Hi guys ,

Just finisheed up my V mount setup, using a full aluminium radiator, however there is absolutely not improvement in temperatures for me, sitting around 89C cruising and standing still it will go up to 95 until the fans turn on then back down.
Intake temps have however bettered slightly.
Is this normal or should I be worried?

 

I don't think vmounts are worth the hassle. They just look cool.

 

There are a lot of variables in any setup like ducting, etc., that can contribute to how it functions. Generally speaking though, a V-mount is designed to improve intake air temps (over a SMIC), not necessarily water temps.

 

they are also used the help improve throttle response due to the shorter intercooler piping. Ducting is also very important. Post up some pics and show us how you made out.

 

sure, maybe I was expecting too much, Im more concerned of the steadily climing water temps in idle in traffic, what could be done to stop this from reaching 95 ~96C? Ill post some pics today.

 

There's nothing wrong with hitting 96*C with a presurized system. Especially if the fans are catching it and knocking it back down. I might upgrade your thermostat and get an FC thermo-switch for the fans so they kick on earlier. That Should knock it down below 90*C.

 

ok after a bit more driving the results are dissapointing to say the least. It has not helped at all in terms of bringing down the water temperature, nor the intake temperature. still sitting around 47C during normal driving, and maybe around 42C for highway driving.

and heat soak up to around 58C in traffic. bit dissapointing after all that hard work for fabrication

 

pictures??

 

will definately take some today, but Im at a complete loss here, and on top of the V mount setup I have flushed the completely filthy rusty water in there and filled with new coolant and what have you, I expected for the water temps to at least hold steady around 94C in idle, and not climb constantly. have seen 98C today in traffic at which point I decided to turn the ac on so the fans turn on

 

check to see the radiator fans are turning in the right direction ill help more once i see pictures

 

finally some pics of my setup, radiator is ducted and has deflector installed to keep hot air rising to intercooler, the only thing that concerns my a little is that its not angles as much as I wanted as much clearance as possible, being a road car. I doubt going down a few mm will improve cooling drastically.

I had the end tanks modified with the addition of a baffle as many others have done, yet to duct the intercooler. let me know you thoughts. on the verge of selling all of this and going front mount and see where that leads me






thanks

 

intercooler = small

also no ducting for the intercooler..its just open...what air is going into the intercooler?

 

well yes its lacks duting on the sides of the intercooler and top to stop losing air around the sides, but I would have thought the intercooler size was sufficient ? at least for around 400hp ?

 

very possible it is, idk what brand core it is. ducting makes a huge difference....

 

hmmm Ill try ducting on this but have doubts that it will fix better the problem, Ive spent so much effort in to this lolz but only to see the same 50C plus air temperature in traffic arrrrgg lol I may just end up going big front mount and alloy radiator afterall if it doesnt work out. cause the big disadvantage in V mounts are that the radiator is not upright but on an angle so I cant assume this will not be as efficient, same with the intercooler. obviously with proper ducting it will help, but presume many factors contribute here.

 

Improve your ducting.
Your IC ducting is non existent, and that's why it's doing a bad job

Get a new thermostat and fan switch that work at lower temps.
This way your temp wont climb so high before you car decided to do something about it.

 

No heat exchanger (regardless of size) can't do it's job effectively if you don't FORCE the air through it. Air will always take the path of least resistance. The frontal sections of your IC and radiator are a hi pressure zone. Without ducting, the air will virtually bounce around them. Your IC needs ducting on the sides and bottom. Otherwise the air will just flow past them and into the front of your engine (like it is now). Look at it this way, when you look through the front opening of your bumper, if you see any of your frontal accessories, those spots will be your air leaks.

 

right, I will put some ducting to the sides of the intercooler and see how that goes, at the moment there is very minimal gap between IC and Radiator, so hopefully the 2 vertical plates will force the air to go through the IC more while driving. what is a good Intake air temperature during the day ? in say around 24C ambient? around 35C? Im getting around 45C, just wondering if that is actually quite good or not really.

Also interms of the water temperature rising constantly before fans come on in idle, something odd, last time the fans turned on as soon as the water temp hit 96, but Im sure today in traffic it didnt come on even till 98C as it was keep climbing. is it normal for the water temp to climb in traffic ? just thinking if Im being pedantic about water temps lol

 

Like everyone has already addressed, the ducting is critical to your setup. As for a FMIC, I don't think that is going to help your water temps, as your radiator is going to sit behind your intercooler.

I think with adequate ducting, a VMIC is better than a FMIC, especially when it comes to water temps.

 

yeah probably, I will muck around with the ducting a bit to see if that helps, and maybe giving a bit more angle at the same time, just been out and took some temperature readings again, fans are coming on at 99C idling for around 8 or more minutes on the same spot, which holds the temperature there. and intake temperatures hit aroun 52C, which I guess is better than the 70 off degrees I was getting prior to V mount lol

how low can the bottom of the radiator sit with V mounts ? that has always been a concern for me, ripping or scraping the radiator while pulling into a drive way, obviously would need to sit above the front lip, as my car sits quite low, and scrapes the lip quite often. for this very reason I have raised the bottom giving it less angle

 

Also, if there's a gap on the backside of the radiator and intercooler you need to close that up as well. Try using the thick foam strips that you can get from Home Depot or Ace Hardware that they sell for window mounted air conditioning systems. I think Ace sells a 3 inch by 3 inch foam strip that really seals the back side up nicely.

 

in your post you seem a bit discouraged and skeptical if the vmount actually works... IMO to help convince yourself before you spend hours into fabricating more stuff, try stuffing the gaps with foam to see if that yields any better results if it works then putting your time into fabbing an improved duct

 

Also, make sure you've properly "burped" your coolant system. There might still be some air bubbles in there that are hindering the cooling systems job. Hows your coolant level? You should be constantly checking it and adding coolant if it is low. Once that's taken care of then work more on ducting.

 

You definitely need to duct it properly to get the full benefits.

I did my own vmount a few years back and did some custom ducting. You don't see it in the pictures, but after I finished the fabrication work, i added foam insulation in several of the gaps to seal off any unwanted air passages. See below:

 

Sorry about the "Ace Hardware" comment in my previous post. Just noticed that you were in NZ. Probably not a lot of ACE Hardware stores over there. Your location also explains why your ambient temps are elevated with you being in the middle of summer. How hot (degrees C and F) are current ambient conditions? I'd be curious to know if you're seeing 52C in traffic. Also, if your old water was "filthy and rusty" that's a little concerning to me as well. How many miles are on the motor? Was it running "hot" before you went to the Vmount setup?

Agreed... air bubbles in the system could cause temperature "spiking" so you need to ensure that all of the air is OUT.