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Old 10-08-2009, 04:51 PM   #7 (permalink)
chuckm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by micondie View Post
Changing the radiator on a thermostat equipped motor would not decrease warm-up time since that is controlled by the thermostat. The water pump tries to move the same amount of water at a specific RPM no mattter what the size of the radiator and quite possibly a larger radiator would have less flow resistance and reduce the load on the pump. If you want to reduce the load on the pump then look into an underdrive pulley set which would slow both your water pump and alternator and reduce the load of both.
It is possible that a smaller radiator would have more flow resistance if the tube diameter were smaller or there were more turns. However, the pressure drop also varies directly by the length of the water path. A smaller radiator is likely to have the same size tubing, fewer turns, and lower length.
I agree that the volume of water pumped will not change. But the overall volume of water contained in the system will decrease, meaning a smaller heat sink and faster warm up times.
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