Cooling on the track

[jmpSHO2nd]

Mine is an ATX and I made 12-13 passes at the drag strip a few months back, all within 2 and a half hours and my car never over heated or came close to. I believe the temp was in the 90s that day and my car was consistant each pass.

 

[gmorrell]

Ventilate thy front bumper.

Hole-sawed bumper support. Hole-sawed and screened bumper cover.


This was to get more air for a 400 WHP forced induction car with the attendant oil, transaxle and PS coolers, but it was remarkably effective in keeping coolant at 215F and oil at 225F running Willow Springs' big track at near 95F ambient. I used one of the old SHOShop thick core radiators and the AC is completely absent, which certainly helps. This car also dragged my racing equipment trailer all over the Southern California deserts at absolutely stupid and sometimes illegal speeds with no problem.

That said, I agree with sbpatt, a properly maintained SHO cooling system should be able to handle even a highly strung and modified normally aspirated engine on the track.

 

[Racer X]

That said, I agree with sbpatt, a properly maintained SHO cooling system should be able to handle even a highly strung and modified normally aspirated engine on the track.

If that's the case, I'm at a loss.

I don't have any leaks, radiator is a few years old but flushed before winter storage, coolant is neon green, thermostat opens and closes properly, and on the street I run between 200º and 215º, but at Waterford Hills I was at nearly 250ºF at the end of one session. Oil temperature was at least 265ºF, measured at the bottom of the oil pan. I'd imagine that the water wetter I was running was the only thing that kept the coolant system from boiling over all over the track.

I still have A/C installed on the car. Could the condenser be hampering the cooling system that much?

 

[SHOZ123]

Is the pressure cap good? The water wetter doesn't work all that well unless you are using straight water. Don't really need it with a 50/50 mix of glycol and water.

Gen 1 and 2 SHOs have a huge hole in front of the radiator that lets air go under the car instead of through the radiator.

 

[Racer X]

Paul, the cap is a year old. I figured I'd give the water wetter a shot since I was also running warm in 2009 at NHMS.

 

[hawkeye18]

I still have A/C installed on the car. Could the condenser be hampering the cooling system that much?

It's absolutely possible. The condenser has even finer fins than the radiator, which means they can get clogged up with bug guts/bent even easier than the radiator fins. And, since it's first in line for bug guts and rocks, it gets them a lot more.

That, and years and years of dust and soot and sand and crap can get in there and make what basically becomes a wall.

Take the radiator out one day, and blow the condenser out from the back with an air gun... the shit that comes out is simply incredible.

My wife hit a deer in her '95, and though the radiator was damaged and replaced, I saw the old one and it didn't look bad, inside or out. The condenser, on the other hand... I couldn't see through the old one at all. There was no light going through it. Now that it has a new condenser, I've noticed it stays much cooler on hot days.

And the AC works better, too.

 

[gmorrell]

X2

I've had this happen on two cars. Years ago with the SHO, I had the radiator out and happened to notice that I couldn't see my trouble light through the AC condenser, it was completely clogged with all manner of crap, and that was maybe at 80K miles.

Same thing on my Contour recently at 100K miles, was having trouble keeping coolant below 230F, oil below 250F on the highway doing 75 on a hot day in Northeast Colorado. Found a huge patch of Black, fibrous crap on the AC condenser, and the radiator fins were clogged where the AC condenser wasn't. Pulled the radiator (This requires an Act of Congress for an SVT Contour) and blew out the whole mess with the pressure washer - all better now.

Additionally, make sure the little vertical tab below the radiator support is in place, and if that doesn't help, consider baffling the path from the grill opening to the radiator support.

 

[gmorrell]

Another thing to consider for heat is what your tune looks like.

In general, too much timing and/or not enough fuel at WOT and temps will be high. I've seen plenty of dyno queen, max torque/max horsepower tunes need some timing pulled out and a bit more fuel to make the engine safe for long term high load.

What's your wide band O2 saying at the end of a front straight?

 

[SHOspazz92]

Gary,

I love that Air Dam/Splitter setup much better then my Air Dam. What material did you use for the Air Dam? What about the splitter?

-Sam

 

[Shoaz]

If that's the case, I'm at a loss.

I don't have any leaks, radiator is a few years old but flushed before winter storage, coolant is neon green, thermostat opens and closes properly, and on the street I run between 200º and 215º, but at Waterford Hills I was at nearly 250ºF at the end of one session. Oil temperature was at least 265ºF, measured at the bottom of the oil pan. I'd imagine that the water wetter I was running was the only thing that kept the coolant system from boiling over all over the track.

I still have A/C installed on the car. Could the condenser be hampering the cooling system that much?

As has been mentioned, check for airflow restrictions through the condenser and the rad with a light or something.

My 95 saw a lot of track events, quite a few at over 100F ambient, at full weight with the full interior and a/c and everything, and never seemed to get remotely close to overheating.

The Pumpkin, with no a/c and a brand new (and therefore not plugged up) dual core rad, and less weight than the 95, would overheat predictably at anything near or over 100F.

For whatever reason these cars don't seem to be created equal when it comes to cooling. I wish I knew the differences, as some seem to do just fine, and others don't.

Is the pressure cap good? The water wetter doesn't work all that well unless you are using straight water. Don't really need it with a 50/50 mix of glycol and water.

Very true. If you're running straight water then water wetter is a good additive. It doesn't do much for you if there's already a glycol/antifreeze mix in there.

The rad cap is always a good place to start when overheating is happening.

Gen 1 and 2 SHOs have a huge hole in front of the radiator that lets air go under the car instead of through the radiator.

The lower air dam is supposed to stop that and actually pile up air coming under the facia to help increase the pressure in front of the rad. So the OP was right on in asking about that to start with.

 

[gmorrell]

Gary,

I love that Air Dam/Splitter setup much better then my Air Dam. What material did you use for the Air Dam? What about the splitter?

-Sam

Thanks!

http://www.shoforum.com/showpost.php?p=712621&postcount=2

 

[K-Dawg]

You almost never see Gen 1 SHOs with overheating problems.

 

[-DVP-]

You almost never see Gen 1 SHOs with overheating problems.

Seems to be a trend in this thread too that gen IIs are having the issues.

This is what I did. It will change but I had it laying around.