Well guys,
All went well with my suby conversion, kombi ran great, no cooling issues until I hooked my little caravan on! I can tow it around town at 60ks all day and have no issues but once on the highway at 80-90 ks the temp climbs up, even when the fans cut in it still keeps creeping up. Pulled the thermostat, all good, and pretty sure most of the airs out.
I'm wondering if the airs not pushing down thru the radiators because I don't have negative air pressure in the engine bay?
Also wondering if a small amount of air trapped in the very top of the radiator is going to make a difference, the only way I can see to fix that is to put a bleeder in the top of each radiator.
Just seems strange it's overheating on the highway and not around town.
Appreciate any feedback
Cheers Johno
vlad01 ·
its could be the very thing you are towing disrupting the vacuum behind the kombi that draws the air through the system, plus a combo of extra load not helping either.
caravan is a massive aero brake.
my suggestion.
chellejohno ·
vlad01 wrote:its could be the very thing you are towing disrupting the vacuum behind the kombi that draws the air through the system, plus a combo of extra load not helping either.
Think you might be right vlad, did a 100k round trip yesterday without the van, no heating issues at all. Might try running a flat panel underneath on the crossmember to see if I can create some air movement in the engine bay
vlad01 ·
see my suggestion above ^ 😉
chellejohno ·
Well had a play around this morning and I'm pretty convinced the cooling problem is due to hot air not being able to escape the engine bay. I took it for a drive with the engine lid open and it was much better,not perfect, but better. The caravans not helping with the airflow, without it there's no drama at all. I think what I'll do when I get home is extend the firewall down, bring it in line with the bottom of the crossmember and try and create some negative air pressure in the engine bay. The engine bays just too open with the suby engine, too much air is flowing in and stopping the air getting pushed thru my radiators from the side vents.
If that fails I'll make a mesh engine lid,
If that fails I'll put a bloody radiator up front,
If that fails I'll sell the caravan and put the original engine back in,
Anyway packed up the family opened the engine lid, connect the caravan and we're away on our old bar pilgrimage.
Nrma premium cares all paid up, let's see if we get further than last year.
helbus ·
Lot of factors involved with cooling systems. Our bus has the radiator underneath between the rails in the middle of the bus. It works well in town and 100kph on the highway. However at 110kph it gets warmer, and 120 kph warmer again. I have looked and tested different air temperature days, and different speeds over the last 9 years. I can drive on a 45 degree day no problem around town, and at 90kph, the temp never gets over 100, and the fan come on at 95.
So the fan can come on at the following speeds full time. Not ideal.
At 100 kph, the temp goes up to about 90 on a 35 degree day, and up to 105 on a 45 degree day
At 110 kph, the temp goes up to about 100 on a 35 degree day, and up to 115 on a 45 degree day
At 120 kph, the temp goes up to about 100 on a 30 degree day, and up to 110 on a 35 degree day
The extra speed, means more horsepower required to be used to move the brick through the air. Horsepower increase always means heat increase. The other side effect is that higher speed means lower air pressure under the bus, which contributes to less cooling, as lower air pressure through a radiator will cool less.
The original VW air cooled system had higher air pressure at the air intake vents, and lower air pressure under the vehicle, so the flow would want to travel quickly from the top of the engine to under the engine. This is why the original tinware and engine bay seal were important, as the air could only travel through the oil cooler and over the barrel fins.
The same principal is used with front radiator cars, as the air is forced at high pressure into the front grille of the vehicle, and the low pressure under the engine bay will accept it
chellejohno ·
helbus wrote:Lot of factors involved with cooling systems. Our bus has the radiator underneath between the rails in the middle of the bus. It works well in town and 100kph on the highway. However at 110kph it gets warmer, and 120 kph warmer again. I have looked and tested different air temperature days, and different speeds over the last 9 years. I can drive on a 45 degree day no problem around town, and at 90kph, the temp never gets over 100, and the fan come on at 95.
So the fan can come on at the following speeds full time. Not ideal.
At 100 kph, the temp goes up to about 90 on a 35 degree day, and up to 105 on a 45 degree day
At 110 kph, the temp goes up to about 100 on a 35 degree day, and up to 115 on a 45 degree day
At 120 kph, the temp goes up to about 100 on a 30 degree day, and up to 110 on a 35 degree day
The extra speed, means more horsepower required to be used to move the brick through the air. Horsepower increase always means heat increase. The other side effect is that higher speed means lower air pressure under the bus, which contributes to less cooling, as lower air pressure through a radiator will cool less.
The original VW air cooled system had higher air pressure at the air intake vents, and lower air pressure under the vehicle, so the flow would want to travel quickly from the top of the engine to under the engine. This is why the original tinware and engine bay seal were important, as the air could only travel through the oil cooler and over the barrel fins.
The same principal is used with front radiator cars, as the air is forced at high pressure into the front grille of the vehicle, and the low pressure under the engine bay will accept it
I'm hearing ya, that's exactly what mine does, behaves beautifully around town, with the van in tow it'll sit on about 90-95 at 85-90 ks, if I take it to 100ks so does the temperature! What's a safe temp to go to.... I was worried at 95 degrees!
helbus ·
100 is fine, it is a pressure system. 110 is your limit, as the safety is being removed. The 13 psi cap will pop at about 116 degrees, and with a 15 psi cap it can be raised to about 120 degrees.
You don't hurt an engine running at 110 degrees, you are just getting closer to your margin of safety from popping the cap. In fact hotter running engines run more efficiently. Fuel economy and engine life are better at hotter temperature. The cap will pop to release the pressure. I have had up to about 115 degrees, and the cap has never popped.
Once the cap pops, you have lost water, pressure, and the cooling system needs a rest and refill before continuing.
vlad01 ·
there is a threshold though when engine efficiency drops as well as engine life. depends on the engine though. Most water cooled engines this is about 105ish.
Depends on the material of the engine and machine tolerances mostly. The worry with water cooled alloy engines is the large heat capacity of aluminum. Much greater than the old days of cast iron.
So a 5ºC increase in temps equates to an enormous amount of stored energy you need to get rid of, and just makes it harder once its hot. You got issues of heat soak as well with water cooled alloy engines.
I would be worried over 100 and trying to keep under 105 max imho.
helbus ·
I agree. 100 is the safe limit that allows for safety margin, and still well within popping the cap. 90 is probably the nicest place to be.
chellejohno ·
Cheers guys, feeling a bit more confident knowing that, like I said I was shitting myself at 95 degrees!!
Johno
chellejohno ·
Just had a look to see what my cap is, it's 17psi, that's what came with the ba falcon header tank I'm using. Doesn't hurt to be running that psi does it? The system seems to run fine, actually I thought the hoses would have been really hard to squeeze but at operating temp theirs a fair bit of pressure but not massive, I reckon that might be because of the long length of hose I'm using.
Anyway just hooking up the van and try another drive. Feeling more confident today,
Thanks Johno
vlad01 ·
if I had it my way, peaking at 100 would be just fine, normal range between 90 and 95.
I wouldn't use a falcon header tank, those are prone to blowing open at the drop of a hat, normally around the bottom outlet.
You are better of getting a alloy fabricated header tank or choose an OEM one thats not known for breaking.
ARE make top quality ones and they do a falcon one if you just want the same.
Actually have a chat to the guys at ARE, they by far the best experts on radiators and cooling system designs. They were really helpful with my projects and advice.
ARE= Aluminium radiators & engineering.
Joel ·
Subaru temp gauges like most Japanese cars have a static zone between 80 and 110 where they don't move and just sit in the middle.
It has to get above 110 before the needle starts moving up to hot so that should tell you no need to panic too much if its under 110.
chellejohno ·
Joel- thanks that's good to know, I've been between 102-104 a couple of times today on some of those long hill on the Newcastle freeway, but nothing more. Just learning to putt along at 85-90 ks, if I could get the cooling right it would cruise along with the caravan at100.
Vlad- good idea re the alloy tank, I will get one, I just grabbed a plastic one to basically see how the whole thing would work, but I'll go to an alloy one now that I know the systems right.
Cheers Johno
vlad01 ·
you could look at revising the radiators, get some customs ones made, larger(thicker) core, better shrouds, inlet/outlet on the same side of the radiator as that is more efficient at exchanging heat.
There is different types of tubes and fins available for the cores, much better than OEM and cheap alloy ones made in china.
Just looking at your ones, the end tanks (headers) have their in/outlets in really crappy spots, unable to maximize heat transfer due to poor flow path through the core. Not to mention poor self air bleeding also attributed to the in/outlet positions
There is heaps that can be improved with just the radiators alone there.
Worth having an expert design and build your radiators to suit the application.
karmann141 ·
vlad01 wrote:its could be the very thing you are towing disrupting the vacuum behind the kombi that draws the air through the system, plus a combo of extra load not helping either.
caravan is a massive aero brake.
Hi Johno,
As above - there's not to much wrong with the twin radiator in engine bay design. Your radiators do have a bit of air bleed problem due to laying them on their sides. All air must be bled from cooling system.
Also the Just Kampers Earz and number plate cut out I found made a huge improvement.
I also have slightly increased temps when towing and feel it's due to the disruption of negative pressure/airflow and extra load.
I'm actually going to add some under engine aero soon to create more negative pressure for towing.
I know someone who has twin Mk1 Golf radiators in the engine bay of a dual cab and tows a car trailer with no overheating problems but he does have some crude underbody aero.
Cheers
chellejohno ·
karmann141 wrote:
vlad01 wrote:its could be the very thing you are towing disrupting the vacuum behind the kombi that draws the air through the system, plus a combo of extra load not helping either.
caravan is a massive aero brake.
Hi Johno,
As above - there's not to much wrong with the twin radiator in engine bay design. Your radiators do have a bit of air bleed problem due to laying them on their sides. All air must be bled from cooling system.
Also the Just Kampers Earz and number plate cut out I found made a huge improvement.
I also have slightly increased temps when towing and feel it's due to the disruption of negative pressure/airflow and extra load.
I'm actually going to add some under engine aero soon to create more negative pressure for towing.
I know someone who has twin Mk1 Golf radiators in the engine bay of a dual cab and tows a car trailer with no overheating problems but he does have some crude underbody aero.
Cheers
Thanks for the reply karmann,
I realise I've got those air pockets on top of the radiators and could probably run a bleeder in them but to be honest the system seems to work beautifully until your over 80ks, which leads me to think the actual system is working as it should.
I'm going to call just kampers today re earz and see if they're coming up to Old Bar and whether they'll bring me a set up. Give them a try.
I see what your saying about underbody aero, it's so bloody open under there, air must be coming in under the front and piling up in that engine bay.
Have you had any fuel line evaporation issues when the temp gets up? Only asking because at one stage yesterday we'd been sitting on about 98-100 degrees for a little while and when we slowed down it didn't run right for a couple of minutes, like it was starved of fuel. As it cooled it was ok again, happened only the once.
Cheers Johno
ian.mezz ·
make sure it works on a very hot day 40deg and she sweet . 😊
fans don't come at speed because doing 100ks you have 100k wind going through your radiator .
karmann141 ·
ian.mezz wrote:fans don't come at speed because doing 100ks you have 100k wind going through your radiator .
Thats not correct - at 100k/hr if the pressure at the front of the radiator was equal to the pressure at the rear of the radiator (100k/hr under the vehicle) you would have no flow through it - regardless of how fast you drove.
There must be a pressure differential because it works - yours just needs tweaking - part of the fine tuning/learning experience.
Your flow direction is fine - firstly need to get all air out of the system - I conveniently have an air bleed at the top of each radiator.
In winter if not towing I removed the Earz and blocked off the number plate standoff as it wouldn't get over 80deg C.
Went on a 1200km camping trip in mid Qld summer in mid thirties with 4 people, full load of camping gear and trailer and fans would only come on for 30 secs in traffic or on a long climb.
Will fine tune it some more with under body aero.
No I havent had vapour lock and my pump is in much the same location as yours but I did have a lift pump and surge tank which I have since removed - haven't had a Summer without it yet.
Cheers
pete wood ·
Just read through this thread and a couple of things occurred to me...
1. Imagine a EJ22 powered liberty loaded up to the roof (2500+kg) and towing a caravan in warm weather. That's maximum load for that engine.
2. The thing about the effectiveness of cooling systems is, you find out the truth, right at the limit.
3. Rear mount radiators setups are exceedingly hard to get right. Karmann141 is one of the very few who've got it right.
What to do?
Personally, I'd go with what Peter (helbus) has done and put it under the bus or front mount it. What you want is direct, laminar airflow.
You could spend 100s of hours getting pressure areas right via ducting and the like, but a really hot day with a crosswind would send it all to hell anyway. I had that exact experience. Front mounting my radiator meant I almost never needed the fan again. Heck, even the pipes sending the water forward helped cool it more.
P.s. put the thermostat back in. With it out it shortens engine life considerably by taking ages to warm up properly. Then when the engine gets hot, the water rushes through the radiators faster than they can cool it. The only mod I did to mine was pulling the flipper valve out to aid bleeding.
ian.mezz ·
karmann141 wrote:
ian.mezz wrote:fans don't come at speed because doing 100ks you have 100k wind going through your radiator .
Thats not correct - at 100k/hr if the pressure at the front of the radiator was equal to the pressure at the rear of the radiator (100k/hr under the vehicle) you would have no flow through it - regardless of how fast you drove.
There must be a pressure differential because it works - yours just needs tweaking - part of the fine tuning/learning experience.
Your flow direction is fine - firstly need to get all air out of the system - I conveniently have an air bleed at the top of each radiator.
In winter if not towing I removed the Earz and blocked off the number plate standoff as it wouldn't get over 80deg C.
Went on a 1200km camping trip in mid Qld summer in mid thirties with 4 people, full load of camping gear and trailer and fans would only come on for 30 secs in traffic or on a long climb.
Will fine tune it some more with under body aero.
No I havent had vapour lock and my pump is in much the same location as yours but I did have a lift pump and surge tank which I have since removed - haven't had a Summer without it yet.
Cheers
I said that he would have trouble .😊
yer sure in regard to air speed I was assuming that we all knew the pressure thing ,
air flow ,open a quarter window on a bug and feel the air pump in
and his got heaps wrong with his set up, he even has the fans blowing hot air at each other
vlad01 ·
ian.mezz wrote:
karmann141 wrote:
ian.mezz wrote:fans don't come at speed because doing 100ks you have 100k wind going through your radiator .
Thats not correct - at 100k/hr if the pressure at the front of the radiator was equal to the pressure at the rear of the radiator (100k/hr under the vehicle) you would have no flow through it - regardless of how fast you drove.
There must be a pressure differential because it works - yours just needs tweaking - part of the fine tuning/learning experience.
Your flow direction is fine - firstly need to get all air out of the system - I conveniently have an air bleed at the top of each radiator.
In winter if not towing I removed the Earz and blocked off the number plate standoff as it wouldn't get over 80deg C.
Went on a 1200km camping trip in mid Qld summer in mid thirties with 4 people, full load of camping gear and trailer and fans would only come on for 30 secs in traffic or on a long climb.
Will fine tune it some more with under body aero.
No I havent had vapour lock and my pump is in much the same location as yours but I did have a lift pump and surge tank which I have since removed - haven't had a Summer without it yet.
Cheers
I said that he would have trouble .😊
yer sure in regard to air speed I was assuming that we all knew the pressure thing ,
air flow ,open a quarter window on a bug and feel the air pump in
and his got heaps wrong with his set up, he even has the fans blowing hot air at each other
lol not sure if serious or joking?
karmann141 ·
Good onya vlad - I think he is being serious!!
chellejohno ·
He maybe onto something, what about I reverse the fans so they're blowing back out the side vents and put a set of ears on the vents but face them backwards!😋
vlad01 ·
won't work.
karmann141 ·
Won't work x 2
There is nothing much wrong with your cooling system as it works - its just not coping with the additional load of towing.
Hence your system needs to be as efficient as possible and you need to address the issues previuosly mentioned - air in system etc.
It would be a retrograde step in my opinion to hang a fugly radiator out the front or underneath where it is prone to damage.
Just have a closer look at any bus or coach - engine and radiator in the back - they can't all be wrong.
chellejohno ·
Was just joking fellas
vlad01 ·
haha got us good.
yeah your system is 90% there, just need a little refining.
karmann141 ·
😂😂
helbus ·
Our bus is lowered about 3.5 inches, and the radiator has never been damaged.
karmann141 ·
helbus wrote:Our bus is lowered about 3.5 inches, and the radiator has never been damaged.
Maybe I should say "vulnerable" I've just seen many hang very low.
ian.mezz ·
you guys crack me up .especially vlad01 the commodore driver LoL 😂
stop all this stupid talk about putting radiators in backs of cars, it's not a Porsche it’s a freaken Kombi and there is heaps of room to put a Radiator anywhere else besides the engine bay .🤪😂
ian.mezz ·
like I said.😊on your build page
Take a tip from Volkswagen and put the radiator up the front.
Also copy the cooling system from the Subaru as you have the car . 😊 😊
ian.mezz ·
karmann141 wrote:
helbus wrote:Our bus is lowered about 3.5 inches, and the radiator has never been damaged.
Maybe I should say "vulnerable" I've just seen many hang very low.
😊
who cares if the Kombi purist can see a Radiator.
Your already stuck the Subaru motor in your KombiS 😂
karmann141 ·
who cares if the Kombi purist can see a Radiator.
Your already stuck the Subaru motor in your KombiS 😂
As the saying goes:
"It's better to remain silent and thought a fool, than to open you mouth and remove all doubt" 🤓
vlad01 ·
says the guy who uses a plastic tub to "improve" his system 🙄
Yes I collect commodores, you got a problem with that? after all they are water cooled and I designed my very own radiator for them, very first drop in OEM stye performance radiator, I mustn't know anything about water cooled engine cooling system design then.
fits like a glove, only design of its kind. Why? because replacement "OEM" ones are in adequate quality and size and I basically corrected that because they didn't follow the manufactures design guide lines to save money. And off the shelf performace radiators dont fit with hacking and are shit made in china and don't last the minimum 20 year I expect instead only last few months.
hell even my computers are water cooled. 😂
oh yeah, whats that "its not a porsche" comment, are you forgetting that they run a complex 3 small radiator, multi line design with auxiliary coolant pumps up front? yes all that and its up front too.
if it works well in the back with this simple design then why re invent everything?
ian.mezz ·
vlad01
I haven't heard of any factory Kombis with the radiators in the back.??????
Porsche spend millions on designing their cars .
and I also bet lots of designing went into the computer .
looks like the guy just got two of any sort of radiators that fitted the holes.
hot air gets blown in from both sides of the Kombi engine bay.
The engine bay is a BOX and hot air raises and has no where to go that's why it better with the lid open to let the air out. It needs to be directed down
vlad01 even a commodore has a big PLASTIC fan shroud to direct the air. A plastic cut drum will do the same job.
best to have Radiators rubber mounted like in a commodore
Also how much did the cooling system of the Subaru hold compared to how much the cooling system holds in the new system .
karmann141 ,vlad01 stop kidding your self's and giving the guy bad ideas and just let him put 1 radiator up front .
I told him all along it didn't look right and now look where he is after you saying she be right 😂
oh then we wouldn't be having this chat hahahahaha
chellejohno
I hope you get it sorted either way 1 or 2 radiators ,
the best thing is having a nice running Subaru powered VW .
even this don't look to bad for a after market job.🤪😂
Hey Ian,
Had a look at the tardis front mounted radiator last year at old bar, and I reckon it's about the best looking front mount I've seen, I'll take more pics if it's there this year for future reference 😉😉😉😉
vlad01 ·
hey johno, whats the dimensions of your radiator?
roverv8bay ·
G'day all. This debate will never end. In the 6 kombis I converted for customer n the 80' using different owner choices in engine I never front mounted any radiator in the bays I used ms65 Toyota radiators with brand new Mazda bongo fans that are reversed to drag cool air in through the tailgate. I had a new louvered tailgate made to suit. On the splits I used a triumph 2500 mounted parallel with engine sealed to the body totally so the Renault 16 fan pulled cool air through the vent plus I used the hot air tube to feed air from a scoop under the floor hanging just far enough below the bar to be in flow. I used top hose filler cap above the high point so as to bleed plus had a drain cock fitted to the top tank so very little air left in the system. if you have a look at pics ECLECTIC in my build I don't like the look at all even though it's only the body left the really vw. just my 2 bobs worth
ernie
karmann141 ·
Thanks Ernie - just another way to skin a cat - that works.
Unfortunately it's not a debate - someone just can't accept the fact that you can keep a water cooled conversion cool with anything other than a front mounted or underbelly radiator.
Personally a could'nt give a rats .... what he thinks. The beauty of engine bay mounted radiator/s is that does not spoil the lines/look of a Kombi and are totally out of the way and protected - and with a little effort - IT WORKS.
vlad01 ·
karmann141 wrote:Thanks Ernie - just another way to skin a cat - that works.
Unfortunately it's not a debate - someone just can't accept the fact that you can keep a water cooled conversion cool with anything other than a front mounted or underbelly radiator.
Personally a could'nt give a rats .... what he thinks. The beauty of engine bay mounted radiator/s is that does not spoil the lines/look of a Kombi and are totally out of the way and protected - and with a little effort - IT WORKS.
Totally agreed!
+ 1M
chellejohno ·
Got a set of clear earz, thanks to Justkampers who brought them up to old bar.
Made a big difference on the way home, was able to sit on 90-100ks on the freeway with the caravan, with temp between 90-100, still not ideal because the fans were on most of the time, but I'm pretty happy with that, after all it's pulling 800kgs of caravan!
Cheers Johno
helbus ·
just over two tonnes moving at 100kph. That takes horsepower to move, and making hp makes heat. Well done, as long as you keep it under 110, you will survive. I would highly recommend a low coolant sensor that buzzes and lights up on the dash. I have a temp guage, and because our bus never overheats, I wasn't watching it. The heater bypass hose blew from old age, and engine dumped coolant, and engine cooked to the point where the plastic timing covers melted off.
vlad01 ·
chellejohno wrote:Got a set of clear earz, thanks to Justkampers who brought them up to old bar.
Made a big difference on the way home, was able to sit on 90-100ks on the freeway with the caravan, with temp between 90-100, still not ideal because the fans were on most of the time, but I'm pretty happy with that, after all it's pulling 800kgs of caravan!
Cheers Johno
I reckon get some custom rads of find ones with larger cores, make or find fans with shrouds, last but most important is a air damn/flap in front of the engine bay.
You'll be good to go with towing stuff then.
Also bigger engine might help 😂, doesn't have to work as hard and result in less heat. It will make more HP with same heat more or less.
only if you want/can be bothered with a bigger one.
ian.mezz ·
vlad01 wrote:
chellejohno wrote:Got a set of clear earz, thanks to Justkampers who brought them up to old bar.
Made a big difference on the way home, was able to sit on 90-100ks on the freeway with the caravan, with temp between 90-100, still not ideal because the fans were on most of the time, but I'm pretty happy with that, after all it's pulling 800kgs of caravan!
Cheers Johno
I reckon get some custom rads of find ones with larger cores, make or find fans with shrouds, last but most important is a air damn/flap in front of the engine bay.
You'll be good to go with towing stuff then.
Also bigger engine might help 😂, doesn't have to work as hard and result in less heat. It will make more HP with same heat more or less.
only if you want/can be bothered with a bigger one.
yeah, don't run it to long if they think there air in the system , as you could do a head gasket.
I had a chat to karmann141 at vw Warwick.
It turns out its about personal choice .
vlad01 how's your Subaru /vw coming along 😂
ian.mezz ·
this car has 3 radiators
A small one join in on heater hoses under the car.
its a bash car it just handles it on 40 plus days but have to drive 90Ks and take it easy
they are very happy with their car as it was done that way by a work shop , because it was going on rough roads in Oz
ian.mezz ·
race cars have them on the side, with a hose at top and a hose on bottom . it looks like a V6 commodore motor with a small radiator
once the body back on you would never know
karmann141 ·
Hi Ian - Yes it is a personal choice.
Just to clarify, the Green Bash Kombi above has 3 radiators - 2 in the engine bay (the fans are on the other side). The engine bay has been completely sealed like the aircooled motor mainly to keep the heat from the exhaust sytem out which is at the rear, hence the propped open and louvred engine cover.
Hi Johno,
Glad to hear the Earz helped (knew they would) - continue to fine tune your cooling system.
Joel ·
It will cream in an 800kg caravan once you get the air flow sorted.
Brad proved many years back just how well an EJ22 powered Kombi can tow when he trailered that tractor from Melbourne to Brisbane.
I cant remember what the tractor and trailer weighed but the whole thing Kombi and cargo was nearly 5.5 tonnes all up and still cruised on 100km/h on the flat.
That was one the things that really sold me a on a subi conversion.
helbus ·
Here is the thread with the 5.4 tonne GVM EJ22 powered Kombi
Thats the one, cheers i wasnt having much luck finding it.
chellejohno ·
Had a really good run today, temp wise. Between sydney and canberra the outside temp dropped to about 18 degrees, and so the kombi dropped to about 90 and on the flat and downhills dropped enough to give the thermo fans a break.
We had a shocking headwind though, that just killed us on the hills, 60-70ks on some of them, but the temp still sat well, even when we pushing up those hills.
It's a great feeling on the freeway overtaking other caravanners in their flashy big four wheel drives and mansion size vans, one guy in a terracan? Towing a small van cracked the shits, put his foot down and wouldn't let us pull back into the left lane.lol.wanker.
Can't wait to drive it to work later in the week without the van.
vlad01 ·
ian.mezz wrote:
vlad01 wrote:
chellejohno wrote:Got a set of clear earz, thanks to Justkampers who brought them up to old bar.
Made a big difference on the way home, was able to sit on 90-100ks on the freeway with the caravan, with temp between 90-100, still not ideal because the fans were on most of the time, but I'm pretty happy with that, after all it's pulling 800kgs of caravan!
Cheers Johno
I reckon get some custom rads of find ones with larger cores, make or find fans with shrouds, last but most important is a air damn/flap in front of the engine bay.
You'll be good to go with towing stuff then.
Also bigger engine might help 😂, doesn't have to work as hard and result in less heat. It will make more HP with same heat more or less.
only if you want/can be bothered with a bigger one.
yeah, don't run it to long if they think there air in the system , as you could do a head gasket.
I had a chat to karmann141 at vw Warwick.
It turns out its about personal choice .
vlad01 how's your Subaru /vw coming along 😂
yes just fine, but scrapping the suby idea though, might just use an GM alloytec v6 or type 4.
vlad01 ·
karmann141 wrote:Hi Ian - Yes it is a personal choice.
Just to clarify, the Green Bash Kombi above has 3 radiators - 2 in the engine bay (the fans are on the other side). The engine bay has been completely sealed like the aircooled motor mainly to keep the heat from the exhaust sytem out which is at the rear, hence the propped open and louvred engine cover.
Hi Johno,
Glad to hear the Earz helped (knew they would) - continue to fine tune your cooling system.
Where is the 3rd one?
vlad01 ·
ian.mezz wrote:race cars have them on the side, with a hose at top and a hose on bottom . it looks like a V6 commodore motor with a small radiator
once the body back on you would never know
yep, Turbocharged VN series one V6 by the looks aka LN3 engine circa 88-90.
Thats a standard sized radiator.
chellejohno ·
Drove the kombi to work today, first real run without the caravan (120ks). Temp sat between 74-78, outside temperature was 18degrees.
That's not too cold now is it? Might have to pull the ears back off!!
vlad01 ·
chellejohno wrote:Drove the kombi to work today, first real run without the caravan (120ks). Temp sat between 74-78, outside temperature was 18degrees.
That's not too cold now is it? Might have to pull the ears back off!!
got a thermostat that works properly in there?
not one of those trident or dayco ones? I found them shite and ran 70-80 not the 91 advertised, 4 in a row trident and 1 dayco. not one worked right.
got a genuine fixed 👍
pete wood ·
In fact, a thermostat will also slow the coolant down enough to cool it properly in the radiator(s).
Just to add an extra bit of thinking to your fine tuning...
Ricola (do a search to find his cabrio) did some serious testing and computer modelling re radiator scoops and ducting a few years ago. He discovered that to get your radiator working effectively, it needs a scoop that has a surface area of 40% of the radiator surface. Any less than that and it doesn't supply enough air. Additionally, that scoop has to be placed in a position where is gets laminar airflow. That is, uninterupted, smooth airflow like you'd expect at the front of a vehicle.
ian.mezz ·
cool running it wont hurt your motor that you got out of a $500 car with 200k 😊 is better then over heating and cooking your engine '
don't take the scoops off .
you can test your cooling system by driving around in 2nd or 3rd gear at high revs , eg 100kph in 3rd for a long time and see what the temp does .😊
vlad01 would know about getting heat into commodore by driving around in 2nd gear , as it was how you tested for a bad crank angle sensor . but the motor wouldn't over heat .
Dual flow 😊 radiators work good
This simply means the coolant passes through TWO times instead of ONE. Which, even more simply put means TWICE the cooling and half the size radiator