Extra cooling

[Yaristeve]

I am on the search for extra cooling for my 2011 3-door. I've googled the internet for a double row, all aluminum radiator and found nothing. I've searched YarisWorld for ideas and found that the general concensus here seems to be that the stock cooling is adequate for stock engines.

BUT...

I regularly drive to Las Vegas (from LA) in my Yaris. In the summer, even on relatively "cool" days of 100 degree temps, I find that the engine temps start to rise to alarming levels (about 200 degrees) going up the Cajon Pass and other hills; temps have even gone as high as 205 on the hotter days. I've had to turn off the A/C, downshift, and slow down to 65 and the temp stabilizes at about 195, still too hot for my taste since the normal engine temp is 181 degrees. Plus, it's almost suicidal to be driving 65MPH on I15 out there. I've gone to Vegas in rental cars and the temp needle in those cars never move.

SO...

I noticed that unlike most cars, the front fenders are part of the sides of the engine compartment so fender vents would actually be functional. If I were to drill a 3" (or so) hole in the top of the front fenders and installed vent louvers, would it do anything to help cool the engine? Anyone try something like it? Yeah, I know it might look "ricey" but if it works, I don't care what it looks like...

The car is a 2011, just hitting two years old in November. Has 54,000miles on it with all original coolant. Oil is changed every 3,000 miles.

OR...

Am I worried for nothing?

Thanks for any ideas/help...

[CTScott]

If you are never in freezing temps, you may just want to change your fluid mix ratio to give it more thermal conductivity. The more glycol in the system the less conductive it is.

[tooter]

I use distilled water to thin out the antifreeze to match the temprature of the area I live in. As it's more hot than cold here.

[cali yaris]

I've googled the internet for a double row, all aluminum radiator and found nothing.

Mishimoto, in stock, easy to install with a few modifications.

Or maybe a lower temp thermostat?

[xnamerxx]

Am I the only one not seeing a problem with those temps??? Engine overheats don't normally happen till your well past the 240 range and 195 is the thermostat temp for most engines out there hell my Mustang would regularly see 220+ on track and it wasn't even close to overheating.

You actually want it to run a little bit hot as you'll get better fuel economy and a longer life from the piston rings and better emissions in most cases and even slightly more power.

Also its a waste of money to change your oil at 3k since the recommended interval is 6k. These engines don't have much blowby so the oil doesn't get contaminated as quickly which means it has a longer service life.

Also temp needle in most cars is just slightly better than a dummy light as it won't move unless the temp jumps way above 240 which its almost to late anyway. If you've ever driven a car with a real temp gauge it moves all over the place driving around it can range from anywhere between 160-220 but most OEMS don't want to get service calls for non issues so they limit movement on the gauge to keep people from thinking there's a problem when in reality theres nothing wrong.

[cali yaris]

Agreed that 200 degrees is not crazy hot, but disagree about the oil interval. I like my oil clean.

I was responding to the OP that he didn't find aluminum radiators with Google.

[xnamerxx]

Well your motor is a bit different since its been rebuilt with likely larger ring end gaps.

If your oil isn't clean your filter and oil isn't doing its job its why they add detergents to oil to keep the particle suspended until it can be captured by the filter.

[CTScott]

Originally Posted by xnamerxx

Am I the only one not seeing a problem with those temps??? Engine overheats don't normally happen till your well past the 240 range and 195 is the thermostat temp for most engines out there hell my Mustang would regularly see 220+ on track and it wasn't even close to overheating.

You actually want it to run a little bit hot as you'll get better fuel economy and a longer life from the piston rings and better emissions in most cases and even slightly more power.

Also its a waste of money to change your oil at 3k since the recommended interval is 6k. These engines don't have much blowby so the oil doesn't get contaminated as quickly which means it has a longer service life.

Also temp needle in most cars is just slightly better than a dummy light as it won't move unless the temp jumps way above 240 which its almost to late anyway. If you've ever driven a car with a real temp gauge it moves all over the place driving around it can range from anywhere between 160-220 but most OEMS don't want to get service calls for non issues so they limit movement on the gauge to keep people from thinking there's a problem when in reality theres nothing wrong.

The idiot light doesn't come on on the Yaris until the temp hits 242 F, and the service manual considers temps under 221 F to be normal.

I find that once my car warms up that the coolant temp has very little fluctuation. On a 100 F day it stays in the 185 F to 189 F range and will bump up to a max of 195 F when sitting at a light. The OP is probably cruising through the desert in 110 F+ temps, so the temps he is seeing are probably well within reason.

[enviri]

im starting to see my car creeping up to 202F alot lately. I also usually average 185-187F. found out my pink fluid is pretty low. its 185-190 now.

[Yaristeve]

Thanks for all the replies; lots of food for thought.

xnamerxx - The engine temps are from my Garmin EcoRoute HD Bluetooth OBD2 dongle. So it should be accurate. You're probably right about the rentals, though; never thought of that...

I realize there is a wide range of acceptable temps. But it makes me nervous to see the temp shoot up. I don't know how high it could have gone; like I said, I immediately slowed down, turned off the A/C, and downshifted to 4th to keep the temps at or below 205.

Changing every 3k miles is a habit. It also gives me a cushion in case I am too busy to change the oil when it is due. It allows me to go an extra 1k miles before changing the oil. Believe me, I tried to "retrain" myself to change it every 5k miles but I was so nervous right around the time the car reached 5k that something would come up and I woud have to go past 5k...

Cali Yaris- I kept finding contradicting info on the mishimoto. some said there is a model that would fit others said there is no mishimoto for the Yaris. And becaue Mishimoto doesn't have a stellar reputation (see below), I didn't pursue it much further. I was hoping a Koyo or Griffin or something else would pop up...

Also, a couple of years ago, the quality of the Mishimoto was considered pretty bad, especially compared to a Koyo. Are they better now?

[cali yaris]

Jason ran it in his Toyota-sponsored race car this year - no issues. I have sold several to Yaris owners - no issues.

It does require minor modifications, as it's made for the Scion xB. Two screw holes and you must use the xB upper radiator hose. If I hadn't wasted a LOT of money on my custom one-off one, a Mishimotor would be in my own car.

[cali yaris]

You could also have a radiator coated with BBE (black body emitter). Proven technology to wick away heat by SwainTech.

I've done cylinders and heads for my 2-stroke cars - works great.

http://swaintech.com/

[Jason@SportsCar]

Originally Posted by cali yaris

Jason ran it in his Toyota-sponsored race car this year - no issues. I have sold several to Yaris owners - no issues.

It does require minor modifications, as it's made for the Scion xB. Two screw holes and you must use the xB upper radiator hose. If I hadn't wasted a LOT of money on my custom one-off one, a Mishimotor would be in my own car.

I had to go way back to find a pick where you could see it in the car.

Like Garm said, you need to drill two holes (one in the upper and one in the lower rad support) to line up with the Mishimoto rad mounts - the drivers side mounts fit the OE holes, the passengers side is off by a couple of inches. Its an easy install. We use a combination of Yaris and xB hoses, along with the xB filler neck.

But honestly you would be wasting your money, 205 is nothing on water temp. If your rad fails upgrade, but for now I would not bother.