Radiator Ducting.

[SHOspazz92]

With the Temps being so high in NC at this time of the year, I'm really hoping that heat wont be a problem. Not for the FMIC on the S/C SHO, but the radiator. My concern is that the FMIC is blocking a lot of air flow to the Radiator and the A/C condenser. Case in point, The A/C when first turned on will blow cool if the car is not hot (I.E., Just starting it up). However once you have driven it for a while, the A/C will no longer blow cold. I'm also sure that water temps are up as well.

So, In the future when I get home I am considering making up some ducting that will flow directly to the radiator and possibly adding a additional fan (on a switch) to aid with low speed/idle temps during the summer. Anyone have some thoughts or suggestions about this? Gary M? Tyner?

-Sam

 

[rubydist]

do you have room for a pusher fan in front of the ic/condensor?

 

[SASHO91]

Hey Sam, it may be worthwhile to just give them a good cleaning(if that hasnt been done yet). Granted, ducting the raditator would be ideal considering the amount of core volume you have out front there....

 

[92sho16]

At watkins glen in august (mid 90's ambient) i ran decent temperatures on the track by lowering my fan turn on to 204 iirc down from 216. I also lowered the the turn off to 188 down from 192. I contemplated making police grille type cutouts in the bumper.

 

[SHOspazz92]

At watkins glen in august (mid 90's ambient) i ran decent temperatures on the track by lowering my fan turn on to 204 iirc down from 216. I also lowered the the turn off to 188 down from 192. I contemplated making police grille type cutouts in the bumper.

Unfortunently, any kind of "Cutout" in the bumper will not do my car any good, as the FMIC is going to block whatever airflow could be channeled to the radiator. I think I'm going to have to have some sort of ducting fabricated. The ducting, Will be attached to a belly pan that runs from the radiator support to the edge of the front bumper, making sure air does not escape elsewhere, and goes to the radiator. I kind of drew somthing up (You can see it grey, in the attachment) on how I want to do this. Obviously, I would not want the ducting hanging so low.

I'll figure somthing out, it shouldn't be to hard.

-Sam

 

[HotRodKid]

The best first step would be to have a piece of steel rectangular tubing rolled to the same diameter as the factory front bumper reinforcement. This will allow MUCH more air to roll up over the top of the intercooler into the radiator.

 

[Off Road SHO]

Any air flow over about 20 mph through the radiator is wasted, and not needed. The radiator in SHO's are way more capable of tranfering enough heat energy out of coolant than is needed. Just make sure you have a clean radiator as was mentioned above and coolant flow and airflow.

We used to use steel washers instead of thermostats to neck down the coolant flow in our off road cars. Got rid of a failure point and slowed down the coolant so it would absorb more heat from the engine. The coolant had no problem getting rid of the heat quickly through the thin walls of the radiator.

Tom

 

[HotRodKid]

and slowed down the coolant so it would absorb more heat from the engine.

Juat ? please tell me this isn't the old hotrodder idea that if water moves to fast through an engine it cant absorb heat.

 

[SHOZ123]

You could try taking the low speed fan resistor connector off and jumpering it. This will make the lo speed fan run at hi speed.

 

[firebat45]

Juat ? please tell me this isn't the old hotrodder idea that if water moves to fast through an engine it cant absorb heat.

There is a point where having the water moving quicker hurts performance, instead of helping it. Not sure if that point is ever relevant on a SHO, but the theory is hydrodunamically sound, at least.

You can also pump it through the rad too fast to transfer heat out of it. People seem a lot more willing to accept that idea, even though it's the same concept.

As for the original question, the intercooler shouldn't block flow. If no air flows through it, it won't be doing anything. It also shouldn't be heating the air up enough to cause a problem for the radiator. I'd check to make sure it's not clogged up, or mounted at a wierd angle.

What I bet is happening is that the majority of the air is tumbling around the edges of the intercooler and missing the radiator. If you duct between the intercooler and the rad, so no air escapes, and in front of the intercooler, I bet you will see a large drop in engine and intake temperatures.

 

[SHOtime2511]

How big is the intercooler? how much boost?

 

[SHOspazz92]

How big is the intercooler? how much boost?

Sorry, I don't have the exact dimensions, but it pretty large. No pics with the front bumper off, but at the very least this picture should give you an Idea on how thick it is...



-Sam

 

[SHOtime2511]

It's tough to say due to the fact of the gen 2 having a lack of openings in the bumper.
The IC core in my gen 1 is something like 24 long 10 tall and 2.5 thick.
It is enough to cover the lower opening in the bumper but leaves the upper openings clear.

I would pull the radiator and try cleaning it out first.
I've seen them packed with dirt,bugs,ext...

 

[HotRodKid]

You can also pump it through the rad too fast to transfer heat out of it. People seem a lot more willing to accept that idea, even though it's the same concept.

Heres my problem with that idea, no matter how fast you push coolant through the radiator, it will always spend 45% of its time in the engine, 45% of its time in the radiator, and the other 10% in the hoses and pump. (guesstimates)

time = heat transfer, weather its 100* drop in one pass or 10* drop on each of ten passes.

 

[SHO Continental]

Heres my problem with that idea, no matter how fast you push coolant through the radiator, it will always spend 45% of its time in the engine, 45% of its time in the radiator, and the other 10% in the hoses and pump. (guesstimates)

time = heat transfer, weather its 100* drop in one pass or 10* drop on each of ten passes.

If that were true we wouldn't need thermostats to regulate the time the coolant spends in the motor.

 

[HotRodKid]

If that were true we wouldn't need thermostats to regulate the time the coolant spends in the motor.

so you disagree with the statement "time = heat transfer, weather its 100* drop in one pass or 10* drop on each of ten passes." ?

We need Tstats because the heat output of the engine varies depending on speed and load so we cant just drive the pump at a certain speed at all times and expect the cooling system to work perfect

 

[rubydist]

10* drop in each of ten passes will take much more power to pump the water.

also, as the water moves faster, the heat transfer rate goes down, because of turbulence, etc. so the comparison is likely more like 100* drop in one pass, or 45* drop in each of 2 passes, or 7* drop in each of 10 passes.

at some point, the water won't pick up enough heat from the engine to carry it out and keep the engine cool.

 

[HotRodKid]

10* drop in each of ten passes will take much more power to pump the water.

yep, wasn't suggesting anyone actually try to spin their pump that fast, it was just typed that way for the sake of making a point

because of turbulence,

Turbulance actually improves heat transfer

Turbulence impedes flow, not heat transfer

 

[platoribs]

Sam,

The Supercoupe guys have a spoiler that scoops up the air beneath the FMIC and directs up into the radiator.

 

[SHOspazz92]

Sam,

The Supercoupe guys have a spoiler that scoops up the air beneath the FMIC and directs up into the radiator.

That's exactly what I will be doing. Is this a factory unit? Or aftermarket?

-Sam