Water Tempeture

[grasshopper]

What water temp is ideal for a creat engine?

We dont run a oil cooler. (but thinking about putting one on the car)

Our water temp is getting up to around 230.

We got a triple pass radiator and run a 15" or 16" 6 blade fan.

We know its to high but what can we do to make it run cooler?

[rubbinsracin]

Do you run a shroud? If not get one. 1:1 pulleys, we run an 18" fan but I know guys that get away with the smaller 15", single or double pass rad should work. Triple pass should not be needed on one of these cars. We prefer to be at 200*......some people will tell you that 230 is fine and its what they run at on the road, but this is obviously not standard road driving.

Stewart water pump website has a lot of info on it. Check it out.

[SRXSRULE]

If your running 230* this time of year your in big trouble. I have a single pass radiator, shroud, and 17" fan. last weekend I had almost a 1/3rd of the radiator core blocked off with tape and the water temp was 190 after the feature.

230-250* will permantly ruin some of the cheap radiators they sell today. It will swell the tubes to the point they dont allow air to flow through the core.

Go to stewart's website and read/follow everything they say. Eric

[grasshopper]

rubbinsracin we are running a shroud and 1:1 pulleys. We race in NC and it aint got humind yet its still cool at nights I know I gotta get this fixed soon.was just looking for some ideas thanks.

[brad hibbard]

make sure your belts are tight----turn the fan by hand---it should tun the crank a couple of degrees before slipping----it will never be able to completely roll the engine over but it should start to-----if it turns by hand easy and doesn't even think of turning the crank----then the belts are too loose or the belts and/or the pulleys are worn out.

check TOTAL timing

install GM 19" fan #405442 (the fan is only a bandaid for your situation but will help)

also like another poster said read the stuff on stewarts website its all good information.

Brad
www.race-1.com

[grasshopper]

Brad the belts and pulleys are new (well 4) races on them. But they are tight and the crank does like you say it turns a couple deg>Do you have the link to Stewart water pumps?Could running 110 Vp have something to do with it also? just wondering?

[brad hibbard]

I am not real good at inserting links (unless my wife sets it up LOL)

go to stewartcomponents.com if that don't work put the word tech in at the end.

VP 110 is not causing your problem unless you are trying to run too much timing

602 or 604?

[grasshopper]

Brad we running a 604.As far as I know the timing is 32 to 34 degrees. Somewere around there our engine guy checked it.

[DaveBauerSS6]

230-250* will permantly ruin some of the cheap radiators they sell today. It will swell the tubes to the point they dont allow air to flow through the core.


Solved several overheats with the swollen radiator. Check the tubes carefully for bulging. It seems to be more in the center of the radiator.

[giffordracing]

throw the triple pass behind the garage and the 6 blade fan..to much restriction....Oil cooler ..4 blade 18" fan ...shroud..good duck work..proper jetting......all your Problems will be solved

[SRXSRULE]

One more thing many people forget is that once your water temp goes over 200* the HP starts dropping off. By the time your at 230* you have lost around 20-30hp with the crate.

Try for yourself the next time your on the dyno. Keep making pulls and watch the numbers drop after 200*

All of the double/tripple pass rad are a joke. All of the "water wetter" snake oils do VERY little. Flushing your cooling system to get the rust out of the inside of the blocks helps a lot. Eric

[dynoman14]

Step1:
First thing I would do is acid flush the system real good with a radiator wash solution. Next I would flush the clean system out with de-ionized water and do that twice. Once you have done that fill with de-ionized water and run water wetter or liquid ice in the system to seal all of pores in the metal you just cleaned. Now you know you don't have any crap in your water system.

Step2:
Purchase a real water pump that will pump boiling water under pressure. I only know of a couple, Stewart, Edelbrock Oval track & Adams. Most of the pumps that come in belt and pulley kits are Chinese junk and stall about 5000rpm and 20psi. There may be others but I know these work up to 50PSI and I have tested and raced all 3.

For those morons out there thinking I made this stuff up also I built a water pump dyno about 25 years ago when I first started working with Howard Stewart. It ain't nothing special just a 55 gal drum, a water heater, some gauges and a 25HP electric motor.

Why such big motor you ask little red riding hood???
Cause it takes more than that to drive a water pump at 25psi and 250* water temp.

You hang a big A$$ metal fan on it and you double the HP drag...

For those of you that don't believe Dirt cars can run with an electric fan you need to take a closer look. It can be as much as 25-35RWHP drag on your engine

You can also cut the HP drag of a water pump in half with special impeller cartridges. Ever wonder why good water pumps have billet plates on the back with removable impeller cartridges???


Step3:
Get new hoses for your engine preferably Gates or NAPA industiral and install a 28-35psi cap on the system and let it eat. If you get real creative check into a purge/surge system, they are worth their weight in gold.

If you are running 1:1 on the pulleys and have a decent fan and shroud you should not get over 220 in July with the temp 100* and Humidity 90%. Fan should be about 1-2" from the radiator, front and rear shroud should be air tight if you want to create a vacuum across the fins which increases the cooling capacity about 4:1 . Front nose opening should be about 1/4 of the radiator surface area.

If you still have problems you need to look at your spark plugs they may be to high on heat range
( how much porcelean is sticking out of the top??? ) , timing ( advance or lock and how much ) and carb ( jets / powervalves ) for fuel, also check for low fuel pressure under operation need at least 4-5 psi min.

Does your fuel cell have a vent?

[drtrkr244]

Step1:
First thing I would do is acid flush the system real good with a radiator wash solution. Next I would flush the clean system out with de-ionized water and do that twice. Once you have done that fill with de-ionized water and run water wetter or liquid ice in the system to seal all of pores in the metal you just cleaned. Now you know you don't have any crap in your water system.

Step2:
Purchase a real water pump that will pump boiling water under pressure. I only know of a couple, Stewart, Edelbrock Oval track & Adams. Most of the pumps that come in belt and pulley kits are Chinese junk and stall about 5000rpm and 20psi. There may be others but I know these work up to 50PSI and I have tested and raced all 3.

For those morons out there thinking I made this stuff up also I built a water pump dyno about 25 years ago when I first started working with Howard Stewart. It ain't nothing special just a 55 gal drum, a water heater, some gauges and a 25HP electric motor.

Why such big motor you ask little red riding hood???
Cause it takes more than that to drive a water pump at 25psi and 250* water temp.

You hang a big A$$ metal fan on it and you double the HP drag...

For those of you that don't believe Dirt cars can run with an electric fan you need to take a closer look. It can be as much as 25-35RWHP drag on your engine

You can also cut the HP drag of a water pump in half with special impeller cartridges. Ever wonder why good water pumps have billet plates on the back with removable impeller cartridges???


Step3:
Get new hoses for your engine preferably Gates or NAPA industiral and install a 28-35psi cap on the system and let it eat. If you get real creative check into a purge/surge system, they are worth their weight in gold.

If you are running 1:1 on the pulleys and have a decent fan and shroud you should not get over 220 in July with the temp 100* and Humidity 90%. Fan should be about 1-2" from the radiator, front and rear shroud should be air tight if you want to create a vacuum across the fins which increases the cooling capacity about 4:1 . Front nose opening should be about 1/4 of the radiator surface area.

If you still have problems you need to look at your spark plugs they may be to high on heat range
( how much porcelean is sticking out of the top??? ) , timing ( advance or lock and how much ) and carb ( jets / powervalves ) for fuel, also check for low fuel pressure under operation need at least 4-5 psi min.

Does your fuel cell have a vent?

Dyno,

You advocate running a high pressure cooling system. Does that allow the engine to make more power at higher temps, or is it to keep water in the system ?