Ive driven it at freeway speeds on 30-40 degree days without issues, I thought I corrected this but needs more work. Its not boiling or anything like that, its just getting up to around 110c, not happy with that, oil temps were around 140c.
Steve, have you tried Redline Water Wetter inhibitor ? It inreases coolant contact with metal surfaces, and can really improve cooling. Bigger oil cooler?
Of course air cooling is even better. 😂
I'd rather wear a Beetle out by racing it than by polishing it!
Craig Torrens6 times Australian, 7 times State Hillclimb Class Champion
sorry I forgot the graduations on my oil temp gauge, it was about 80c, inlet temps were about 55-60c. I will look into Redline water wetter stuff.
I've only run this car twice in anger now, I'm still learning and sorting it.
At last years VW Nationals Supersprint it was overheating as well after few laps, I made a scoop up to close in the air intake area and sealed around the sides of the radiator, it made a huge difference driving around normally.
only problem with air cooling is when the air gets hot
Got any pics of how the radiator is set up at the moment?
Saw an older pic a few pages back, I thought you would have it completely sealed/shrouded so once the air comes in the grill it can only pass though the radiator !??!
I think the problem is that you don't have anything forcing/trapping air into the standard air con grill front valance. I'm pretty sure it wasn't designed to house 2 radiators behind it for an STI engine!
My radiator opening looks about the same size as yours, but my front air dam forces the air in, it has no where to bounce off & go under the car like your front valance.
Maybe think of putting a front air dam on with ducting just for track days?
I have only ever got my water temp up 92d & that was on a 35d day , in Summer at Eastern Creek after 6 laps flat out. Yours should be no different. I've never had the air dam off my car so I don't know if would get hotter without it, but just from a visual/common sense approach, I'm sure it would get hotter like yours.
Hi Steve,
Is your fan running while you're on the move?
I'm wondering if it's just a lack of open surface area with that valance although I wouldnt have thought the EJ would run any hotter than your wasser did.
The reason I canned fitting a US valance on mine is I think they just don;t have enough open area.
When I first got my conversion up and running and had slots like yours I noticed a big difference in highway temps when I cut the slots into one single big hole and fitted the mesh.
Seems a shame to have to do any bodywork though.
The hottest it saw this summer was a 44c, the heat off my A/C condenser that day was probably simulating a 50c+ day to the rad but the peak recall for my temp hasnt got over 98c
Jak, I'd be interested to see if theres any difference in yours, it doesnt seem to make any difference with mine if the Kamei is on or not.
Craig Torrens6 times Australian, 7 times State Hillclimb Class Champion
Joel wrote:Jak, I'd be interested to see if theres any difference in yours, it doesnt seem to make any difference with mine if the Kamei is on or not.
The track & the street are 2 very different environments.
It's very hard to replicate what the engine goes through on the track, on the street, unless of course you have P plates.
And all the reviews that I have seen on any benefits of water cooling additives , were so small you may as well have a spray bottle in the car, spray your face, stick your head out the window & convince yourself the engine is cooler just because your face is.
Cynical I know, but as Craig said, it's a band aid & a band aid on a missing limb at that
Craig Torrens wrote:I'm sure Redline water wetting is a great product and worth using, but in this case isn't it just 'band aiding' a problem ?
Sometimes, when surgery is not required, a bad-aid will do the job nicely.
Water Wetter works best with [distilled] water. System should be thoroughly flushed first. If it was me, I would try that first, before doing the 'surgery'.
I'd rather wear a Beetle out by racing it than by polishing it!
I would try a slim line fan on the back of the radiator and try and get rid of all the corners and square box areas that heat can not flow out of .
check out the sort of plastic scoops that are on the front side of your hilux radiator .
a plastic scoop under the radiator that fits tight on the bottom of the Radiator .
When I fitted the scoop I noticed an immediate drop in temperature to just above the thermostat opening temperature, so I think I will improve that with a deeper angle bit at the front.
I was worried about ground clearance issues so I was a bit conservative with how deep I made the angle on the edge.
Street driving the fan never comes on, in fact by the time I got back to the pits it was all just about back to normal. On the street it acts much like a modern car, get stuck having to idle and the fan comes on after a while and cycles on and off.
I will do some more research and report back, I bought the Redline today, pretty cheep, about $25.00 and it treats 18 litres. I'm not sure how much my system holds, just researching that now, the only thing that worries me is that there is no anti freeze in it and I sometimes stay at Wakefield overnight which can get pretty cold.
Tim & Dave have used Redline W-W for the last 4 years in the Lotuses, and over-nighted at Bathurst,W.Park, and P.Island....no problems. They used W-W in the intercooler as well.
Make sure you really flush and clean the system well, as the cleaner the metal, the better it works.
I'd rather wear a Beetle out by racing it than by polishing it!
hellbugged wrote:The notch had temp issues till I completely shrouded it to the grill area.... So any air coming in had no other route than to pass thru the radiator.
I liked westi explanation and execution of this theory way back on mick058 conversion
I've been thinking about different solution for my overheating issue.
One thing I've been thinking about is moving my inter cooler radiator into the front guard, this would give the incoming cooling air a much better shot at the radiator.
you need to fill up the space on the side of tthe radiator .
pool noodles work good to fill in space and they dont hold water and the round shape helps direct the air into the radiator core ,as it looks like the air can get around your radiator . i think that old fan is also pushing air staight twards your fuel tank ??? the air needs to be directed down so at speed it gets sucked away under the car .😊
😂🤪😂🤪😂
car forums. where a lot of peoples good intentions end up taking a good old car off the road forever never ever to see the road again. 🥲
That's an old photo, I've filled in around the sides since then, I used really dense foam from Clarke rubber that I cut to shape and glued in place. The inter cooler radiator is a tight fit, there's not much room to move, the 10 inch fan on the inter cooler radiator is on when when the inter cooler water pump is running, there is a massive Audi fan at the back of the radiator.
