The Big Fat Track Car Cooling Thread

[sldghmr]

Well I would rather see the cooler outside the car, did you cut out the trunk under the cooler and relocate the charcoal canister from under the car? You would then need to push the air through the coolers with the fan and out the bottom of the spare tire area to under the car. Another option is to duct air in and out of the tire area. Without getting the air out of the trunk you will heat soak the air in the trunk as it is recirculated through the coolers. That setup will add a lot of ambient heat to the interior of the car even with block off plates.

The fan and cooler will be fine as far as size goes, the heat load from a manual trans is not that bad and the diff is not that much either. If you can setup the pump and fan to run on a thermostat with the key off or from a manual switch on the dash that would be best. You want the pumps and cooler fan to continue to run after the car is shut down back in the pits and keep running until the min temp is reached. Most of the setups I have seen will run 3-5 min after the car makes it back into the pits.

Dave

Yup, we cut the bottom of the spare tire well out...and the charcoal canister is history. My old car had air ducted in from outside and the cooler was in a sealed case/covering so every inch of air coming down that tube went directly to the cooler. Set up came with the car, and I was not smart enough to put a temp sensor somewhere along the setup to get readings :doh:

Going with manual dash switch for now (we're in the 'just get it running/moving' mode right now), later would like to add thermostat or timer. I'll be sure to run them 3-5min upon return to the pits....Thanks!!!:cheers:

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[Optimum Performance]

New Cooling Mod

Thanks to Jill for letting me steal this picture without asking Her

 

[Gibbo205]

If you see ECT in the 210* range CHT will be in the 220-230 range as peak values, the ECT starts to influence the ECU in a negative way at 200* it will potentially reduce peak timing by .104* for every degree of coolant temp above 200*f, IATs are important to watch as well as they start to influence timing at the 100*f point and are more aggressive than ECT on timing trims.

I am targeting 185-195 ECT range to stay in, I think with the 170 T-Stat I will be there and with the vented hood I will be on the low side of my target range. Those values should leave plenty of head room in case I decide to bump the rev limit up a bit and it looks like if ECT is held in that range the oil temps will remain manageable without the need for an additional cooling system as long as you are doing short sessions.

Dave

The cylinder head temperature displayed on the dash along with IAT, A/F, oil pressure etc. is that the CHT you mention? If so one needs to keep the cylinder head temp under 210 to prevent timing from getting pulled?

IAT pulls timing at 100 and above? Do you know when or if the ECU will add more due to lower temperatures? I mean is there a point where the ECU see's CHT sub 200 and then adds timing, or adds timing because say IAT is sub 75?

 

[jabrax]

The cylinder head temperature displayed on the dash along with IAT, A/F, oil pressure etc. is that the CHT you mention? If so one needs to keep the cylinder head temp under 210 to prevent timing from getting pulled?

My cylinder head temps well into the 240's this past weekend during a session. Outside heat index was over 100. I noticed when our group was blacked flagged, i looked down and noticed my check engine light was on, thought maybe i was leaking and the source of the flag. We sat for 45 seconds and the light went out and never came back on.

 

[EFI]

IAT pulls timing at 100 and above? Do you know when or if the ECU will add more due to lower temperatures? I mean is there a point where the ECU see's CHT sub 200 and then adds timing, or adds timing because say IAT is sub 75?

Seems that there is a point, both for IAT and ECT, that the ECU is adding timing. You can use the multiplier table, with corresponding load values, to figure out the actual corresponding timing.

Although I am still not 100% how the logic works in between row values. For example, there's values for 100* (50) and 180* (10). In other instance, GM vehicles for example, if you wanted to know what the value was for 140* it would be half between 50 and 10. Idk if that's the case for Fords though so might be tough to interpolate the actual values for points in between the existing rows.

 

[Plimmer]

COTA Track day report back

Background:
Diff Cooler Test
Testing my homemade diff cooler as shown at a Chin trackday at COTA. The specs are as follows:
1. AN8 lines in and out the diff at the fill and drain plugs
2. Stock oil weight, Redline 75w-85 with Ford additive
3. My diff is the 3.31 base model with clutches
4. Cooler is a setrab, about the size of a number plate (tag plate)
5. Cheap eBay gear fluid pump
6. Cheap eBay temp controller to run the pump

COTA and the Chin format are tough tests in my opinion, I timed my on track sessions at roughly 27min. So that poor Stang gets beat on for 27 mins. I used a full tank of gas + another 16 gallons of gas per day:headbonk::headbonk: So that should give you an idea of how hard the car works at this event. And it was 92deg and Hot Humid.

My temp controller has a probe bonded to the diff cover, the temps it reports are accurate and I trust them. The controller turns the pump on at 203degF and off at 194degF. At the end of each session I noted the temps reported by the controller:
1. When the pump worked temps were always around 230degF - cool enough I think
2. Three out of the 9 session, the pump was not running when I came in, and sometimes when the pump was running and after I had stopped, but then restarted to record the temp readings the pump would not restart. Diff temps were likely well over 250degF when the pump did not run, because my controller only reads up to 250 and was flashing some kind of over temp error.
3. So the pump is marginal when running at the high temps that occur at the track, but interestingly it was still running end of day Sunday. Also it did not leak any oil. I might leave it in and see if it just needed a little break in period. Maybe the gears were locking up under the high heat, I'll open it up and take a look.

So thats it for the diff cooler project

Mishimoto radiator report back:
I also have the 2" radiator from Mishimoto and the Reisch 170 deg thermostat, stock engine oil cooler. I was noting ECT (engine coolant temp) on the nGauge, sorry, should have been cylinder head temp but I forgot to change it.
1. Temps were in the range of 220degF to 230degF
2. Upper end was usually after a really high rpm hard run section of track
3. Temps come down fast to low 220's after an easier track section
4. Oil temps were always 8 to 9 tenths in the green - high :shrug:
5. I think larger vents in the hood are the way forward for me, and I'm going to remove that rubber seal along the sides to encourage a little more air out from under the hood

I would like to bring my ECT down about 10 to 20 deg, I can definitely feel the power fall off a little as the temps go up, and my timing is maybe pulled back 2 to 3 degrees from my test logs.

 

[DivineStrike]

Bump and sub

 

[Plimmer]

Hope you don't mind me showing off......but this is my next cooling mod. Have another COTA trackday Nov 11 weekend, so will report back after that. Hoping to see temps 10deg or more cooler.

 

[MaverickGT]

That's such a nice hood. My opinion it's the nicest one on the market. I've been wondering how it would look on a Ruby Red. Does it have latches? Picture?

 

[bluestang50]

I love that hood also. As soon as I buy a DD to make the mustang a track/weekend toy I will look seriously into getting one.

 

[BTM]

Hope you don't mind me showing off......but this is my next cooling mod. Have another COTA trackday Nov 11 weekend, so will report back after that. Hoping to see temps 10deg or more cooler.

Love that hood, and the ability to drop some weight, but the $$$ involved is hard to swallow for me.

I've got a gutted stock grille with way more air incoming than stock, and no appreciable hood lift/flutter at ~125mph on the long straight at Thunderhill 3mi course. Key was my gutted Roush vents - meaning I cut out the bottom of the vents, hood opening, and hood insulation. You can see the effective difference in outlet area in the pic where I'm holding the stock hood vents next to my setup.

Helps keep the beast cool with that much air moving through, also did Reische 170 deg thermostat to start at cooler temp.

 

[Plimmer]

I probably should have cut vents into my stock hood but, the bling bug got me and I coughed up for the Anderson. They also make a fiberglass version that you would paint, but that might cost more in the long run.

In the weight side, I'm sorry to report it isn't lighter than the stock hood. I didn't weight them, but I can tell there is no noticeable difference. The stock aluminum hood is surprisingly light. But it is a direct bolt on for the stock hood, no messing around, just switch over and align.

 

[steveespo]

I have the Anderson hood on my car too. Although CHT and Oil temps are not noticeably lower, but the amount of heat that radiates out through the vents is significant. The design is similar to the tiger racing hoods so evacuating the build up of hot air pressure from under the hood at speed should give a lift reduction at the front end. I am also very pleased with the fit and finish. I will be painting the hood soon but the carbon work and clear coat is excellent. Uses stock latching and I still use the Ford racing hood struts. Weight savings over stock was only 9 lbs. Steve

 

[Gatorac]

Mishimoto radiator report back:
I also have the 2" radiator from Mishimoto and the Reisch 170 deg thermostat, stock engine oil cooler. I was noting ECT (engine coolant temp) on the nGauge, sorry, should have been cylinder head temp but I forgot to change it.
1. Temps were in the range of 220degF to 230degF
2. Upper end was usually after a really high rpm hard run section of track
3. Temps come down fast to low 220's after an easier track section
4. Oil temps were always 8 to 9 tenths in the green - high
5. I think larger vents in the hood are the way forward for me, and I'm going to remove that rubber seal along the sides to encourage a little more air out from under the hood

This seems pretty disappointing for a radiator upgrade.

 

[Stuntman]

I've used Water Wetter in Karting, motorcycle, and car racing with good results as well. NANO Pro MT's "Nano Cool" is far superior and just hit the market (AutoZone) this month. It was developed with the military and in NASCAR and uses nano particles (graphite, graphene, etc...) to improve the heat transfer ability of your existing water/coolant.

Graphite has a very high thermal conductivity so as nano particles touch the walls of the aluminum in your radiator and engine water jackets (and touch each other) the surface area is greatly increased and thus heat transfer is increased. WW improves the surface tension of water but heat is not transferred to the majority of the flow of the water/coolant anywhere near as fast as Nano Cool. Water temps have been frequently reduced by 8-12*F by simply adding nano cool. It's pretty amazing stuff.

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