Sr20 temperature issues

[TougeSR20Kid]

So I've done all that I can think of and my cars temp is still pretty high. Ranges from 195 to 205. In the past few weeks I've swapped both sensors, run a flush on it, new 180 thermo, filled it with distilled water and two things of water wetter only. So now I'm just a little bit confused as to why the issue is persisting. Anyone got any ideas or comments or help?

Also I have a koyo with e fans, lifted hood and I live in a cold-ish place so it couldn't be a weather related phenomena

[rwtf]

i got a nismo tstat for sale, opens at 60*C

[TougeSR20Kid]

I'll pm you, but I'm not sure if that's the problem because the one I got opens not too much hotter than that and it's still running 20 to 30 degrees hotter than the thermo opens at

[DRIFTERS14]

put clutch fan & shroud back on

[TougeSR20Kid]

Oops sorry reposted

[K_style]

i got a nismo tstat for sale, opens at 60*C

You are wrong. it opens at 62*C.

put clutch fan & shroud back on

This will do it.

Maybe air in the system?

[sr20s14koukikid]

Check if the e fans are working. If not could be a bad ground or fan thermostat not turning them on. Unless their running on a switch. . Never mind then


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[TougeSR20Kid]

Maybe air in the system?

That's what I originally thought but I jacked the front end up and sat there burping it for like an hour or so. Can't run the clutch fan so that's not really an option

The fans are running off a switch on a completely dedicated circuit with a light indicating when the circuit is complete aka fans are running.

[godsmack]

Are your fans shrouded? If not that will help cool. Another thing to check is a/f ratio. If those are off you'll be running hot.

[steve shadows]

Bleed the crap out of the cooling system. Most people don't do it right and it can cause all kinds of issues. I would definitely pick up a nismo thermostat too.

[TougeSR20Kid]

Got a wideband but it's about 14 at idle and 12-13 under load. It's basically running the same as always just hotter. They're not shrouded like you would envision. There's two of them and they basically take up the whole radiator. I'll try sealing up the cracks and let you know what happens

[cotbu]

Are the fans running as pusher or pullers and are they in the correct orientation for said flow? Bleeding the system does not take an hour, if you have bubbles after an hour then you have another issue.
Where are you getting your temps from?

I've been doing some testing lately and currently still am. What I've found is that a oem clutch an shrouded system does not cool better than an electric fan setup. It is a convenience thing I guess. Cooling better! That's a myth. Aftermarket hose sensor gauge location: upper sr20, lower sr20, and stock location through ecu temp sensor via consult.
The upper hose gave the closest readings to the ecu temp sensor during normal and spirited driving, I was able to get the upper aftermarket gauge to 210-215f, but the ect max temp was 194f. the lower hoses gauge read like 140f max. Clutch Fan setup.
The reading from the efan setup is almost identical, and I'm not sure if I did the exact same thing but the temps were, 200f upper gauge, lower hose gauge never registered temps until I was idle, ECT 187f max. My thermostat for the efan come on at 85c which is 185f. My cooling system: oem t-stat(8+yrs old) CX racing dual core radiator, single s blade (IIRC 14") 1 gallon 50/50 plus 1qt water.
Test equipment, borrowed s13 oem clutch fan shroud, defi temp gauge and hose adapter.

Since the defi advance gauge reads at a lower temp 20c, gonna swap it to the lower hose and see if i get the same results, with temps.

[MrSanchez925]

What fans are you using?

if you aren't using QUALITY fans, then You most likely aren't pulling enough cfm to keep the car cool

[ashtonroche]

Couple things,

Is the temp just slowly rising and rising or is it just constantly running hot. Does it only run hot when your beating on it or all the time cruising or not.

Good quality electric fans are a must, I prefer Flexalite duals for the rwd cars. Every swap ive done with them has never had an issue even with oem thermostats. Only time ive seen heat problems is with crappy fans. Your better off with an oem fan clutch and shroud than crappy fans.

The flexalites pull 2500 cfm from dual 12's, they are built in one unit with a shroud and seal that fits perfectly on an oem or koyo radiator making a nice tight seal. You want to wire them up as pullers so it moves air into the engine bay not trying to force air out.

If the overheating persists then you might have hg problems. But usually when that happens it will just keep getting hotter and hotter until it boils over, blows a hose, and so on.

The crap slim fans that come with most of the koyo radiators and so on are crap, they will flow what maybe one flexalite fan will.

The flexalites are expensive but they last forever and they are damn good fans. My buddy who drifts his car was using crappy fans and whenever he would beat on the car drifting his car would start to run hot. Fans just couldnt keep up. So instead of spending 350 bucks on the flexalite duals he ended up just going back to an oem fan clutch and shroud for under 100 bucks and never had a problem again. The oem fan moves a lot of air but yeah its not as clean and it will rob some power.

[OrangeVirus1]

Try waterless coolant

[ashtonroche]

^^^ worst idea ever....lol.

Water actually has more cooling properties and heat exchange than coolant does. The more % water you run the better the cooling affect. This is a fact. Water wetter does the same thing. What he was running to begin with is about as best as you can possibly do. All water and 2 bottles of water wetter. Perfect combo. His problem is elsewhere.

[zombiewolf513]

To bleed the coolant system right, you should do the whole process at least 2-3 times. shake the radiator, too. A lot of air gets stuck in that thing. I had the same issue a long time ago, turned out I wasn't bleeding it right.

[rwtf]

You are wrong. it opens at 62*C.


So i was 2*c off :rolleyes:

[OrangeVirus1]

waterless coolant, it's nothing you can buy off the shelf and doesn't use glycol or any of that crap, it's like 60 bucks a gallon but it cools better than water. look it up

[skysilvias13]

Are you leaking or burning coolant?

[ashtonroche]

Thats fine, but its not needed. Water and water wetter is the most effective and cheapest way to go. Ive never had issues when using either good electric fans or the oem clutch fan and shroud.

[TougeSR20Kid]

Not leaking or burning coolant I continued to bleed it and burp it and it did lower it, but yeah still not 170 which is where my thermo is rated for. It's closer to 195

[cotbu]

You're not understanding how things work!(not an attack) The thermostat only allows coolant to enter the engine that's all. With a lower temp thermo, the engine cooling can start earlier and allow the radiator and fans maintain a lower engine temp.

I know the marketing for thermostats doesn't state anything about the actual work of the thermostat. it's supposed to be understood.

That being said, if you had no radiator or fans....., your thermostat should still open at it's designated temp. GET IT? Of course the temp would rise above what the thermostat is rated for and that's to be expected. With fans and radiator working efficiently, the desired engine temps can be maintained, as the water/coolant is what is being cooled, and in return the engine temps stay under control.

Now, I'd like to know what your ECT sensor is reading? I tune against the ECT, but use an aftermarket gauge to help me keep engine temps under control, while not connected to my laptop.
Foot Ball.........!

[shanelach]

Where are you making your readings, op?

[unijabnx2000]

Where are you getting those temps from and why do you think 195-205 is bad?

[TougeSR20Kid]

Autometer temp gauge. 195 is still 25 degrees higher than thermo, it should be a little cooler than 195-205. Standard operating temp is still a little lower than that and bear in mind when I started this endeavor it was at 210-215... I mean I am not worried just a little more like why after everything is it still a little high.

[unijabnx2000]

The normal on nissan cars with electric fans, the ecu doesnt turn them on until 212F (speed under 12 mph and a/c off)

[TougeSR20Kid]

Foot Ball.........!

Hahahaha yes!!!!!!

Nah I understand how the thermo works but 25-35 over still seems a little high I mean it should be at least in the 185-195 range right?

[TougeSR20Kid]

The normal on nissan cars with electric fans, the ecu doesnt turn them on until 212F (speed under 12 mph and a/c off)

Fans are hard wired and always on

[shanelach]

Where is your sensor

[thizzen4]

i have the same problem car use to sit at the 2.5 line mark on the stock cluster now sits at the the third line when warmed up and wont go higher or lower when just cruising or beating it if u figure it out pm me please

[shanelach]

Stock gauge sucks.

[TougeSR20Kid]

Where is your sensor

Water inlet right before the block it's the stock gauge sensor with a new sensor. It's a one wire

[ashtonroche]

Please dont tell me your sensor is on the upper radiator hose? Not a good spot as that is pretty much where the hottest coolant is going to be and not a true definition of how hot the motor is running. My buddy had the same problem with his when he put his sensor on the upper hose. If anything your sensor should replace where the factory gauge sending unit was. Its the same thread and a direct replacement. That is an accurate temp reading. Not the upper hose.

The factory temp sensor placement is a mixture of where cooled coolant along with recirculated coolant through the head and block can be measured. So its a mixture of both. Of course the coolant making its final exit out of the motor will be hotter. Why do you think there is no sensor placed there from the factory, lol

[ashtonroche]

Well if thats the case, im just gonna go out and say your fans are not keeping up with the job. Get better fans or get a stock fan clutch and shroud. Again flexalites are about as best as they come as far as electric fans go. They move a crap ton of air.

[unijabnx2000]

195-205 is completely normal

[ashtonroche]

Especially if its after beating on it. Only way you are going to keep it at 170-180 is if you have better fans that can keep up.

But yeah 195-205 is pretty much normal operating temps. Matter fact on a fwd SR the ecu doesnt even kick on the fans until around 206* if im not mistaken, Id have to look at AEM's base tune and see. But yeah, You dont want to see any higher than about 215*.

Again, get better fans and youll be fine. I was running a civic dual core/half width aluminum radiator w/ one flexalite single 1250cfm fan running all the time, electric water pump, no thermostat and my temps would stay about 165-170 at all times unless i was in stop and go, in that case id see about 185-190 at the very highest. Even after doing back to back to back to back pulls on the 430whp setup, I wouldnt see any higher than 185*.

A good fan goes a long ways

[unijabnx2000]

Ashton its 212 for OEM

AEM's startup cal sets it for 203

[ashtonroche]

Yeah, knew it was somewhere around there.

[TougeSR20Kid]

Ok cool yeah I was checking on my power FC on the drive home right now and it's sitting right around 78 celcius which is on the higher end of operating temp but I was driving it hella conservative. I guess I'm just still in awe that a flush and water with water wetter wouldn't drop it much lower

[riptor]

78 on a pfc IS a little hi. althought it is within in limits. I have a koyo with 12 in. FAL pullers, and i dont get over 70 unless im curzin or beatin on her...but even then highest is see is like 72 mayb3 73. but as everyone else has stated you should be ok!