1G How I lowered my coolant temps 6 degrees!!!

[MyBeatGSX]

Very good point. I completely forgot that SRT's have a hood scoop. However, I think that although you're probably right about the DSM situation, you might have to rethink why the SRT underhood temps are lower. That hood scoop may be in the front of the hood, but the hood has ducting on the underside to bring air to the back of the engine bay and direct it down at the turbo, air actually exits UNDER and after that lip (the one the weather strip) that comes off the firewall. There is no way it will go out the back of even a raised hood, that air is only going down. So knowing that, how does that effect the way you're looking at airflow under the hood?

My raised hood is only temp until I get a carbontrix vent. But there's no reason to have it if its actually hurting and not helping.

 

[Ultimatedsm]

Or you can always get a hood with extracters and hood scoup. That would be the ultimate cooling effect.

 

[toojung2die]

New rule this year at Las Vegas Motor Speedway "The Strip":

Please be advised that anti-freeze and/or any other coolant additive (i.e. "Water Wetter") will not be permitted in race cars that compete at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Anti-freeze only will be permitted in street-legal, licensed and insured vehicles that are driven to the track to participate in street-legal classes. Any participant (other than street-legal racers) found to be using anything other than water in their cooling system will be disqualified from the event and face loss of competition privileges. This is a zero-tolerance policy. LVMS tech inspectors will be making random checks of all participating classes for the remainder of the 2006 season. http://www.lvms.com/handler.cfm/article,display/art_id,506742/cat_id,41576/

Since I just installed my FMIC I was going to add Water Wetter to my coolant. The track is the only place to legally tune and race ($10 on Friday nights to run as many times as you can). Your local track may have adopted similar rules.

 

[dnhieu]

im sorry man that sucks. looks like your gonna have to find other ways to keep coolant temps down. why dont you run it on the street then change the fluid with 100% water when you take it to the track? i mean yes it would be expensive but racing at the track gets expensive anyways. i mean race gas is expensive as hell right now, its like 25 bucks to race at our local track, plus the drive i have to make to get there, and all the parts u might break racing itself...

 

[larsrya8]

That sounds like it's only for people who are competing with their track-only vehicles. If you're going to the Speedway just to tune or to run for fun, I don't see how that rule has any effect on you.

Unless your track is different than the ones I am accustomed to.

 

[firebirdvert305]

Hey dnheiu do you think these will work well with our cars? If mounted correctly i dont think it will allow water into the engine bay, but at the sametime i think it will provide extra cooling efficency. take a look, they seem to be pretty cheap as well.http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/JDM-...tegoryZ33646QQihZ020QQitemZ300009559267QQrdZ1

 

[PieEyedPiper]

Water wetter, for the LAST time, does NOT lower coolant temperature!

 

[toojung2die]

I'm on the LVMS mailing list and this was one of the informational emails I received recently. I'm assuming it's banned because of it's effect on the track should they have a fluid leak which is a very common occurrence at the track. They're well equipped to handle fuel and oil but maybe Water Wetter is hard to clean up. I wrote back to ask if the rule applies to all cars running on the track or just cars in sanctioned competition.

 

[dnhieu]

Hey dnheiu do you think these will work well with our cars? If mounted correctly i dont think it will allow water into the engine bay, but at the sametime i think it will provide extra cooling efficency. take a look, they seem to be pretty cheap as well.http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/JDM-...tegoryZ33646QQihZ020QQitemZ300009559267QQrdZ1

any scoop will work man. making it look good is the hard part...

 

[alex99gst]

I just picked up some sheet metal from home depot and made some ducting while I had my radiator and intercooler out. I straightened the fins on my radiator, fixed the leaky drain plug, put in distilled water and put on the ducting and my coolant temps went from 203 while cruising to a consistent 177 while cruising. I was very impressed overall. They rose to 186 while at a stoplight but once I got moving again they dropped back in the 170's. I'll try to get some of the pictures up sometime soon but this definately was a huge improvement. All I added was the scoop under the intercooler.

 

[dnhieu]

yeah definetly post some pics man! how hot does it get outside where you live? i would NEVER see coolant temps in the 170's. even at nite time. the lowest i have seen while driving was 186. maybe its time for me to put some disani in the bastard....

 

[toojung2die]

I spent the last few nights fabricating radiator shrouds and a lower scoop from sheet aluminum to lower my coolant temps while cruising. I'm fine while stopped, the fans do the job. It's when the ECU shuts them off during cruise that my temps raise. I was seeing temps up to 224 while cruising, ambient temperature 114. The fans turn on at 210. The thermostat is a 190. Now my temps never go above 210 and that's the best I can expect in this heat. I can post pictures if you think it will contribute to this thread...

BTW, the Las Vegas Motor Speedway allows both anti-freeze and Water Wetter on street legal cars driven to the track. I tried Water Wetter and noticed no difference. Getting air through the radiator is the trick.

 

[dnhieu]

I spent the last few nights fabricating radiator shrouds and a lower scoop from sheet aluminum to lower my coolant temps while cruising. I'm fine while stopped, the fans do the job. It's when the ECU shuts them off during cruise that my temps raise. I was seeing temps up to 224 while cruising, ambient temperature 114. The fans turn on at 210. The thermostat is a 190. Now my temps never go above 210 and that's the best I can expect in this heat. I can post pictures if you think it will contribute to this thread...

BTW, the Las Vegas Motor Speedway allows both anti-freeze and Water Wetter on street legal cars driven to the track. I tried Water Wetter and noticed no difference. Getting air through the radiator is the trick.

pics always help, plus i enjoy looking at them

 

[toojung2die]

Here's what I got. The first pic is the top shroud to prevent air from getting out over the top. It mates with the top of the trimmed stock plastic shroud to seal. Second and third pics are the left and right shrouds. They seal the inside of the cut bumper and front fascia, preventing air from dumping into the fenders. They're riveted to the remains of the stock plastic shroud. Last two pics are the lower scoop. Air was bypassing the radiator and going under the car. This keeps the air flowing up towards the radiator and adds additional air while cruising. The radiator is completely boxed in and the four pieces connect at the box corners. I mocked it up in cardboard and transferred the templates to aluminum sheet.

 

[alex99gst]

I'm sure that straightening the fins alone would have made a noticable difference. Atleast 1/8th of the rows on the radiator were mashed completely down so no air could flow through them. My duct sits maybe 1.5 inches below the bumper cover and it is held in place with these cool screws I found. I put a nut on each end so it is adjustable too. Ha, once I find the digital camera I'll get the pictures up.

 

[dnhieu]

toojung2die GREAT JOB MAN!!! nice fab work. if i EVER get off my ass im gonna make the vents for the side and top of radiator. i think i hear OCC calling your name man!

 

[siceclipse]

i just finished/did my ducting last night and it looks nothing close to as good as you did.

i ripped out my stock shroud and once i read thats where you rivited the side pieces to i was like DOH!

anyways...

Before my highway coolant temps were 217-222
now they are 195-203

PS- i dont have a 1/2" gap that scoops the air from under the car like yours. Mine is slipped between the bumper and the metal support that is attached to the bumper and works like stock.

 

[dnhieu]

im glad to see that alot of you people are benifitting from this thread.

 

[toojung2die]

i just finished/did my ducting last night and it looks nothing close to as good as you did. i ripped out my stock shroud and once i read thats where you rivited the side pieces to i was like DOH!
anyways...
Before my highway coolant temps were 217-222
now they are 195-203
PS- i dont have a 1/2" gap that scoops the air from under the car like yours. Mine is slipped between the bumper and the metal support that is attached to the bumper and works like stock.

Thanks for the compliments, everyone. It took more than a few hours and gallons of Mtn Dew out in a hot garage to make. I thought of closing off the bottom like stock too, but decided if I can gain a little more air without sacrificing ground clearance; why not? You can see from the condition of the underside of the front lip that even at stock ride height anything under there is vulnerable. I remember dnhieu lost his first scoop because it was a bit low. My crusing temps are about 10 degrees cooler now but still high. I logged a few pulls and saw 20 degrees advance at redline so I'm not getting too much retard because of heat anymore. The most advance I'd see before was 16 degrees. Got to remember it's hot as a furnace in Vegas this time of year.

 

[dnhieu]

Thanks for the compliments, everyone. It took more than a few hours and gallons of Mtn Dew out in a hot garage to make. I thought of closing off the bottom like stock too, but decided if I can gain a little more air without sacrificing ground clearance; why not? You can see from the condition of the underside of the front lip that even at stock ride height anything under there is vulnerable. I remember dnhieu lost his first scoop because it was a bit low. My crusing temps are about 10 degrees cooler now but still high. I logged a few pulls and saw 20 degrees advance at redline so I'm not getting too much retard because of heat anymore. The most advance I'd see before was 16 degrees. Got to remember it's hot as a furnace in Vegas this time of year.

hey mr. nhieu has never scraped and broke the ducting off. that was someone else. i used a street sign for metal and have scraped it about 4 times and it holds STRONG. i dont think you can find any cheaper or stronger metal for the cost

 

[siceclipse]

i seriously need to rewire my fans.

My Highway is still 195-203 @ 70-80mph (goes up a little more if load is on the engine)

but around the town is always 203-213

i think the KOYO is going in tonight.

hopefuly that will help... i mean im ONLY replaceing an 11 year old stock radiator.

 

[Generation X]

i seriously need to rewire my fans.

My Highway is still 195-203 @ 70-80mph (goes up a little more if load is on the engine)

but around the town is always 203-213

i think the KOYO is going in tonight.

hopefuly that will help... i mean im ONLY replaceing an 11 year old stock radiator.

That actually sounds about right to me bro, especially for these hot and humid summer days.

 

[No_Skillz]

Thanks for the compliments, everyone. It took more than a few hours and gallons of Mtn Dew out in a hot garage to make. I thought of closing off the bottom like stock too, but decided if I can gain a little more air without sacrificing ground clearance; why not? You can see from the condition of the underside of the front lip that even at stock ride height anything under there is vulnerable. I remember dnhieu lost his first scoop because it was a bit low. My crusing temps are about 10 degrees cooler now but still high. I logged a few pulls and saw 20 degrees advance at redline so I'm not getting too much retard because of heat anymore. The most advance I'd see before was 16 degrees. Got to remember it's hot as a furnace in Vegas this time of year.

Dude that looks fantastic. I'm thinking you should write a tech article with the dimensions of those templates.

 

[toojung2die]

Dude that looks fantastic. I'm thinking you should write a tech article with the dimensions of those templates.

I wish. I threw out the cardboard templates when I cleaned up. Nothing was measured, it was all eyeball trial and error, trim and fit. Anyone can do the same. If I cut off more cardboard than I intended I taped more cardboard on and tried again. And all intercooler installs are different. My shrouds may not fit right on your car.

 

[dnhieu]

i wonder how much forcing the air through the radiator actually helps. i would think it helps alot because right now all the air can go around the radiator if it wanted to. i just might wake up early on sunday and start that project. i will definetly take a BUNCH of pics...