Heat Exchanger?

[alfman9]

What is it? What does it do? When do I need it?
Sorry to sound stupid, but I overheard a guy talking about getting one and I had no idea what he was referring to. Also, does anyone use waterwetter in their cars to help keep them cool. Ive heard that these cars (03-04) consistently run at high temps.(not hot) Notice any difference with the wetter or is it just added insurance?

 

[Miklowcic]

info

your car already has one. the aftermarket ones are bigger. You can actually see them through the opening in the bumper. Bigger means more coolant to flow through and the extra surface area cools better. It makes a small difference but was slightly noticable in my car running 2.80 upper (which produces lots of heat) The car still runs much slower when I hot lap it, but not as bad as before. On the highway you can feel more of a difference once the car is hot....but very slight.

It does make the car look cool to have the big exchanger shining through the front bumper, but IMOP this is not a mod I would waste my money on unless you are modding your car (running hotter) and driving it all the time that way. Or if you are really into racing...its just a safe mod to do and it does help slightly....

i went with the Afco Exchanger that JDM sells. You can also bypass your heat exchanger relay to turn on the heat exchanger while you wait to run at the track. (be careful because you will drain your battery if you leave it that way for hours) You can check out how in the latest issue of MMFF Mag

 

[alfman9]

Sounds a little too hard core for me. I think Ill just add a bottle of the wetter and be done with it.

 

[Miklowcic]

no

I wouldnt call it hardcore. The car already has one... Its redundant if you aren't planning on running more boost. might help but very little.

I think my car runs two tenths faster when hot lapping it with the heat exchanger. Its hard to say because there are so many variables though..

I had wetter in mine before the new heat exchanger was installed and everything seemed fine, but I have since heard about problems with that stuff. Many people say it gels up in the coolant or gels up the coolant... not sure how true that is.

 

[alfman9]

thanks for the info

 

[GIXXER 2 COBRA]

I have something that you guys have to try..it is called Engine Ice. I used it in my motorcycle that has a digital temp guage. after adding it the bike ran 35 degrees cooler!!! and the fan NEVER came on again. I bet that would be great to use in the heat exchanger as well as the radiator. As a note: I used the water wetter before the only advatage I found is that you can use it on a race track...antifreeze is banned in bike racing because it is a chemical and is slippery.