Cooling mods?

[Cone Sweeper]

Good point. I had my tuner produce a tune just for road racing. A regular street/drag tune would likely need more fuel for road racing. A lean tune could also lead to melted cats.

More fuel is a common mistake people do for road racing because most of them are dumping it for cooling reasons when they haven't done much to help the cooling purpose's as it is and fuel is an easy to do it.

 

[Sleeper_08]

I guess that is why mine runs so cool - The Roushcharger just dumps fuel in at top revs.

 

[Vapour Trails]

More fuel is a common mistake people do for road racing because most of them are dumping it for cooling reasons when they haven't done much to help the cooling purpose's as it is and fuel is an easy to do it.

I don't see it that way at all.

 

[Cone Sweeper]

I don't see it that way at all.

Ok, then I have a question for you. Why do factory boosted based cars run lean through low rpm's and by the top of the powerband then turn rich? A cobra for instance, runs mid 12 a/f and by close to redline go into the mid 10's a/f. Its for cooling purpose's.

 

[Cone Sweeper]

Edit

 

[Vapour Trails]

Ok, then I have a question for you. Why do factory boosted based cars run lean through low rpm's and by the top of the powerband then turn rich? A cobra for instance, runs mid 12 a/f and by close to redline go into the mid 10's a/f. Its for cooling purpose's.

I agree, but I don't see how that is a mistake. It's necessary, unless you want sky high EGTs, IATs and detonation.

What I took from your post was that you thought adjusting the calibration was the wrong way to combat these issues. I don't see it that way. You should tackle the source of excessive heat at the source by preventing it in the first place.

If a mild bolt-on GT is overheating in rather moderate temperatures, it's not just lack of the proper radiator or thermostat. Re: GT40 post

 

[Cone Sweeper]

I agree, but I don't see how that is a mistake. It's necessary, unless you want sky high EGTs, IATs and detonation.

What I took from your post was that you thought adjusting the calibration was the wrong way to combat these issues. I don't see it that way. You should tackle the source of excessive heat at the source by preventing it in the first place.

If a mild bolt-on GT is overheating in rather moderate temperatures, it's not just lack of the proper radiator or thermostat. Re: GT40 post

Oh, I should have worded it better then calling it a mistake. It's not a mistake, it's more of a " attempted cure " to fix things by running extra rich more so then they have to.
And yes, it's a lot of things including the tune which can either be too lean at rpm's or too much timing would cause the high temps and it goes past the basic cooling of a thermostat and radiator.
But i've come to hear a lot of people think throwing fuel at the problem of over heating is a solution when it's not. Also, what I should have said instead of a mistake.

 

[Sleeper_08]

Ok so yesterday I was out at Mosport with my 08 GT with a Roush Supercharger. This is the complete kit sold by Roush which does about 5 pounds of boost and has an intercooler. My kit is rated 445 flywheel HP and the current versions are about 430 HP.

The cooling system on the car is stock and my coolant is the original factory fill.

The weather was hot, about 80 F and the car was run for periods of up to 30 minutes with time between sessions of 30 minutes. During the day the idiot guage never moved off center. It was so hot I ran the AC for the last 2 sessions!

The Roush solution of throwing fuel at it may not be the most elegant but so far it works for me.

 

[Cone Sweeper]

Ok so yesterday I was out at Mosport with my 08 GT with a Roush Supercharger. This is the complete kit sold by Roush which does about 5 pounds of boost and has an intercooler. My kit is rated 445 flywheel HP and the current versions are about 430 HP.

The cooling system on the car is stock and my coolant is the original factory fill.

The weather was hot, about 80 F and the car was run for periods of up to 30 minutes with time between sessions of 30 minutes. During the day the idiot guage never moved off center. It was so hot I ran the AC for the last 2 sessions!

The Roush solution of throwing fuel at it may not be the most elegant but so far it works for me.

Thats real good man. And yeah thats their point to doing things lol. But also so you know, the gauge won't move unless it's over 220+ which usually means it's already fucked.. which is stupid imo but... factories don't expect you to race cars period when they do stuff lol

 

[Captain_Stangin']

I'm having some cooling problems as well, yesterday I had a open track day at our local 9-turn, 1.4 mile road course. Engine mods are only JLT Cai, canned diablo tune. No cooling mods, factory coolant.

Sessions were about 20 minutes long, and near the end (last 3-4 minutes) of each session, my coolant would spike into the "red zone" and a little high water temp idiot light would flash. I would then run 2-3 cool down laps, and end my session.

My question is, how accurate is the factory water temp. gauge? Am I really overheating? Should I install a accurate water temp gauge before I do any further cooling mods?

 

[Thevesh]

It is not very accurate. Actually I boiled water without any warning.

 

[danbev07]

I also ran into cooling problems this past weekend with my car.

This was the first time getting out to the track since the 4.6 swap, and I expected things to be different, but not with cooling issues! My car began overheating around lunch time (maybe 95* outside?) according to the temp gauge, but a cool-down lap would restore it to normal temp quickly. I'm running 50/50, no water wetter, and granted it was a hot day in the desert at Willow Springs, but I never ran into issues like this before.

I've been looking into Moshimoto radiators myself... but if water wetter could help me out I'd love to save the money/time!

My coolant/temp is all fresh as of January and had never been run that hard previously.

 

[mpf]

i've found taking the plastic pieces where the wind shield wipers are, off.. releases a TON of air as well.

Interesting...that just shows the need to vent the hood on these cars!
For several minutes after shut-down, the heat really comes on hard, but it's that way with all newer vehicles. Surprised the paint on black cars can take it...

 

[kahmann]

I thought I had seen these for less, but you can pick up "replacement" Super Snake hood vents at different vendors, such as this guy.

Best,
-j

I wonder if this guy has them drop shipped from Shelby or if he actually stocks them. Shelby has been back ordered forever on these things. Either way, this guy is cheaper than buying direct, so I guess I should get them ordered up from him. Thanks for the link.

Since cutting the hole in my hood and making my Shelby scoop functional, I've noticed some extra lift at high speeds, so I think a set of heat extractors is necessary for that reason alone. It's a consequence I didn't consider at all. I don't have an intake air temp gauge, but plan on adding one. Perhaps I should install that before the hood vents, in order to accurately gauge what the difference really is.

 

[Sleeper_08]

Interesting...that just shows the need to vent the hood on these cars!
For several minutes after shut-down, the heat really comes on hard, but it's that way with all newer vehicles. Surprised the paint on black cars can take it...

Can you please provide some details on how you did this and which pieces you removed?

I'm more concerned about the under hood temps in stop and go city driving with the SC and AC on. On the track I am OK.

 

[Vapour Trails]

I also ran into cooling problems this past weekend with my car.

This was the first time getting out to the track since the 4.6 swap, and I expected things to be different, but not with cooling issues! My car began overheating around lunch time (maybe 95* outside?) according to the temp gauge, but a cool-down lap would restore it to normal temp quickly. I'm running 50/50, no water wetter, and granted it was a hot day in the desert at Willow Springs, but I never ran into issues like this before.

I've been looking into Moshimoto radiators myself... but if water wetter could help me out I'd love to save the money/time!

My coolant/temp is all fresh as of January and had never been run that hard previously.

Your running 50/50 in California? That's what I used to prevent freezing in -30F winter temps!

Try 25% coolant/ 75% distilled and add 2 bottles of water wetter.

 

[danbev07]

Your running 50/50 in California? That's what I used to prevent freezing in -30F winter temps!

Try 25% coolant/ 75% distilled and add 2 bottles of water wetter.

Yup, just following the ford service manual...

I was thinking of doing pretty much what you suggested first, before giving in to buying a new radiator. thanks for the tip!

 

[Cone Sweeper]

Can you please provide some details on how you did this and which pieces you removed?

I'm more concerned about the under hood temps in stop and go city driving with the SC and AC on. On the track I am OK.

He was quoting something I had done for track days.. and it can be done on the street as well as water would not effect this in any bit. The black plastic pieces that lie under your wind shield wipers.. there are 2 of them. Their held in by push pins ( the black annoying ones ). Simply remove the pins and pull the pieces off. You don't need to remove the wind shield wipers in order to achieve this.

 

[Cone Sweeper]

I'm having some cooling problems as well, yesterday I had a open track day at our local 9-turn, 1.4 mile road course. Engine mods are only JLT Cai, canned diablo tune. No cooling mods, factory coolant.

Sessions were about 20 minutes long, and near the end (last 3-4 minutes) of each session, my coolant would spike into the "red zone" and a little high water temp idiot light would flash. I would then run 2-3 cool down laps, and end my session.

My question is, how accurate is the factory water temp. gauge? Am I really overheating? Should I install a accurate water temp gauge before I do any further cooling mods?

Factory water temp gauge is useless lol By the time it reads hot and goes into the boiling point range.. it's already too late. You can install a water temp guage or use an interceptor gauge as it will read in degrees instead of a needle moving .. but if you have the stock display - then it's roughly off 10 degrees or so.
What coolant temps were you seeing?

 

[Sleeper_08]

He was quoting something I had done for track days.. and it can be done on the street as well as water would not effect this in any bit. The black plastic pieces that lie under your wind shield wipers.. there are 2 of them. Their held in by push pins ( the black annoying ones ). Simply remove the pins and pull the pieces off. You don't need to remove the wind shield wipers in order to achieve this.

Thanks - I'll have a look at doing this tomorrow.