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Cooling the engine

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Old Aug 7, 2001 | 01:48 AM
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toppdogg_1's Avatar
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Cooling the engine

Ok, i know that the FD's engine compartment can get very hot and this will cause the engine to not last as long. What can i do to get it cooler.
I know i can remove the pre-cat but what else can i do
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Old Aug 7, 2001 | 10:33 PM
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Heat Reduction 101

You could do a bunch of stuff. No real cheap way though. Exaust wrap, vented hood or hood louvers, add another oil cooler( if you dont have dual already) or upgrade them, bigger intercooler, upgrade radiator, down pipe, front end upgrade( for larger vents for air to pass through the stock ones are small) extra fan behind intercooler, remote oil filter, water wetter for coolant, water injection, alcohol (for racing purposes as fuel), Ive also removed the splash guard from under the engine (Im not sure how much this helps but you will be sacraficing some earo-dynamics on that one, and use some good oil ( Less friction=Less heat) Thats all I can think of right now. Hope this helps.
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Old Aug 10, 2001 | 05:08 PM
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damn superman thats a big list.everyday when i get home i'll pop the hood when i get about a 1/2 mile from my house(driving slow of course)just to let the air cool it a little bit.then i pull it in the garage and have a big industrial fan that i put on the engine.these engine get hot but have no problems YET.
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Old Aug 10, 2001 | 07:26 PM
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Re: Cooling the engine

Originally posted by toppdogg_1
Ok, i know that the FD's engine compartment can get very hot and this will cause the engine to not last as long. What can i do to get it cooler.
I know i can remove the pre-cat but what else can i do
Do the fan mod. Almost free. Some did a study on the big list and found dramatic decreases in temp when using the fan mod. Also you can remove the weather stripping at the back of the engine bay so when the car is stopped and the fans are on, the air has a place to go. Also free.

The best is actually electric water pump with the fan mod that runs after the engine is turned off.

-Mark
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Old Aug 11, 2001 | 05:41 PM
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From: Cali
what's the fan mod i haven't seen anything on that
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Old Aug 11, 2001 | 05:47 PM
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Has any one tried cutting slits in the plastic fender inside the engine compartment this might vent out some heat not sure?And the slits where cut so water thrown from the tire could not enter the engine compartment
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Old Aug 12, 2001 | 04:58 PM
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If you use a 70% distilled water and 30% coolant mixture in the radiator during the warm weather, that cools down the engine tremendously compared to a 50/50 mixture (for winter).

Regarding the fan mod, I haven't done it yet. If I sit in traffic, I turn on the parking light. This lowers the temperature setting that the fans come on. Is way, if the car is warm, the fan pretty much comes on all the time. It's just an easy way of forcing the fan on.
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Old Aug 13, 2001 | 08:58 PM
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I dont know what mods you have but I mounted a 12"fan on back of my IC(M2 race),and I could not believe the difference it makes.when you reach to go for the latch under the hood it is barely warm instead of burning hot.
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Old Aug 13, 2001 | 10:09 PM
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Where can I find a vented hood or hood louvers??
Please let me know
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Old Aug 14, 2001 | 12:02 PM
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How does underhood heat hurt the FD engine? I'm just wondering because it doesn't matter a hill of beans in an FC, with engines lasting well over 120,000 mi. Man, no offense guys, but things like this don't lend much credit to the FD being an "improvement" over the FC.
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Old Aug 15, 2001 | 10:39 PM
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Originally posted by Evil Aviator
How does underhood heat hurt the FD engine? I'm just wondering because it doesn't matter a hill of beans in an FC, with engines lasting well over 120,000 mi. Man, no offense guys, but things like this don't lend much credit to the FD being an "improvement" over the FC.
Try 33 feet on vacuum lines.
-Mark
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Old Aug 17, 2001 | 09:03 AM
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From: 1 foot in Boston 1 in NJ

I agree with Gordon, the acquamist system offers a very good bang for the buck, but you do have to keep filling up the damn tank! A buddy of mine has been using it on the track in conjunction with an aftermarket IC for several years now, and goes through his water supply in 40 minutes of lapping-roughy 18minutes of which is under full boost. Now obviously this will vary depending on how you drive and the size of the resivour, but at the very least you'll probably have to refill once a week for street use. Again a great system, but another thing to maintain.

What about water to air intercoolers, such as what was used on the Lotus Esprit s4? They don't seem to be very popular and I'm sure there's a reason(weight, complexity?), but they must have some positive benefits.

-Chris C.
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Old Aug 17, 2001 | 10:47 AM
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My fan on the back of my IC cost me $45 and it was the best thing I've done so far,the fan mod is good too as far as underhood temps go.
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Old Aug 24, 2001 | 01:06 PM
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From: LAWTON OKLAHOMA
Thumbs up good fan

ok ive seen and am using it now the black magic fan from summit racing is the way to go ive got a 86 six port that has been ported to stage 3 (racin) and the motor runs a lil warm (hot) i put a automatic (you know the one that come on an automatic rx )electric fan as soon as i got the motor work done ,then it was like not good enuff here in oklahoma its 105 degrees is damn hot well i looked up this same subject and the black magic fan is awesome the gauge doesnt move off of 1/4 up from cold mark when im hotroddin or just driving so there my suggestion here is the part number its A FLEX LITE FAN FLX-150 ITS 185 DOLLARS BUT THATS THERMOSTAT AND ALL ITS ON THE PG 103 OF THERE LATEST CATALOG SEPTEMBER OCT 2001
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Old Aug 24, 2001 | 02:37 PM
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I already have the fan mod (where the fan runs for 10 minutes after the car is turned off) and I seem to run into the problem of dead batteries. This is not an everyday thing but about once a month I must charge my battery. I've heard something about trickle chargers so I will look into those. Good luck it is a helpful mod.
'94 rx7 blk. r2
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Old Aug 25, 2001 | 09:29 AM
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Originally posted by CCarlisi
What about water to air intercoolers, such as what was used on the Lotus Esprit s4? They don't seem to be very popular and I'm sure there's a reason(weight, complexity?), but they must have some positive benefits.

-Chris C.
I looked into A/L intercoolers for my setup, hoping that I could squeeze one in place of the elbow between the supercharger and the throttle body. (See the pic.) While the intercoolers themselves are relatively compact compared to an air/air IC, you need to find a place to mount another radiator. For my application, I needed a radiator of 260 square inches. That's roughly 1ft x 2ft. If mounted in front of the engine's radiator, I'd be seriously worried about the cooling efficiency for the motor, which would defeat the purpose in the first place. I actually toyed with the idea of mounting it on top of the hood, with a dummy hood scoop covering it, but with the scoop open at both the front and rear to let air pass through. But that would destroy my sleeper look.

I also like to read mags like Rod & Custom, because rodders tend to modify their cars a lot, so we could probably learn some tricks from them, as they tend to have a lot of problems with cooling as well. A company has come out with these fluid coolers. They basically look like a solid hose with heat sink fins on them, supposedly internal too. (When I get a chance I'll scan the ad so you can see.) They claim it will increase cooling by 40%, can handle pressures of 3000psi, adds 0.5qt of fluid per foot of cooler length, and they can make them from 6" to 42". Their address is:

Specialty Auto Tech
8768 9th St., Bldg. C
Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730
909-608-7432

I'm going to find out what fluids they're speaking of specifically, (oil, tranny, radiator?), what is the diameter, and how much it costs. Their add says its a "compact design, mounts in tight spaces even on frame rails away from confined spaces..." I'm thinking of several uses for these things:
1. additional oil cooling
2. additional radiator cooling
3. instead of the radiator for the A/L IC

Last edited by SuperchargedRex; Aug 25, 2001 at 09:32 AM.
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Old Aug 28, 2001 | 01:58 PM
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Re: Re: Re: Cooling the engine

Originally posted by Shilpun


Mark - would you also remove the pre-cat ?
Absolutely. The fan mod is the first thing you should do. There should be a little black box above the ECU with a female spade connector on it. Just ground this wire and 2 minutes later the fans come medium speed.

If you leave the switch grounded for 10 seconds after the car is off and then unground the wire, the fans will stay on low for 10 minutes. This way you will not drain your battery.

-Mark
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Old Aug 29, 2001 | 06:52 PM
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I read on another post here not to remove the gasket at the back of the hood. the windshield is positve pressure there and will push air into the engine compartment.

Does anyone have a link to the Aquamist system?

TIA
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Old Oct 2, 2001 | 12:32 AM
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Aquamist home page: http://www.aquamist.co.uk/
Its an interesting read.
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