track day cooling

[nlzmo400r]

I went to a lapping day this past weekend with a friend of mine and co-drove his car. He has a very similar setup in most ways. Log mani, gt32, 38mm dumped w/g. For cooling we both have koyo aluminum radiators, altima dual electric fans, nismo thermostat, and a front mount taking up the only cooling passage in the front bumper(s13 wtih stock bumpers), his manifold and downpipe are heat wrapped as well. The only difference is my exhaust housing is heat coated.

Now is was about 90*F outside and we were running 15min sessions. After running 2 laps flat out, the vehicle would reach 100*c (212*f), so I backed off and did a cool down lap. The car wouldn't stay below about 90*C (194*F) even when driving at about 7/10ths. And this is with both fans blowing on high and the heater on full blast. Just wanted to know if anyone else has had trouble keeping the KA cool on lapping days. Im definitely going to do some more ducting/paneling however Id really be interetsed in a high flow water pump or some other sort of cooling. Any advice??

[mehsilvia]

Water pump. That was my failure in cooling.
My app: SR with Koyo + Altima Fans + Greddy FMIC and was still running hot. I replaced the water pump and havent had ANY cooling issues whatsoever. And i inspected my old waterpump and couldnt detect any issues with it, so who knows. But it did fix it for me.

[nlzmo400r]

well ive replaced my waterpump about 2 months ago, so the pump is fine. What kind of temps do you see on the track? Because even when the greddy temp gauge red 100*C the stock gauge didn't move at all!!

[kouki_s14]

it's been said before, the stock gauge sucks.

throw in some water wetter or something like it, that might help.

If you want a huge difference, cut a hole in your bumper so air flows over the intercooler into the radiator. Or just get a silvia front end, the grill area gets plenty of airflow into the radiator(if that wasnt already obvious).

S14s have that extra airflow above a fmic so overheating is less common with the proper setup.

[FRSport.com]

You should consider running an oil cooler after you've verified everything else is in good condition.

Have you considered playing w/ your coolant/water/water wetter mix?

Also, do you have the fans controlled by a controller, or is one/both of them on during the whole track session?

[DRFT180]

It is my car that was tracked, and as far a coolant it only has one bottle of water wetter and the rest water. Which is suppose to give the best results. I am running a DIF dual fan controller which was set to have both fans turn on high at 85*c. So while on track the car would reach that temp so the fans would turn on and not turn off because the temp would not go below that unless we took a cool down lap. I also have some lower and side ducting.

I do have an FC oil cooler but is not on the car yet,

and am considering getting a Group A vent into the front bumper to help with more airflow into the radiator.

[slider2828]

There was an article specifically talking cooling. Forgot whre it is, but they said besides using carboard hahah for the top cooling panel, they said that the best solution is a bottom cooling panel. It is believed that there is very heavy air bleed when air hits the intercooler on the bottom opening and not passing through to the radiator. Based on temperature testing, cooling efficiency was almost u to 20%. So bottom ducting from the intercoole to the cross radiator support.

[Dousan_PG]

run a aftermarket thermo!
or do what i do
mine's cut up
so its there but its basically always open
when i get in my car b4 track events, it takes a 3 min drive to reach 50C
and on the track, im at no more then 85...if it a HOT day, maybe 90 max
works great
i also run an oil cooler though
koyo, stock clutch fan and fan shroud. no a/c or heater.
thats on an SR

evne on a KA i ran an aftermarket thermo (billion i think..same as nismo)
and stock clutch fan
was well below 90 always.
no turbo though

get an oil cooler! helps a lot

[staygold24]

good info in here. also you could use a breather tank that constantly bleeds the coolant system so there are no bubbles. I dont know how much it will help but every little bit counts when it comes to overheating. Ducting can help as well so maybe a radiator shroud and underpanel could help?

[DRFT180]

Like stated before, I do have lower ducting between the ic and the radiator.
And also on the sides,
I've just ordered an upper cooling panel so that should help a good bit.
I do have a billion thermo, nismo cap, and there are no air bubbles in the system.
The altima fans are sealed tightly to the radiator
This car is daily driven and has been proven to cool better with a thermo than without

Dousan, would an oil cooler make that much of a difference in coolant temp?

Thoughts on the Group A vent?
I'm sure it woudn't hurt


thanks fellas

[Dousan_PG]

oil cooler does help imo

bretahre tank, i got rid of mine
temp was fine w/o it ..so far
see how summer is


vent would help im sure

[FRSport.com]

An oil cooler should help tremendously if everything else in your system is working as it should (which it seems it is).

The radiator now has less work to do since the oil is also being cooled by air also. Just make sure you place the oil cooler somewhere where it can also get air...

[s13gold]

take off the silvia front grill or cut a duct at the top of the bumper right under both headlights...

also maybe a cut in the hood.

[Dousan_PG]

vented hood drops temps!

[nlzmo400r]

take off the silvia front grill or cut a duct at the top of the bumper right under both headlights...

also maybe a cut in the hood.

its an oem s13 front bumper, so no grille. We were entertaining removing the turn signals in the front bumper and routing some ducting to the radiator from there as well

[mct3351]

http://www.superhonda.com/photopost/data/500/medium/cooling.JPG
That is from the s14 silvia FSM. The electric fan doesn't switch to high until water temps reach 100C at the factory water temp sensor.
I wouldn't worry about the temps until about 105C. I too see temps after 15 minute sessions around 95C when its over 80F outside.

As for the thermostat I don't think getting a lower temp one helps anything when compared to a properly functioning OEM one.
Whats the difference between a fully opened OEM and a Nismo?
Even though the Nismo opens at a lower temp the water temp will still rise to the same temp as a system with an OEM one (when being abused and outside temps above 70F).
The water temperature will raise to a temperature to where the temperature difference between the radiator and the incoming air exchanges the same amount of heat as the engine produces.
The conductive heat transfer from the engine to the coolant will equal the convective heat trasfer from the radiator to the air.
So if the outside temperature goes up the temperature difference between the radiator and the air must remain approx. the same so the coolant temp will go up.
Even with no thermostat after a 20 minute track event in 90F heat your water temp will still rise above 80C unless you have some crazy cooling setup.

Mike

[codyace]

Koyo, stock thermostat, Z32 radiator cap, Altima fans, AC Condensor, Greddy FMIC, upper cooling plate, lower OEM plastic covers = Car NEVER getting hot on track days or in traffic.

[S14DB]

You put a new thermostat in with the water pump? You should have. They tend to stick and slow down over time as the wax degrades.

I noticed the biggest gain with a 300zx(z32) radiator cap from the auto store for $4.

Bubble tank helps on the KA cause it can be a bitch to bleed sometimes.

[nlzmo400r]

Koyo, stock thermostat, Z32 radiator cap, Altima fans, AC Condensor, Greddy FMIC, upper cooling plate, lower OEM plastic covers = Car NEVER getting hot on track days or in traffic.

what kind of water temp gauge do you have? Sure the stock one isnt going to move. We had the car up to 110c and the stock temp gauge didnt move a damn inch. This question almost only applies to people who have actualy marked and working water temp gauges.

also, I wasnt too worried about the water temp being 90-95C, but the car would have just kept heating up with no signs of slowing down. i let it go to 110C once before I let off. At 15min sessions, two to three hotlaps into it, the temp was over 100c and climbing.

[DriftSpecS14]

STOCK IS BEST! Run a stock clutch fan. i can promise it will run cooler electric fans suck as a main fan. you can always use smaller electric fans on the back side of the radiator to draw air throguh easier. i run it on my 180sx and its blows air through my oil cooler as well into my radiator