cooling alternatives

[CSVTnewbie]

Actually that's a bad idea. You're right that the cowl area (the entire length) is a high pressure area. That means if the rear of the hood is lifted, that high pressure air will enter the engine bay from the back of the hood... which will add pressure and resistance to the air coming in through the radiator.

Well whatever it does, I know from personal experience that it works.

Also for water water or super coolant to actually work, you need like a 30/70, or 40/60 mix ratio to water. 1 12 oz 10 dollar bottle will not really do anything.

My standalone monitors all kinds of SHlT, so I know which works and which doesn't.

 

[Goumba]

:help: WTF? I'd have to see that. :nonono:

I searched all over and can't find the picture. I have a bad memory, but I could have sworn I saw a white mondeo with the vents cut into the hood/bonnet. It wasn't a cosworth insert, and it was done very well. They had a picture of both the top and bottom. It is a must see type thing. I wont hack up my hood if I don't have a good reference picture and possibly a plasma cutter. The cosworth vents are probably a better idea anyways.

 

[BAD SVT]

I see some cars without the plastic plastic piece under the fascia. That piece helps direct air through the radiator and create low pressure where the lip curls down, causing more air to flow through the radiator. So if you don't have that in, your not running as cool as you could be. Also, I've seen some of our friends in Europe who have cut slits in their hood and bent them upwards creating vents. I was thinking of doing this one myself.

u're right. i don't have those plastic pieces on. the FMIC sits there now. the slits sound good. but i can't cos i have a fibreglass vented hood. it does dissipate a lotta heat for sure. i'm gonna get a couple of bottles of water wetter and look into a larger radiator. but for real tho, there just isn't enough space to fit a larger radiator or fan under that bay...:nonono:

 

[BAD SVT]

Also for water water or super coolant to actually work, you need like a 30/70, or 40/60 mix ratio to water. 1 12 oz 10 dollar bottle will not really do anything.

My standalone monitors all kinds of SHlT, so I know which works and which doesn't.

lemmie make sure i get what u're saying. i run 50/50 ready mix right now. for the water wetter to work, i'd have to drain my coolant and go with a ratio of about 20% water wetter, 40% water, and 40% coolant?

 

[CSVTnewbie]

Nope, about 3-4 bottles super coolant, the rest water. But like I said earlier I run 10% coolant, and 90% water. A LOT cheaper, and works fine.

Also can you fit a bigger e-fan where the a/c condenser fan is? I'd just replace the condenser fan with a bigger one and wire it to a switch in the cabin, or your rad fans.

 

[biminiLX]

I run straight distilled water and 2 bottles WW:shrug:, but this is the Mustang and not a DD at all
-J

 

[DemonSVT]

You will want to use a scanner (real time) to see if your engine temps are actually cold or hot. I found that at "half gauge" my temps are right at 190F.

Iowa is using 8-15% ethanol (i.e. lower power BTU =P) in all grades of fuel they sell. I had to go "back" to the stock (188F) thermostat in order to raise fuel efficiency because of the increase in alcohol content! Even on 90+ degree days my engine sits at 190 degrees with the stock T-stat, Ethanol blend cooling, and my tuning. However since I went back to the higher temp T-stat my power and MPG has increased compared to the lower T-stat I was running. Though neither are at the level when running the 92-93 octane 100% gas mixture. With the old 160F stat and 93 octane 100% petrol I was running I made more power but the addition of ethanol to the mix (i.e move to Iowa) really made my engine need more heat & fuel to efficiently run. Gas mileage is down over 10% and power is close to that. I have always and still hate Ethanol mixed with normal fuel.
I still plan an E85 engine though. 115-120 octane is hard to pass up even with the 10% loss in power and 15% loss in MPG. (stored btu)

 

[Livinsvt]

. I have always and still hate Ethanol mixed with normal fuel.
I still plan an E85 engine though. 115-120 octane is hard to pass up even with the 10% loss in power and 15% loss in MPG. (stored btu)

Too bad E85 is only 104/105 in Summer mix. 120 octane is more like Natural gas actualy thats like 130 :drool: . Love the stuff though.

 

[morbid]

Actually that's a bad idea. You're right that the cowl area (the entire length) is a high pressure area. That means if the rear of the hood is lifted, that high pressure air will enter the engine bay from the back of the hood... which will add pressure and resistance to the air coming in through the radiator.

Well whatever it does, I know from personal experience that it works.

Also for water water or super coolant to actually work, you need like a 30/70, or 40/60 mix ratio to water. 1 12 oz 10 dollar bottle will not really do anything.

My standalone monitors all kinds of SHlT, so I know which works and which doesn't.

I've spent alot of time testing the cowl too... and I know for a fact that when you're going over 30mph, significant air is entering the engine bay from the cowl area. Below 15mph, air does seem to exit, and between 15 and 30mph the air is turbulent... with no in/out constant. If you want to vent the heat, you can add vents to your fenders, which will draw the hot air out.

I've spent alot of time and money working on things to keep my oil and coolant temps low... and after driving a year with my hood's rear up, that's not one of them.

 

[BAD SVT]

thanx a lot for the info guys. really appreciate it. weird thing is am starting to get used to driving the car without the air conditioning. my brother doesn't get why i do that tho. i simply tell him that i'd rather have all my ponies at my disposal. the AC draws too much! here's my plan of action in order...
-pour in a couple of water wetter bottles
-purchase another turbo heatshield from nautilus
-wrap up down piping
-look into larger fans n radiators

one more thing... isnt the car supposed to have an easier time with the AC on while on the freeway? my car runs just below half with the AC on in traffic. on the other hand, it runs just above half on the freeway with the AC on. isn't it supposed to be the other way around?

 

[BurritaSVT]

thanx a lot for the info guys. really appreciate it. weird thing is am starting to get used to driving the car without the air conditioning. my brother doesn't get why i do that tho. i simply tell him that i'd rather have all my ponies at my disposal. the AC draws too much! here's my plan of action in order...
-pour in a couple of water wetter bottles
-purchase another turbo heatshield from nautilus
-wrap up down piping
-look into larger fans n radiators

one more thing... isnt the car supposed to have an easier time with the AC on while on the freeway? my car runs just below half with the AC on in traffic. on the other hand, it runs just above half on the freeway with the AC on. isn't it supposed to be the other way around?

Reload your tune and make the fans kick on early this may help a little by making the heat take longer to build up. And wrapping your pipes and turbo blankets helps alot I can touch my turbo blanket with no burning. joey

 

[BAD SVT]

I can touch my turbo blanket with no burning. joey

thats my problem right there! everyone says they can. i CANT! stupid heatshield products.:nonono:

 

[BrApple]

Reload your tune and make the fans kick on early this may help a little by making the heat take longer to build up. And wrapping your pipes and turbo blankets helps alot I can touch my turbo blanket with no burning. joey

so what is that temp exactly? I took an inferred thermometer to mine and its normally around 220 ... it was around 260 after some runs at 10 psi tonight ... that seems alittle warmer then what I would want to be touching.

but when the turbine housing is near 600 degrees or more that isn't a bad temp from what I can tell.

 

[bensenvill]

ok so lets talk actual coolant system. I'm not suprised some people are actually maxing out the coolant system on the car [its pretty impressive stock svt].

but I guess for anyone sitting above the 300 mark, you start needing to make some decisions about YOUR comport level on what is neccisary on your car, such as the A/C... oooohhh, I know this is important to some of you. but seriously, the resistance of the extra full sized radiator makes a big difference in overall temp levels. I guess for other people questioning adding larger than svt radiators... yes you can do it, there is alot of room if the center support and hood latch support are cut out... and before I get chastised for saying that, some of the true race prepped mondeos/cougars have shown that [curious how they compensate for that or if its simply the steel bumper support replacement the mumm bro's showed]. Either way, you can gain a good 4 plus inches of core depth that route.

for the less extreme, you could replace the 2x fan shrowd with one large one with no shrowd funneling. I guess this would be appropriate for those who can say they have a min maintained speed [and not idling in grid lock]. I have the radiator out of the mumm bro's car, not that its any different than a regular svt radiator but there is tracings of a single fan, and for an engine that did 290hp on a 2.5 block... and just sat at redline the whole time... ya, I think that might be the solution to most problems.

also and I've mentioned this many times over the years but no ones taken me up on it... those radiator fan motors will run WAYYY over 12 volts. Those things are a godsend for those of us who did battlebots many years back. enclosed and heated, they dont break down until 31ish volts. They will laugh at 24 volts. seriously search, I've posted way too much previously on abusing the living hell out of those motors. I have no idea if the fan assemblies will handle those rpms....

 

[allstyle12]

First make sure your cooling system is up to par. I like to do a couple runs of 50% water and simple green to clean out the inside (drain, add simple green, run for 20 mins, repeat). For summer I like to run more water than anti freeze since water runs cooler (about 10% anti freeze just enough for the water pump to have lubrication). Bigger e-fan will definitely help, a thermostat that opens earlier (i used to run with a gutted thermostat), foam all around the fan shroud to keep everything air tight. I'd prop up the hood in the back by adding washers to the hood bolts so hot air can escape (lower windshield is a high pressure area).

Most importantly would be water/methanol injection. I used a spare fuel pump and spare fuel injector (550cc), put the injector right near the throttle body, run a hose from that to the fuel pump in a spare coolant resevoir, wired up that fuel injector to my secondaries injectors (only comes on during boost), wired the fuel pump to my aux input on my ECU, and it worked great. Lowered my air temps by almost half. No bogging or nothing. Of course the fuel pump and injector eventually locked up, because it wasnt meant to pump water. I'll be buying some meth injectors and water pump especially for WI though.

Water/meth injection is absolutely incredible!

I recently installed a kit from labontemotorsports.com for my WRX and I am able to run a substantial amount of increased timing and boost while leaning out the fuel with no knock! Currently I am at 20 psi at 11:4. :laugh: This thing is a monster.

 

[BAD SVT]

so its time for me to get on the ball and actually try one of these cooling methods. on a side note; i changed my oil a few days ago. i was running castrol full synthetic 10w-40, and switched to 5w 50. still castrol full synthetic. however, my temp needle doesnt sit at half anymore. its moved slightly toward the C side. and i also noticed that my fans dont come on as much as they do anymore. usually, they would come on all the time. is it safe to say that my car is running slightly cooler now? can change in oil actually do that? someone pls elucidate me.

 

[Blackcoog]

Do you have your lower splash shield installed still? If it isn't installed air can be forced down instead of through the radiator.

 

[BAD SVT]

Do you have your lower splash shield installed still? If it isn't installed air can be forced down instead of through the radiator.

lower splash shield? not sure what that is. is that the flat plastic piece that covers the bottom of the car? my car hasnt rocked that piece in years.

 

[striker2]

lower splash shield? not sure what that is. is that the flat plastic piece that covers the bottom of the car? my car hasnt rocked that piece in years.

yes that piece, install it and i bet you see lower temps. I know on my turbo Zetec with it installed and about double the power output of stock i never once had a problem with coolant temps in the summer (95+ degree days) while pushing it hard, and i just had a stock non-SVT Zetec radiator with 240K miles on it.

 

[BAD SVT]

yes that piece, install it and i bet you see lower temps. I know on my turbo Zetec with it installed and about double the power output of stock i never once had a problem with coolant temps in the summer (95+ degree days) while pushing it hard, and i just had a stock non-SVT Zetec radiator with 240K miles on it.

my physics could be off on this, but wont that trap heat in the engine?