Reducing water temps at idle...

[shelldrake]

Hey Guys,

Just picked up the car from the tuner and after this turbo conversionI have an issue where at idle the temp creeps up to 95(+/- 2 degrees) and sits on it. (I guess it's partially to do with the oil cooler and the intercooler in front of the radiator now) When I get up to speed again and airflow increases it's around the 85-90 mark.

So, what can I do to reduce the temperature at idle? I had an idea that perhaps using a slightly smaller water pump pulley, it may do the trick (10-15% smaller). A 4A-FE one looked like it could be made to work...

There's no room for a bigger thermofan. Sam Q suggested that the OEM pump impeller blade design is somewhat flawed and maybe an aftermarket item would be better.

Thanks in advance.

[Kedderz]

whats your current fan setup? fans mounted directly to the rad or do you have a shroud of sorts? Many people, myself included, have had problems with hard mounted fans to the rad it doesnt provide enough cooling "power" to the cooling system

Check mr1jz's soarer thread he had the same problems until he setup a shroud and Im doing the same thing as well because I have the exact same problem as you do.

[oldcorollas]

is it still at that temp with fan running on full?

if you think 10-15% faster pulley might help, does upping idle 10-15% make a difference?

[shelldrake]

whats your current fan setup? fans mounted directly to the rad or do you have a shroud of sorts? Many people, myself included, have had problems with hard mounted fans to the rad it doesnt provide enough cooling "power" to the cooling system

Check mr1jz's soarer thread he had the same problems until he setup a shroud and Im doing the same thing as well because I have the exact same problem as you do.

It's a davis craig mounted directly to it. No shroud, just housing that the fan is housed in. I'll suss out mr1jz's thread.

is it still at that temp with fan running on full?

if you think 10-15% faster pulley might help, does upping idle 10-15% make a difference?

Thermo comes on at 85 and the temp keeps creeping till it gets to 95. Good point, I'll test tomorrow.

[oldcorollas]

even a 1" thick shroud made from sheetmetal will help a lot.
you may be getting uncooled water bypassing the fan area, and keeping the temps high?

[CrUZida]

As stated above, your fan is the cause of the issue.
Mount it correctly (or get two smaller ones to cover more area) and she'll be better.

The more of the radiator that is covered by fans (or spaced out fans and shrouds) the better.

At the moment you are probably only cooling 50% of the radiator with that fan, infact probably less than 50%.
This is the sole reason why its struggling.

[Tweak]

Maybe instead of trying to cool it down try and remove/control the heat source like ceramic coating manifolds and a beaning on the turbo aswell

[shelldrake]

I found some plastic sheet I had lying around and cut it crudely to shape, then filled in the gaps with race tape. It on had about 8-10mm clearance from the radiator to the shroud/fan and It's dropped the idle temp to around the 90 degree mark. I'll make up something a bit nicer in days to come, but I'm sold on the idea.

The only thing I'd like to know now...

When racing will the shroud still be the most effective way to go about it? (Will it cause a
restriction for the air now being forced to go via the fan)

Tweak - I've wrapped the turbo manifold and dump pipe. Thanks for your input though.

CrUZida - I was looking into the possibility of two fans vs one and there's a gain, but it seems marginal. It may be better though. Will try the shroud idea properly first.

[oldcorollas]

some manufacturers fit flaps on the bak kto let air out if there is higher pressure in front of the shroud than behind it.

[Slim]

some manufacturers fit flaps on the bak kto let air out if there is higher pressure in front of the shroud than behind it.

That sounds like a really good idea and would give you the best of both worlds.

[oldcorollas]

this kind of thing.. each hole or two holes has flap.. or somethng..


http://classicfordradiator.com/rubbe...dspackof6.aspx

not sure on the usefulness of these corners ones...

[oldcorollas]

ahh paydirt.. these big ugly things, with the little plastic things to stop the flaps going too far back (although i first saw it on an audi90)

[shelldrake]

Very "cool" idea.