Car likes to get a little hotter than I like, and then idle crappy. I am going to replace the water pump, and maybe the radiator. Air dam is in good shape.

1. What is the difference between Autozone's ASC water pump and the Heavy Duty? Is it worth it? I remember the good old days of V-belts and flowkooler. Awsome product...

2. Radiator suggestions? I will get an external trans cooler at the same time....

3. Fan....both are wired to be on full time. Suggestions, other than make them right, because that will not happen. Replace, etc...

Thanks!!!

 

Autozone's pumps are almost all reman parts. They take someone else's bad pump and stick new bearings in it and paint it so it's pretty. They do carry new pumps, but they're only so-so quality. I'd just do it the right way and spend a couple bucks extra on a Stewart pump. They're not that much more expensive and they're much better quality (and higher flow to boot.)

I'd also keep the stock dual fans (they provide plenty of airflow) but run them through a coolant temp. switch and relay. Running them all the time is just putting an extra drain on the alternator when the engine is cool, and it can actually HURT your airflow on the highway (although only slightly.) It also wears the motors out faster.

As far as radiators.....you'll have to ask someone else. That's one of the few parts on my car that is still stock (and I haven't had a problem with it yet.) Use a radiator from a T5 car though....that way you don't have the crack-prone in-tank tranny fluid cooler. I've seen a few tranny's destroyed by coolant ingestion.

 

Be Cool supposedly has a radiator that is a bolt on for our cars. You could order the manual tranny one and stick a cooler in front of it or get the auto one. I believe it is all aluminum so it should not crack as easily as the plastic.