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08 GT500 Cooling Question

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Wondering if anyone has experienced the following and/or has any suggestions?

Was running my 08 GT500 (bone stock drivetrain) at Road America today and it was crazy hot. The hottest outside temps for when I have ever run there. Car ran good most of the day and in the last session about 2/3 way through car went into limp mode and noticed the coolant temp gauge was hot and the temp light came on the dash. I cruised around about 1/2 the track light footed and the temp came back down and everything was fine after that.
I've never had this happen before. Just wondering if anyone else has or if this is something I should be worried about.
I have read where people have upgraded the fan with one from the 13-14 GT500s, but have also read of resistor issues when this is done.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
 
stupid sounding question but hear me out....what grill is on the car. my 07 SGT would overheat with the CS8 grill i had on it. pulled the grilled and it still got toasty but it wouldn't go into limp mode.

i solved all the issues by getting a bigger radiator. i expect that will be your final fix.
 

ChrisM

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Edit: looks like there's some cheap billet grille options but advice on upgrading cooling components still likely to be your best bet.

Other than that, would definitely start with a better radiator as was already suggested. If you are going to continue to track it, you will likely want to go through and start systematically upgrading all cooling components (to include brake cooling).
 
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Bill Pemberton

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Wanted to make the event and noticed yesterday they were talking the same temp near Road America ( 92 degrees ) as down here in Nebraska. That is mega warm for cheese country , hot enough everything would be turning to fondue, but you could just be experiencing heat soak with your under hood temps and the Supercharger. All good advice above, but in the short term see if anyone has any Water Wetter ( may even have at the Track Shop because not much else is open today ) they might sell you and pump in a couple of bottles. Good luck and sorry to hear of your dilemma. Bunch of TMO guys there so someone seriously may have Water Wetter to help you out?!
 
stupid sounding question but hear me out....what grill is on the car. my 07 SGT would overheat with the CS8 grill i had on it. pulled the grilled and it still got toasty but it wouldn't go into limp mode.

i solved all the issues by getting a bigger radiator. i expect that will be your final fix.
Grill is what it came with from the factory.
 
Wanted to make the event and noticed yesterday they were talking the same temp near Road America ( 92 degrees ) as down here in Nebraska. That is mega warm for cheese country , hot enough everything would be turning to fondue, but you could just be experiencing heat soak with your under hood temps and the Supercharger. All good advice above, but in the short term see if anyone has any Water Wetter ( may even have at the Track Shop because not much else is open today ) they might sell you and pump in a couple of bottles. Good luck and sorry to hear of your dilemma. Bunch of TMO guys there so someone seriously may have Water Wetter to help you out?!
I thought of water wetter last night Bill. Yeah, these temps are a little unusually for the cheeseheads!
Edit: looks like there's some cheap billet grille options but advice on upgrading cooling components still likely to be your best bet.

Other than that, would definitely start with a better radiator as was already suggested. If you are going to continue to track it, you will likely want to go through and start systematically upgrading all cooling components (to include brake cooling).
Chris, I think I have the brakes upgraded and cooled well enough. Never had an issue with them yesterday. What are your thoughts on a decent radiator upgrade without breaking the bank? I see there are only about a thousand options out there.
 

ChrisM

Mostly harmless.
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I've only got experience with the stock and Ford Racing ones on a non-supercharged application. If you let us know your budget, some folks may have suggestions for you. I did recently see Ron Davis Radiators suggested by the experts on another cooling thread.
 
I've only got experience with the stock and Ford Racing ones on a non-supercharged application. If you let us know your budget, some folks may have suggestions for you. I did recently see Ron Davis Radiators suggested by the experts on another cooling thread.
Chris, I guess I don't even know what to expect to spend. I'm also thinking that if I'm replacing the radiator, I might as well upgrade the supercharger heat exchanger and pump and the list could go on and on. Kind of like my wife wanting new flooring in the house and will turn into bathroom, kitchen and laundry room remodel. Oh well, I guess these are the kind of problems someone wants to have.
 

ChrisM

Mostly harmless.
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Chris, I guess I don't even know what to expect to spend. I'm also thinking that if I'm replacing the radiator, I might as well upgrade the supercharger heat exchanger and pump and the list could go on and on. Kind of like my wife wanting new flooring in the house and will turn into bathroom, kitchen and laundry room remodel. Oh well, I guess these are the kind of problems someone wants to have.

Haha yeah that's tough. I'd still break it down into manageable steps like you're doing, starting with the water wetter. It's easy to get carried away and try and do everything all at once, and a lot of times that's easier, but you may find that by doing one piece at a time you won't spend money on stuff you didn't really need. If a radiator takes care of the problem, you won't need to spend money on the other stuff.

I wish I had a more definitive answer for you, but my own experience with these is limited. The radiator is a good place to start and I recommend taking a look through the various car builds here to see what brands they are using. I don't think there's going to be a significant difference in a GT500 radiator vs any of the others. Max cooling is max cooling. Don't know if you're also interested, but maybe take a look at how the air is escaping through the hood too. Part of keeping it cool is maximizing airflow.
 
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This is why I did not buy a GT500 for the road course. You will continue to have heat soak and will always have excessive temps. But big front mount oil cooler, big front mount heat exchanger for the blower, bigger radiator if there is one. In addition you can lean back your radiator about an inch for better air flow over it (same thing was done for the 08 GT4 Track car). Ceramic coated headers and exhaust, ceramic coated blower housing, ginormous heat extractors from one of the vendors here don't remember who. Increase the size of the stock belly pan from the splitter back. Cooling additive to the cooling system and then heat extractors for the fenders. That might get you down a bit.
 

Fabman

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Fluidyne makes an excellent radiator at a very affordable price point.
 

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
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Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca

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