Rb20 In 180sx

[EVL-180]

ok 1st yes im new to the forum and apparntly some uf you perth ppl will probably know the car that i am goin to be talkin about..... its a 1990 180SX with evl 180 on the numberplate.... got a problem or 2 or 3 not sure yet.... ok its got a RB 20 in it and its overheating like a little bitch a couple of people seem to think that its still got the standerd radiator in it and also apparnly when driving shavings of metal are comming from the exhaust maybe someone on here might be able to help if so it would be great

[Nizman]

EVL-180 if you have shavings of metal coming from the exhaust I'd guess..... blown turbo or parts of you catalytic converter. Either way seek mechanic pronto!!

[EVL-180]

EVL-180 if you have shavings of metal coming from the exhaust I'd guess..... blown turbo or parts of you catalytic converter. Either way seek mechanic pronto!!

ok shit thanx i had a feeling there was problems with the turbo apparntly there was flams about 20cm commin out of my exhaust as well if that says anything

[Nizman]

dont panic yet...flames (backfires) is what causes metal to be blown out of catalytic converters and out of your exhaust.

[EVL-180]

oh ok thats a little better so its not really anything majour then? as for the other problem would the car run better with a differant radiator if so i was thinkin about lookin at a GTST32 or GTR32 one would it matter all that much and would either one of them fit

[Nizman]

if you have a RB20 in a car not designed for it, your always going to have dramas

Example

The old RB30 in VL commys and R31 skyzerrs. In the R31 there wern't many heat related failures, but in the VL with its smaller air intake space between the headlights there we're many a cracked cylinder head due to overheating, mainly in the Turbo Calais. That was the in part due to GMH rushing to source a new engine for the VL after the death of the 202 Straight six back in the early 80's.

anyway....just go and get your cooling system pressure checked or whatever they do

[EVL-180]

yeah spose thats true im just thinkin about converting it back to a SR20DET apparnly it has had a couple of them in it but due to the dumb ass who owned it b4 me managed to blow them up by usin a motec ECU but not re mappin the engin or somethin i dont know the story but apparntly he went threw a CA18DET and 5 SR20 DET's

[Nizman]

"went threw a CA18DET and 5 SR20 DET's" = TOOL

Good luck with all that...Goodnight

[sileighty]

hey,

got a rb20det in my sil80 and had a few problems with overheating especially during the summer months and at night. i have found it to be the radiator problem as the older sr and ca's only have a single core radiator which is inadequate for the skyline engine. going to replace it soon with hopefully a gtr radiator or something more substantial. I have also fitted 2 thermofans on the front of the engine and later on will be removing the air conditioner condenser altogether and put in some ducting to keep the air on track to the radiator and it should be much better.

[Dsturbd]

Is it running thermos or a clutch fan ...

check to see if the fans is doing its job

[EVL-180]

Is it running thermos or a clutch fan ...

check to see if  the fans is doing its job

Bein a bunbury guy u know patty prob.... well anyways me and him checked it all out the over heating problem is the water pump as for the thermo;s i have a wsich for it but it doesnt work.... dunno y its all connected

[polishstorm]

guys......your radiator is designed to keep you engine hot and at the right operating temp.....the key to keeping your motor cool is through the use of good quality oils....ie: less friction=less heat. obviously change you radiator to one that is meant for RB and then use good oils.

[93RPS13]

upgrade to a KOYO or something with daul 12" fans and make sure that the radiator is for CA the radiator plumbing is pretty close to the RB...

[R32 GTSTT]

That Car is sooooo Dodgy, ive seen the wiring on it

[SkyGTRline]

Go with a new Radiator...

Theres a chance that the one in there is blocked...

As a Mechanic, ive seen it MANY times...

Put the RB20 Radiator in...

[omp]

When I converted my 180sx from CA to RB I actually upgraded the RB radiator. I heard after I started the conversion that there could be overheating drama's. So I took the RB radiator down to ARE and got them to fit the thickest core into the RB's tanks. I run a push-pull thermo fan setup. A 14inch thermo fan on the front pushes air through the air con condensor and a 10 inch thermo pulls the air through the radiator. I have never had a problem with mine, in fact I had to get a new thermostat as mine was stuck open and it took ages (5-6km's) for it to get to operating temp's! Upgrading the radiator cost me $450

[Timd]

I was having overheating probs with the rb20det in my 280zx. Checked thermostat, flushed engine and radiator still overheated. Pulled the aircon condensor off(i dont use air con anyway, thats what t-tops are for!) problems solved. Air had to pass through the I/C and condensor before the radiator saw any of it. Still using stock zed radiator(to my knowlegde) and no probs. Thermos are still on the cards eventually

[gtst25]

Ducting might help too! Zoom mucked around with a sil80 with a rb20 installed a few years ago - have you tried flushing the rad out?

[WhatBrake]

Check the termostat, the radiator, the coolant could be crap as well. Failing those simple checks that can be achieved by one stop to supercheap auto and looking at the radiator. Ask your mechanic about it, and as ppl have said before have the right radiator thats adequate to keep the engine cool, could also utilise another fan if still happening. Dont go round thrashing your car non stop or it's gona overheat clearly also. Heat dissipation isn't the RB20's strong point...Buying a thrashed out car also isn't the best start, but hey.

Cheers