Cooling on the track

[fast Ed]

Hey guys & gals

I'm asking in this forum specifically looking for input from other people who are tracking their V6 SHOs. I've had my "new" 95 out a couple of times now, slowly been getting parts changed over from the other 95 MTX that has a hurt engine.

Anyway, my question is, are there some simple things I can do to keep the coolant temp down on hot days? I've tried some searches here, and most of the feedback seems to be that a stock engine car should be fine. Mine has about 200,000 km on it, we did fresh coolant and a Motorcraft OEM thermostat before I was out last time. It was a fairly hot and humid day, around 85 - 90F, and the gauge was going as high as the N in NORMAL after about 10 - 15 minutes. If I backed off for a lap or two (Mosport big track), it would come back down to around the R, I was also running with the heater on to see if that would help at all, it might have a bit. I'd like to be able to lap the car for 20 - 30 minutes at a time if possible without cooking the poor thing.

Has anyone tried a deeper air deflector under the rad cradle to try pushing more air up in to the rad? I was looking at some new F-150s on the lot here at the dealership, and they have a nice sized air deflector underneath that might be MacGyvered on to the SHO. Or do I need to be looking at an upgraded (or maybe just a new OEM) radiator?


Thanks in advance for any suggestions ...



cheers
Ed N.

 

[hawkeye18]

Radiators will get clogged up with debris/bug guts over time, and the internal passages can/will get clogged with rust. A new one probably wouldn't hurt - just make sure you re-crimp the end tanks on it before installation or you'll have a nice coolant sieve.

Is AC on it necessary? If not, yank that condenser out; that'll give you a lot more airflow over the radiator.

Another option is installing an oil cooler - there's a thread on that specific subject here. That will also have the effect of not heating the coolant up with the oil any more, so that should help temps somewhat as well. Also, your oil will be cooled by ambient air, which is much colder than 200* coolant. Your oil will thank you.

You could also use some Water Wetter; that helps lower temps a little bit. Are you using the MTX fan assembly? You can try using the ATX assembly, which has two fans; a little cutting and splicing is required to route power to both fans but there will be quite a bit more airflow.

If you get a TwEECer or Quarterhorse, you can set the on-point of the fans through that to a lower temperature - 190* or so. This will keep the fans running longer.

 

[SHOZ123]

Get something like this. Easy to make and install.

 

[luigisho]

You can get a bigger radiator for the car if heat at the track is a major issue. You can get something like a Godan radiator for extra cooling capacity.

 

[zak]

Agreed on the AC condensor getting clogged with crap. Still trying to find the most effective, least chance of mashing the fins method for cleaning mine.

Lance C. did a neat mod where behind the front plate he drilled three or so holes with a largish hole saw (2+ inches) all the way through. Arrive at track, pop plate out and presto extra cooling flow. This would not be a good mod though if you happened to hit a telephone poll straight on.

 

[SinisterSHO]

FWIW, I would get a real temp gauge to see where its really running as far as the temp goes. The N in normal, is still in the normal range of the gauge, and in normal operating temp.

 

[SHOZ123]

On my V8 I tapped a large oil cooler into the coolant lines for the OEM oil cooler. Worked pretty good.

 

[SHOtime2511]

double core radiator.

 

[fast Ed]

Thanks everyone for all of the ideas. Part of the problem is that I'm trying to make a track-day car out of a $700 kijiji special with unknown history. The guy I bought it from did a decent job of regular maintenance in the 5 years or so that he owned it, but prior to that I have no info about the car.

The oil cooler would be nice, I may consider that for a winter project. The idea is to keep the investment in the car as limited as possible. A new OEM Ford rad is pretty cheap at my cost here in Canada, just over $150 + tax. I may go with a replacement there. The A/C isn't currently working, I know that the car has a blend door issue, but it may be more than that. I had considered removing it altogether as suggested ... it would be nice to have, but since the car isn't a daily driver I can certainly make do without.

Paul N., do you know what the material is for that air deflector you posted the photos of?


thanks,
Ed N.

 

[SHOZ123]

I made that out of corrugated polypropylene, AKA plastic cardboard.

I have two Hayden oil coolers that work good for the coolant lines. 1/2" fittings and if you made the above air deflector, the cooler can lay flat on it with a cut out below it. This will force air through it when driving and when sitting still if the radiator fan is on it will pull air up through it.



http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HDA-1260

Cheap

 

[fast Ed]

Awesome, thanks for that.

Jason H, I didn't realize that the ATX cars had a dual fan setup vs. single fan, I may have a look for a good used setup. I also have a friend from the local chapter of the Super Coupe club that does tuning with Moates stuff, I had thought about doing a chip so that I could get the fan on sooner.



thx,
Ed N.

 

[zach44102]

http://shosource.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=61_43_51&products_id=164

this should help.
also look into the tweecer to set the fans to come on or hook the fans up to a switch, also i dont know if its possible but changing to a lower temp thermostat could help. oil cooler *highly recomended to keep cool*,

 

[hawkeye18]

Awesome, thanks for that.

Jason H, I didn't realize that the ATX cars had a dual fan setup vs. single fan, I may have a look for a good used setup. I also have a friend from the local chapter of the Super Coupe club that does tuning with Moates stuff, I had thought about doing a chip so that I could get the fan on sooner.

If I had to guess, I'd say the ATXs have a second fan in order to account for the trans fluid, which it also has to cool.

I would recommend a TwEECer, I have one on my car and it is wonderful. You can do all sorts of stuff with it. I bet the Quarterhorse has similar abilities, but I haven't worked with it at all.

 

[SHOZ123]

You can get a manual fan controller that is super easy to hook up for about $30.

Flexalite 31147.

 

[krek]

We've run several 24 hour races with ChumpCar with no cooling issues. We removed the AC, flushed the stock 180,000 mile radiator (and now run straight water as per ChumpCar rules) and opened up area between the headlights.

 

[Wildstar]

We just finished the hottest damned LeMons race we've ever done. No cooling problems for two of the SHOs. The 3rd one seemed to have had an iffy radiator. If the radiator is in good shape, the thermostat is working, and the water pump is functional, you basically won't over heat a V-6 SHO. If you run hot, one of those 3 things is bad.

 

[fast Ed]

Some great info here, thanks again everyone. It's nice to have a knowledge base from people who are actually tracking the cars. I was in to the Super Coupes for about 10 years, had a rare 95 5-speed car. It got tracked a bit when I was instructing, and I think that I was one of maybe half a dozen people at the most in the SC online community doing that with the car.


cheers
Ed N.

 

[Shoaz]

Missed this thread previously somehow, so I'm hope you're making progress.

The Pumpkin had overheating issues whenever the ambient got around or above 100F, which is a significant part of the season here. I never cured it completely, but the following helped, some of which has already been suggested:

1. Dual core rad - didn't help much, but definitely didn't hurt.

2. Removed the fan assembly and replaced with a minimally shrouded aftermarket zip-on fan. This helps on the track but hurts in the paddock or when you're at a stop light on the street. Since my car was track-only it really only affected how long I could wait on grid with the engine running.

3. Extended the lower air dam about 3/4" as you originally asked about. That did help, but wasn't a cure. One of the people here on the forum with a large-displacement n/a SHO motor dropped theirs even further and it seems to be working well for them.

4. Gasketed the interface between the hood and the top of the radiator core support. This prevented air from bypassing the rad over the top. I used a household door-jamb gasket from Home Depot and screwed it into the hood.

5. Removed the transmission cooler from in front of the rad. I had been using an ATX tranny cooler with an external pump for the Quaifed MTX, but a suspension setup change made the Quaife work much less hard than it had previously, so the cooler was no longer necessary. That did help the engine cooling situation.

6. Shrouded the radiator intake. A fair amount of air can escape around the rad, especially to the sides, this was one of the last things I did, and it seemed to be one of the most effective.

This was for a track-only car that had no a/c. I don't think any one of the things I did made a huge impact, but all of them together seemed to help quite a bit.

 

[fast Ed]

Great additional info, thanks for chiming in here. I'll be back out with the car next weekend, but by then the ambient temp here is more likely to be in the 60 degree range (although we are having a near record for time of year 90 degree day today). Maybe I will try getting some sort of insulation around the rad opening to direct all the air through the rad.

Priority at this point is to get the brake lines replaced ... having a front to rear line pop going in to corner 5 at Mosport was *interesting*. Good thing for the dual circuit system is all I can say. Replacing the lines was item number 4 or so on the to-do list, but it got moved up suddenly.


thanks,
Ed N.

 

[sdpatt]

Like Wildstar said before, if the cooling system's major components are working properly, you should not be able to overheat a V6 MTX SHO. I have run mine at the track for 20-minute sessions on days as hot as 100F without the needle moving past the midpoint of the gauge. The heatsoak after engine shutoff is more of a concern so the cooldown lap is important. I likely do not run at LeMons intensity, but I have driven on some hot days.

Another bit of evidence about the capacity of the MTX SHO's cooling system is the time my SHO has spent pulling a 3,000 pound boat/trailer combination on +100F summer days. This was at times with the car loaded with four full size guys and pulling on the highway at 70 mph. Up long (for Texas) gradual grades, I could see the gauge move upward, but never threaten the top of the NORMAL range. The police grill was designed to allow additional airflow to the radiator. That may have helped my car keep its cool during the track and tow times.

The SHO's cooling system has significant capacity to keep the engine in its normal temperature range. If it can't maintain the needle in the right part of the scale, find the reason why. It could be any of the folllowing and other things I haven't mentioned: an innacurate temperature sensor, a leaking hose that fails to let the cooling system maintain 16 psi, foaming coolant due to incompletely flushed cleaners, a slipping belt, a loose impeller on a water pump shaft, a thermostat that does not fully open, low coolant inventory, plugged tubes in the fluid side of the radiator or blocked air flow to the fin side of the radiator. If the system is allowed to work like it was designed, you and your SHO should be able to keep your cool.