in the hot summer months. Add another $10 for a bottle of water wetter as well. For a daily driver, the extra pressure would only be particularly helpful if running a modified coolant ratio. Installing one won't hurt anything. If you ever do approach boiling point, they'll give you a little more insurance against it, and they'll keep the coolant doing its job longer before the bubbles in the fluid create problems.”

 

[eflyguy]

Considering we haven't seen any instances of this being a problem, I think your $30 would be better served on a nice steak.

 

[MerlintheMad]

http://www.tuneruniversity.com/blog...at-advantage-of-a-high-pressure-radiator-cap/

Thank you. I don't need a radiator cap "upgrade". Now I know.

 

[oddball]

The only reason you'd want a higher pressure cap is if you do hard track runs and you boil over. The stock cap is already pretty high. Traditional radiators ran at 13-16 PSI.
Higher pressure cap will have absolutely no effect on normal driving. The system pressurizes to whatever pressure is appropriate for the conditions (amount of coolant, heat being transferred into the coolant, cooling of said coolant, etc). The system won't suddenly run at a higher pressure just because there's a higher pressure cap. It raises the boiling point which will delay boil-over if you're seriously hammering the car.
The flip side is that if the system actually pressurizes above the stock level then life is harder on all the plastic parts and seals in the cooling system. Hopefully Kia designed these well, but there's plenty of plastic, and plastic cooling parts have a fine tradition of cracking and failing.

Hard track usage and you've been kicked off the track for dumping coolant? Yeah, get a higher pressure cap.

Otherwise, get one of the covers. That satisfies the bling factor (I got a blue one to match the paint. )