Greddy FMIC overheating

[larryd]

Originally posted by JoeyGST



Larryd:
Do you have any custom shrouds or anything on your car leading
air to the radiator? Because right now, I have no shrouds.
The stock radiator shroud is not on the car (don't think it fits with
the FMIC in there)....theres just a huge gap where the sidemount
shroud was.

What brand of coolant do you use? And what is your water/coolant
mixture? Do you have Water Wetter in there?

I havent made any changes up till recently.. with the addition of the external wastegate I can no longer use the driver side fan.. but Ive yet to drive the car like that

coolant .. hmmm, not sure which one it is.. whatever I can pick up at pep boys.. might be Dex or whatever that is.. and its straight coolant, no water mix

 

[JoeyGST]

Larryd: Did you install the turbo with a kit that came with new water
pipes, or did you bent your stock pipes to work?

I bent my stock pipes, and they are kind of beat up, I think they might
not flow too well. Do you know if ALL of the coolant in the system has
to flow through those two pipes? Or is that a seperate path?

 

[toshi128]

here's some info, since you're not on aim...
Question and answer, in order.

What's the normal operating temp for EGT?

~800 deg Celcius, RRE road racing car hits 830 deg celcius sometimes.

What's teh normal operating temp for water/coolant?

195~200 good
~210 warm
~220 hot/should let it cool down
@ 230 AC stops working to save your engine

I don't know what else we can do about overheating after having fluidyne and fans... maybe taking out greddy FMIC and go back to SMIC??? or get another FMIC that allows to pass air to radiator? getting vents should help with over heating problem as well.... don't know what i'm gonna go with yet. i'll just turn on heater when i go up hill...

 

[Black95GSX]

Ummm... what's your coolant to water mix? when was the last time you had your radiator cleaned out to make sure there was no crap in there causing cooling problems?

with the kind of climate your in -- it's not the car, it's the cooling system, something is wrong, you just have to figure out what.

 

[VBGSX]

Just a thought, but I think several people have hit the nail on the head. Check your coling system. Take a close look at your radiator. Are the fins bent or a lot of other stuff(bugs, etc) clogging the fins. If you have a lot of buildup inside the radiator, it will reduce the cooling capacity. Good luck

 

[JoeyGST]

Originally posted by VBGSX
Just a thought, but I think several people have hit the nail on the head. Check your coling system. Take a close look at your radiator. Are the fins bent or a lot of other stuff(bugs, etc) clogging the fins. If you have a lot of buildup inside the radiator, it will reduce the cooling capacity. Good luck

Ok, so here's the thing. I've drained the coolant 3 times now, and
refilled the system. I've taken out my radiator and ran a hose through
it to flush it out. The radiator looks BRAND NEW. There are no bent
fins, no bugs stuck in there, nothing. When I flushed it, only a few
tiny flakes of rust came out, otherwise, it was completely CLEAN.

The car ran cool before I tossed on the big16G and FMIC. The needle
would always be slightly BELOW the middle, when I ran 14b and stock
sidemount. Now the needle is in the middle, and it creeps ABOVE when
I'm driving a constant speed.

I don't think my radiator/cooling system would suddenly become clogged
after tossing on the FMIC. It's gotta be either the big16g or FMIC
causing this, because that was the only change.

By the way, I only have 39K miles on my car, I don't think the water
passages are that clogged yet. I do a coolant change about once a
year (sometimes more).

 

[Black95GSX]

Well, flushing it out with a hose won't tell you if you have a build up problem, or a few clogged passages in the radiator.

I've seen them clog at 12k before -- so your not in the 'safe zone' per say.

After putting the fmic on -- your making your cooling system work harder to do its job -- if you took the fmic off now, I bet you would see similar temps to which you saw before.


When was the last time you replaced your thermostat and rad cap?
Use ONLY OEM parts for the thermostat -- but I reccomend the greddy rad. cap.


Yes, I have my reasons for useing only OEM thermostats -- Yes, I deal with 110 temps in a black car with a huge fmic.... no I do not overheat -- no, I will not explain why I do not like aftermarket thermostats.

 

[JoeyGST]

About the radiator: How can I make sure that there are no clog ups
in there? Should I find a radiator shop to test it?

About the thermostat: I'm still using stock thermostat and stock cap.
I'm assuming that my thermostat works, when the car heats up, the
fan turns on. However, I ordered a 180 degree thermostat from
Mitsubishi, and will be replacing my thermostat this weekend to see
if that does anything.

Right now, driving around town, just commuting local from home
to work, the temp needle stays in the middle. However, when I take
a cruise on the highway at constant fast speeds, the temp rises.
When I floor the car, the temp gauge rises, but as soon as I let off
and start driving slower, the temp drops back near the middle.

If my thermostat was bad, wouldn't the car just overheat almost
immediately? Even just driving around the block, that's how it was
in my friend's car when his thermostat died.

 

[Black95GSX]

Originally posted by JoeyGST
About the radiator: How can I make sure that there are no clog ups
in there? Should I find a radiator shop to test it?

Yes, take it to a radiator shop, tell them you want them to check to see if there is any build up or cloggs in the radiator. I know we pay $45 at the shop to have this done.

Originally posted by JoeyGST
Right now, driving around town, just commuting local from home
to work, the temp needle stays in the middle. However, when I take
a cruise on the highway at constant fast speeds, the temp rises.
When I floor the car, the temp gauge rises, but as soon as I let off
and start driving slower, the temp drops back near the middle.

If my thermostat was bad, wouldn't the car just overheat almost
immediately? Even just driving around the block, that's how it was
in my friend's car when his thermostat died.

That depends entirely on how the thermostat fails. Do yourself a favor, call RRE (or whoever you preferr) and order a 16 pound greddy radiator cap -- don't get the cheep one from autozone (well, you can... but I wouldn't trust it for more then a week or two)........ and throw that on there. If your stock cap is dieing -- you'll loose system pressure, which won't help your boiling point at all -- and cause more heating problems.


And good for getting a OEM thermostat -- I cannot remember how many times I've seen a cheep thermostat fail

 

[JoeyGST]

Ok, so, last night we wanted to measure the coolant mixture in the car.
So I started the car and opened the cap. Immediately, white foam
started bursting out, and it just kept overflowing. I turned off the car
and the coolant level dropped very low. So I started it up again, and it
was foaming, but after a while, it stopped. I added a little water, and
it immediately overflowed again with more foam/bubbles. Eventually
it stopped foaming, but it took a while.

What does this mean? My friend says dead thermostat. We also suspect
air leak, or maybe a small headgasket leak? Theres no oil in the coolant
though. And it's not dumping all the coolant into the overflow tank.
I checked all the hose connections, no visible leaks.

 

[Black95GSX]

Hmmmm.... how mcuh foam was there?


It will overflow when it's hot -- that's just everything expanding -- that is normal, your radiator cap builds up the pressure to lower the boiling point.

Could be a mildly blown HG.

 

[4ged4G63]

Originally posted by JoeyGST
.....
Are there any other things I could try to fix this problem?
Someone suggested I fabricate somesort of deflector for the
bottom of the car to get more airflow to the radiator?

....

this is a good idea. Also, if anyone still has that black piece of plastic in the front air dam, I say ditch it and lose the power steering cooling lines(that is, if you have one still runnin through there, just short route it) as they are both unsightly turds which really don't do much. And most important, buy a Fluidyne radiator. As soon as I took out that black piece of plastic I noticed the needle actually go down slightly and stay(of course it did this too with the addition of the Fluidyne). I am confident that with the Fluidyne I will not overheat even after I install my IRC race core.

EDIT: I came in the thread without reading all of it so I would suggest to do what BLK95GSX said, get your radiator checked for leaks or clog. However I still recommend getting a Fluidyne. Don't know about anyone else but safegarding your motor should be of most importance. One would spend 600 plus on a turbo to go help them go faster but not 350 to protect the engine

 

[RocketBoy]

Just a quick question that is on the same topic. Which is supposed to help more...buying a high cfm aftermarket fan like a Spal or upgrading the radiator itself to a Fluidyne? I've heard arguments for both, but i'd like to hear what everyone here thinks.
thanks

 

[4ged4G63]

screw the fans, your stock ones will flow plenty of air. I don't know how this could actually be argued. It makes more sense to get a thicker, radiator that has a more efficient cooling capacity. Plus the welds on it...the damn thing is a work of art.

 

[toshi128]

I have both fluidyne and spal fans (12" and 10"). but my car still tend to run warm... IMO, they're both good, but if my head gasket is still in good condition!!

UPDATE: A mechanic told me that it maybe my head gasket being warped, due to having very high water temp for many times. I will not change my head gasket right away, since it's gonna cost a lot. I will wait until i get more money so i can get cams and such installed at the same time.

 

[Black95GSX]

From personal expereince.......

Stock fans work a hell of a lot better then any aftermarket fan on the market.

Between the shroud and the pitch on the blades -- slimline fans just cannot keep up.

Remember, the thinner fans have less of a pitch on the fan blades. Less pitch = less ability to move air.

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

My spal fan works a hell of alot better than my stock AC fan, and even flows harder than the stock radiator fan

 

[4ged4G63]

bahh, neither of you AZ guys know what you are talking about

 

[tjh-dsm]

Originally posted by 4ged4G63
bahh, neither of you AZ guys know what you are talking about

I think the fact that Rob runs 12.0's on street tires w/ a full weight, stock head 2g and never overheats would say otherwise....

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

Originally posted by 4ged4G63
bahh, neither of you AZ guys know what you are talking about

...Mike that's you .I recognize your sig from supraforums.

Bastard

 

[toshi128]

I think SPAL fans work better than the stock ones... i'm in the process of finding out how they are. However, those fans will be on all the time, so they should be cooling down my engine better. Need to get heat shield for my exhaust manifold tho... anyone has a spare one to sell me?

 

[4ged4G63]

damn it, I've been identified

<-------- *throws down a flash grenede and vanishes with a WOOOOSSSHH*

Originally posted by L2RTSiAWD


...Mike that's you .I recognize your sig from supraforums.

Bastard

 

[Black95GSX]

Hey John... your new pic in your sig.... looks like your car is going to take off and fly away


Just how much more downforce does that wing give ya? Has it bent the metal on the back of your trunk yet?

 

[4ged4G63]

actually John's new sig pic looks pretty cool.

No love for the 2g right now huh Rob?

 

[candela]

I live here in this god awful heat as well, run an IRC street core w/14" spal w/adjustable thermostat and a fluidyne. Even in 100+ my car runs so cool, I dont even need the fan to turn on at all and it still runs perfect (as long as I dont boost). I definetly think the spal pushes way more air and possibly cools better. I dont really know cause I got it all at the same time, and its never overheated once...I definetly recommend a fluidyne, they look good and perform well...