Rx-7$4$me

ok, I have a few things im going to post in this thread. A few of them are things I just need to get off my chest.

First. I drive a 93 black on black 81k original engine and turbos, mods are

Apexi Intake
Petitt downpipe
JIC exhaust (on its way)
AST
vacuum line job
H&R springs
Blitz SBC-ID boost controller
Boost gauge, Water temp gauge by DEFI

today was the first hot day for the summer reaching up to 85 or so degrees here in chicago.
I leave my house around 1 o'clock to get some oil and such. First, I run to a school to see my mother and pick up some things from her. Im cruising along, my temp stays at around 180-185 the whole way there, untill I have to stop in a set of lights that are close together and then wait for my mother which brought my temps up to like 190-200 so im like ok, these temps are ok.
On the way there im getting 16-17 Hhmg or whatever in vacuum at 800 rpms.

I come to a stop at a light. My temp is at 200 degree's so I decide its time to flip on my AC to get my fans goin before the temp goes higher. IT goes on, temps start to fall a bit, but jesus my car becomes a BITCH to drive.

Seriously, my car HATES it when the AC is on. I mean it was already running a little worse from the added heat outside, but this makes it really gay to drive. So I finally pull into the highschool to wait for my mom.

This is where the weird stuff starts to happen. My fans for the AC like to work when THEY want to, not when I want to ( fan mod time anyone?) they seem to not want to work right when im about to shut off the car. so the first time I shut my car off waiting for my mother, my temp just keeps climbing, I keep switching the AC on and off trying to trigger the fans, and finally once the temps reach 210 I just shut it off so it doesnt climb higher.

"**** I think to myself", this is just retarded.

So finally after like 20 min sitting cooking in the 85 degree humid weather, I restart the car. It fires right up (whew, compression is doin A O-K) , but then after that, it hated sitting in the heat cooking, as it fires right up, but then it comes down and idles a bit lower (600 rpms) with the driving lights on, with the fans on. It doesnt want to come any higher then that unless I let off the clutch, and turn off the AC for a second (clutch switch gone?) then it will come up again to like 750-800 rpms.

But now, after it sat for a while my vacuum is down to like 15 at 700 rpms. So it affected my engine a bit to sit there in some heat. Now, the temp is sitting at 190 when I Start it up

So here I am moving through a parking lot, and the temp quickly goes to 210, I Try to flip on the AC. NO dice, no fans, so I have to get moving.

I mean this happend a few times today, and I had to bust a u'ee in traffic cuz I didnt want my temps going higher then 220 for gods sake.

sO finally I get to pep boys to get some oil. BAM my fans wont come on, temps rising past 210, shut it off.

"damn it I think, I hate doing this to my engine"

so I come back up, fires up easily, but the weird low idle thing again untill I blip the throttle or move the car around a bit.

So Im driving home and when im moving enough the temp goes to like 190, sometimes I flip the fans on low and it will work to bring the temp to 185.

But if Im at a chain of traffic lights the temps will rise as high as 220 sometimes... isnt that a bit high?

so my temps varied from 185-220 on an 85 degree humid day. Is that normal?

Now, I want to do the fan mod so I know my **** is turning on this time. Does it make them come on RIGHt away?

once I got home, my fans wouldnt turn on till like 215 when I had the ac on, so I managed to get my temp down to 190 before I shut her off, and now its sitting outside with the hood open and a bag of ice on the manifold.

so what do u all reccomend, what are your comments on this? I need a radiator I know that, will it help some?
Fan mod is a must I know that, but will it bring the fans on RIGHT away?

Also I have this weird problem that with the AC on If I push the clutch in and hold it in, my engine will die WHILE im moving sometimes. I think it has somthing to do with my clutch switch sucking *** and bringing my idle to like 600 with the clutch in and the added electrical load of the AC, what do you all think?

Sorry for the long post and thank you.

Steve

es

Yes the fan mod kicks the fans on right away. 220° is when the factory ECU kicks the fans on, so that isn't really bad news. It's not good, so do the fan mod & see if you can control the temps that way.

Turning the AC on heats the condenser which can effect the radiators ability to cool...

scratchjunkie

a new radiator is not going to keep your temps at 180. if anything it will only give you an extra minute before it starts climbing over stock. get the radiator and stop being paranoid. the fan mod looks like a good route to go if you want to keep yourself sane. in my opinion, i think we are all fighting the same battle. you'll be okay.

Shinobi-X

Yeah, the fan mod turns the fans on with the flick of a switch, and as you said, the radiator will help greatly.

Rx-7$4$me

Im probably going to get the new radiator and run 25% coolant 75% water, and do the fan mod to keep things nice. What about my car running like crap when the AC is on, is that just the extra electrical load? will I get the same thing with just the fans being flipped on?

And the clutch switch thing, think its the clutch switch?

BrianK

FYI: you don't have to turn the AC on to get the radiator fans started quicker - just turn the interior fans to 3 or turn on your parking lights. Either method puts extra load on the alternator which causes the rad. fans to come on sooner.

Turning your A/C on puts extra load on the entire engine (making it heat up quicker) AND with the dryer being directly infront of your radiator, you're sending hot(er) air through the radiator - doesn't tend to help coolant temps out.

Tom93R1

iTrader: (2)

There are 3 fan speeds in the stock setup. with parking lights an electrical load is introduced and causes the 3 levels to come on sooner than under no load. Turn on the A/C and the fans automatically go to high. With the additional load on the engine from the compressor plus the heat coming from the condensor I dont know how anybody can experience temp drops by turning on the A/C but many people do. I dont worry about any temps 100C (212F) and below, I see this reqularly in the summer (stop and go, never on the highway). Up to about 107C I start to watch the temps closely, at 108 I turn on the heater for a couple minutes. In my experience the heater on full blast is the fastest way there is to bring temps down, I am talking 110C down to 95C in about 5 minutes.

spurvo

YES, do the fan mod. You will kick yourself for not having done it sooner.

The West coast is just starting to warm up a little now. The other day I was driving along, minding my own business, when BHAM traffic, SOLID. Parked on the freeway. Lovely. Before I had done the fan mod, I would turn on the lights (just running lights) and see the temp go up to 210, down to 195, up to 215 down to 200, and seemed to do this weird little thermal runaway thing. Now, when even a hint of traffic shows, or I'm stuck at the STUPID red light cascade (turns yellow juuuuust before you can get to it... four lights in a row!), I just flick the switch to low, and the gauge doesn't move (linearized, so it WILL move if the temp is rising). I have the Dysney mod that taps directly into the relays and gives me low speed even with the car off, and med fan speed when the car is running with a second switch position (forward is low, middle is off, towards the back is medium). So far this has worked, and that's with an engine that has started to have failing O-ring syndrome. Fan mod is killer.

Scratchjunkie is right on, the Fluidyne doesn't keep the temps lower overall, but does allow the temp to climb slower, and it cools faster when I kick on the fans. I don't know how I drove this thing without manual fan control, though...

The poor idle is from all the accesories you have on, placing drag on the engine, most notably the alternator. Heavy electrical loads, coupled with an A/C pump suddenly engaging, put a huge drag on the engine, and at idle, this will sometimes cause the engine to nearly die. This also creates heat in all the items listed above, and this all finds it's way into the cooling system. Further, I'm pretty sure that the ECU is programmed with respect to idle control such that clutch out idle will hover at 600 to 850 depending on the load, but once you push in the clutch the ECU assumes you will be driving and therefore no longer needs to try and maintain a higher idle. I even seem to think there is an ECU recall for this very problem. Hmmm...

Railgun

Oh, don't be so dramatic. It was less than 30% humidity all day.

Seriously, that's what I need to do to. Damn rush hour traffic.

Rx-7$4$me

lol, well last night was like a nice cool 50 and beautiful wehre I raced the supra in my other therad, and then WABAM!! and im just whining about the upcoming humidity, cuz its coming lol

apneablue

The fan mod kicks *** and is super easy to do...With the stock RAD and Stock IC it dropped temps a couple degs but with the upgraded FMIC I will see it go from 95°C to 87°C after the fans have been running for about 3-4 minutes...Pretty cool and worth the $5-10 you'll spend on it...Sit in traffic and let your mind at ease...

BTW, I notice you have the Blitz Boost Controler...I was thinking of getting that how do you like it?

Rx-7$4$me

The blitz boost controller is awsome, Very good spool up, no more boost spikes, easy to control boost. Its very sensitive so I have about 4 different settings depending on the weather. Looks very good, and is very user friendly as well

skunks

there is no excuse not to have done the fan mod!

vudoodoodoo

I did the fan mod. Flip it on whenever I'm stuck in traffic.