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Old 04-23-2010, 02:03 PM   #1
sean18337
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Default How are you keeping coolant temps down?

Hi guys,

Of all people the road racing section would have the best answers to my question.. How are you keeping Coolant temps down...

Please share your ideas in this thread:.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show....php?t=1973692
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Old 04-23-2010, 02:22 PM   #2
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Build some shrouding to seal off the gaps between the bumper openings and radiator. A ton of air escapes through these gaps, if you seal them off you force that air to go through the radiator core. Getting rid of the a/c helps tremendously but you probably don't want to do that on a street car. You should also check and make sure your thermostat is functioning properly, and in the non-winter months you can run straight distilled water with a bottle of water wetter.
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Old 04-23-2010, 02:31 PM   #3
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With my Koyo, the temp never went over 185 on track. Which radiator did you get? Some of the AL radiators are simply crap. If you're really making 600 HP, I think you're going to have to go all out on cooling, big radiator, oil cooler and the like.

Quote:
...in the non-winter months you can run straight distilled water with a bottle of water wetter.
I wouldn't. Engine's not designed for it. I don't see any reason to throw away corrosion resistence and lubrication which the anti-freeze provides. Sure track guys are forced to do this but, for the street, I wouldn't. Hell, you'll throw away at least 20 degrees of boilover protection if you just run water/wetter.
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Old 04-23-2010, 02:44 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by boost junkie View Post
Build some shrouding to seal off the gaps between the bumper openings and radiator. A ton of air escapes through these gaps, if you seal them off you force that air to go through the radiator core. Getting rid of the a/c helps tremendously but you probably don't want to do that on a street car. You should also check and make sure your thermostat is functioning properly, and in the non-winter months you can run straight distilled water with a bottle of water wetter.
This plus gutted t-stat, vented hood, and venting on the rears of the front fender to promote a low pressure pull out of the engine compartment.
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Old 04-23-2010, 02:47 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by boost junkie View Post
Build some shrouding to seal off the gaps between the bumper openings and radiator. A ton of air escapes through these gaps, if you seal them off you force that air to go through the radiator core. Getting rid of the a/c helps tremendously but you probably don't want to do that on a street car. You should also check and make sure your thermostat is functioning properly, and in the non-winter months you can run straight distilled water with a bottle of water wetter.
I commute with this car 180 miles a day and cannot give up the AC
I tested the 160 thermostat in a pot of boiling with the stock t-stat and the 160 did open 15 deg cooler than the stock t-stat. So it put it back in.

I burped the cooling system very good when I put the 160 t-stat back in.. Jacked the car up on its side....Waited for all the bubbles to come out etc..
When I got home I took the cap off the expansion tank and jacked up the car from the passenger side and left it on its side for the night.. When I woke up the expansion tank was down a few inches.. So there was still air in the system.. topped it off..
Did the same thing the next night and topped it off again.. Not loosing coolant anywhere and its not blowing it out of the rad either and car is not smoking...I just replaced the headgaskets 2,000 miles ago with L19 headstuds
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Old 04-23-2010, 02:49 PM   #6
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in my experience you have the burp the system for a couple days before all the air is out.. the cooling system is really sensitive..

also haveint around 500 hp isnt helping the situation.. hood venting will help as well as shrouding.. might also look into a oil cooler.
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Old 04-23-2010, 03:17 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by STi-MAN View Post
in my experience you have the burp the system for a couple days before all the air is out.. the cooling system is really sensitive..

also haveint around 500 hp isnt helping the situation.. hood venting will help as well as shrouding.. might also look into a oil cooler.
OK... I was blown away when I left work one day 91 deg outside and got on it in 3rd gear on the highway and watched the temps shoot right up from 190's to 215-220f. I then drove nice and easy for 30miins at 80mph and unfortunately the temp never went below 205-210f ...

I do not think this is normal for a car that has 160 t-stat, mishimoto alum rad and oem fans turning on at 180f..
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Old 04-23-2010, 03:19 PM   #8
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Quote:
When I got home I took the cap off the expansion tank and jacked up the car from the passenger side and left it on its side for the night.. When I woke up the expansion tank was down a few inches.. So there was still air in the system.. topped it off..
For the level to go down for a couple days after opening the system is both normal and desirable. Air-pockets are being pushed out and the coolant level drops to replace it. Once all the air is gone, the level will stabilize.

Radiator? Hope it's not a Gimmick or cheap Chinese unit.

A cold 'stat won't help an overheating problem at all. All it does is set the lower limit to the temp, it doesn't change the upper limit at all.

You have symptoms of a radiator that's just too small or maybe not enough airflow. The radiator's the first thing I'd look at.
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Old 04-23-2010, 03:19 PM   #9
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double post
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Old 04-23-2010, 03:20 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sean18337 View Post
OK... I was blown away when I left work one day 91 deg outside and got on it in 3rd gear on the highway and watched the temps shoot right up from 190's to 215-220f. I then drove nice and easy for 30miins at 80mph and unfortunately the temp never went below 205-210f ...

I do not think this is normal for a car that has 160 t-stat, mishimoto alum rad and oem fans turning on at 180f..
that isnt normal.. thought you were talking about overheating at the track.
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Old 04-23-2010, 03:50 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by STi-MAN View Post
that isnt normal.. thought you were talking about overheating at the track.
I would love to make it to the track but if the car cannot cruise on the highway and withstand a 3rd &4th gear pull without reaching 220f I would melt the motor at the track
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Old 04-23-2010, 04:17 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by boost junkie View Post
Build some shrouding to seal off the gaps between the bumper openings and radiator. A ton of air escapes through these gaps, if you seal them off you force that air to go through the radiator core. Getting rid of the a/c helps tremendously but you probably don't want to do that on a street car. You should also check and make sure your thermostat is functioning properly, and in the non-winter months you can run straight distilled water with a bottle of water wetter.
+1
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Old 04-23-2010, 06:22 PM   #13
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how much boost are you running?

do you have ported heads?
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Old 04-23-2010, 08:12 PM   #14
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Default Re: How are you keeping coolant temps down?

Quote:
Originally Posted by garageGT
how much boost are you running?

do you have ported heads?

When I was driving on the highway 23psi and the head ports are stock but I do have +1mm valves
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Old 04-24-2010, 11:27 AM   #15
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1. Change radiator and seal it
2. get a ventable cap...so you can ensure you don't have an air issue.

The caps are very hard to get in the USA.. PM me if you need the part # or I can send you one.
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Old 04-24-2010, 12:24 PM   #16
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^ stock the top cap is ventable to being with
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Old 04-24-2010, 02:31 PM   #17
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^ stock the top cap is ventable to being with
yeah at a set temp... i'm talking about increasing the pressure and having a push button to vent at shutdown.
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Old 04-24-2010, 02:53 PM   #18
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Default Re: How are you keeping coolant temps down?

I purchased one of these to eliminate if I do have an air pocketS

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item....re&dir=catalog







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Old 04-24-2010, 03:36 PM   #19
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Originally Posted by sean18337 View Post
I purchased one of these to eliminate if I do have an air pocketS

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item....re&dir=catalog







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$152 ..... i'll settle for the $35 cap that does the same job
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Old 04-24-2010, 04:51 PM   #20
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Default Re: How are you keeping coolant temps down?

I actually have a 1.3 bar cap on the expansion tank and the cap that comes with the mishimoto rad on the rad which is 1.3 bar as well.
Should there be a lower psi cap on the expansion tank?


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Old 04-24-2010, 04:58 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by STi-MAN View Post
that isnt normal.. thought you were talking about overheating at the track.
In my experience with my car............that's exactly what I run.

Differing opinions...........I say it's completely and utterly normal. If you looked at a stock car, I'm sure it would be the same.




Therostats change the lower limit, don't change the upper much.


OP, why don't you TRY to take it on the track and see what happens? Maybe you should look into a higher flowing waterpump.
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Old 04-24-2010, 05:37 PM   #22
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Quote:
the cap that comes with the mishimoto rad
You know, before I went any further, I'd install the stock radiator again and test temps.

205-210 is too hot cruising down the road at 80. You're not even in boost and you're running too hot. My car's running 185 (exactly the 'stat temp), WOT on the track for 20 minutes hitting speeds up to 135, and that's FAR more intensive than just driving along boostless at 80. It's pointless to take it to the track, I'll bet you don't make it 2 laps before you overheat to the point you need to come in.

This isn't rocket science either:

A - The radiator sucks
B - Not enough airflow through the radiator
C - You've got a leaky head gasket.
D - The stat isn't opening enough (unlikely but, just throwing it out there).

With a 160 'stat, driving along at 80 with no boost, you should be seeing 160 temps (which is too low if you ask me).

I'd stick the stock 'stat and stock radiator back on it and see what happens. The stock rad is very efficient. The only reason I changed mine was it was getting old.
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Old 04-24-2010, 05:48 PM   #23
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Originally Posted by MasterKwan View Post
You know, before I went any further, I'd install the stock radiator again and test temps.

205-210 is too hot cruising down the road at 80. You're not even in boost and you're running too hot. My car's running 185 (exactly the 'stat temp), WOT on the track for 20 minutes hitting speeds up to 135, and that's FAR more intensive than just driving along boostless at 80. It's pointless to take it to the track, I'll bet you don't make it 2 laps before you overheat to the point you need to come in.

This isn't rocket science either:

A - The radiator sucks
B - Not enough airflow through the radiator
C - You've got a leaky head gasket.
D - The stat isn't opening enough (unlikely but, just throwing it out there).

With a 160 'stat, driving along at 80 with no boost, you should be seeing 160 temps (which is too low if you ask me).

I'd stick the stock 'stat and stock radiator back on it and see what happens. The stock rad is very efficient. The only reason I changed mine was it was getting old.

Ummm...........No. 160* stat STARTS OPENING at 160*. Its full open in the neighborhood of 173-5.

This isn't rocket science either. Your egt's running at 80mph are in the ballpark of 1450*. The car runs HOT on cruise. This is why cars have egr and variable cam timing.

I live in a hot climate.....on a 91* ambient temp day.........running coolant temps of 14* hotter is totally acceptable.

Alot of cars run 205* thermostats now......especially with aluminum engines!
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Old 04-24-2010, 06:07 PM   #24
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venting on the rears of the front fender to promote a low pressure pull out of the engine compartment.

Picture or diagram please.
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Old 04-24-2010, 06:18 PM   #25
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The car runs HOT on cruise. This is why cars have egr and variable cam timing.
Mine doesn't. In fact, none of my cars do or ever did. So, I'm calling bull**** on this statement. How exactly is a GD Subaru doing EGR when it doesn't have an EGR valve? You trying to say overlap from variable valve timing = EGR? EGR makes the combustion chamber cooler, not hotter ANYWAY even if the subaru had an EGR (which it doesn't).

As for the rest of your statement, you're saying it's OK for his engine to run 50 degrees over his stat temp when it's under minimal load? If that was the case, why does the cooling fan come on at 195 degrees? Subaru doesn't seem to think it should run much over 195.
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