High oil temp (overheating at track)

[SGwick]

Pity they don't make radiator enclosure for 2011

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

Agree. You'll have to make your own. I'm in the process of that now, following what @Black Boss has done on his car. For something even more focused than these methods, you can see a professionally-fabricated enclosure on @captdistraction 's car

 

[dabossinnne]

That the Setrab plate?

Just bought this very sandwich plate from Improved Racing. Although it has a Setrab part number, it's actually a MOCAL part (MOCAL cast into the plate).

 

[SGwick]

I struggled with cooling on my Boss -- it made great power, but always ran hot. I tried the Ford Racing Air/Oil cooler, Ford Racing Radiator/Fan, Tiger hood, 302S grill. All made marginal improvements, but depending on the mod, either oil or coolant would get hotter than I liked after 15-20minutes of high ambient track abuse.

Eliminating the factory Water/Oil cooler fixed the CHT/Coolant issue (and eliminated the durability issue that 2012-Boss mentioned) but put more load on oil temps, so I went with the largest Air/Oil cooler that Setrab make, this helped significantly, but the biggest improvements were the Watson style radiator baffles and elimination of the A/C condenser. My conclusion is that CHT/Coolant temps are made worse by the Oil/Water Cooler, and that more airflow is required to keep Oil and CHT at acceptable levels.

There is also a lot of car to car variation, maybe I was just lucky to get a high HP motor

do you have the thread for the baffles? Interested for 2011 stang

 

[SGwick]

Agree. You'll have to make your own. I'm in the process of that now, following what @Black Boss has done on his car. For something even more focused than these methods, you can see a professionally-fabricated enclosure on @captdistraction 's car

I'd be interested to buy a set from you, depending how they turn out/price

 

[Black Boss]

do you have the thread for the baffles? Interested for 2011 stang

@SGwick Here you go: https://trackmustangsonline.com/threads/improved-cooling-on-2012s.10074/

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

I'd be interested to buy a set from you, depending how they turn out/price

I would suggest you fab up a set based on Black Boss' blueprint like I'm about to. I wouldn't sell anything I make because 1) it will only be pretty enough to be well-hidden behind bodywork 2) what I need to build to mate up to existing panels I have already made may be different than what you have, and 3) it will take me significant effort compared to a real fabricator.

If you like, there are also some photos of what I have already done and the methods used in my build thread, starting HERE

 

[jpt3]

Good to know, appreciate the input. I was thinking, perhaps wrongly, that the OEM cooler just exacerbates high oil temps at high engine operating temps.

The factory "gauge" is an absolute joke and I've found has no correlation to actual temperature. I compared the factory "gauge" after installing an auto meter gauge and the factory "gauge" would read over halfway before the real gauge even read 160. As soon as you start Revving it up high it just goes up.

Once you install the cooler the factory "gauge" will still read high

Jake

 

[302 Hi Pro]

The factory "gauge" is an absolute joke and I've found has no correlation to actual temperature. I compared the factory "gauge" after installing an auto meter gauge and the factory "gauge" would read over halfway before the real gauge even read 160. As soon as you start Revving it up high it just goes up.

Once you install the cooler the factory "gauge" will still read high

Jake

Jake: This is interesting info, and I can see how the factory might do this to induce limp modes to save engines and warranty cost before catastrophic engine failures happen.

Can anyone verify this with similar testing?

Thanks again for posting this info,
All the Best,
302 Hi Pro

 

[jpt3]

Jake: This is interesting info, and I can see how the factory might do this to induce limp modes to save engines and warranty cost before catastrophic engine failures happen.

Can anyone verify this with similar testing?

Thanks again for posting this info,
All the Best,
302 Hi Pro

When I first installed the gauge I thought I'd see what the different areas correlate to to help others on the forum because I had asked what does the yellow and red actually mean temperature wise. What I found was the factory gauge would get up to halfway very quickly then when I would start getting on it ramp up quickly then back quickly while the actual oil temperature was much more consistent. I paid attention at the track once and it got up to the yellow and the oil temp on the auto meter wasn't even 200 yet.

 

[TymeSlayer]

Just bought this very sandwich plate from Improved Racing. Although it has a Setrab part number, it's actually a MOCAL part (MOCAL cast into the plate).

This is correct. And you sure could save a few bucks and put the kit together yourself but in my world, tyme is money and I have more of the later than I do the former.

 

[dabossinnne]

Hey guys, as anybody tried a waterless coolant, such as: https://www.evanscoolant.com/products/high-performance-coolant/
Thoughts, opinions...?

 

[302 Hi Pro]

Good find, I've not seen this product and will be interested in your replies. I will Service my cooling system before this fall sets in and would like to see any personal reviews as well.

2HP

 

[M91196]

Hey guys, as anybody tried a waterless coolant, such as: https://www.evanscoolant.com/products/high-performance-coolant/
Thoughts, opinions...?

No personal experience with this but last week I toured the vault of the Peterson Museum and noticed they had many gallons of this on the shelf in the work shop area.

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

For race applications we are prohibited from running coolant in our systems, in case of spills/overflows/crash clean up.

 

[2012-Boss]

If you are trying to lower temperatures in your engine, this product might not be the way to go. Evans doesn't lower the engine operating temperature, it allows you to run higher coolant temperatures without boil over. A big plus to this is that you can run a zero pressure cooling system. Evans advertises a 375 degree Fahrenheit boil over point at zero pressure.

With a zero pressure radiator cap, straight water boils around 212 degrees Fahrenheit. A typical 50/50 water and antifreeze solution will boil around 223 Fahrenheit. The boiling point of each solution goes up approximately 3 degrees for each pound of pressure in the system provided by the radiator cap. Add a 15 lb radiator cap to the system and the boiling point goes up 45 degrees.

Running Evans will not keep you car out of limp mode. Once you hit the the CHT limit, your car will go into limp mode no matter what coolant is used.

But, in a car that doesn't go into limp mode, Evans might help from cracking a cylinder head or blowing a head gasket. When you get to the boil over point, steam often is generated in the cylinder head creating hot spots and raising localized pressure. This can lead to blown head gaskets and cracked heads. Evans won't turn to steam under these conditions thereby reducing the chance of engine / cylinder head damage.

 

[2012-Boss]

I should have included my personal recommendations.

I would not use Evans in a track / HPDE vehicle like our Mustangs. It will not keep help reduce operating temperatures and it will not keep you out of limp mode. The best coolant to run for this purpose is straight distilled water and a surfactant like Redline's Water Wetter. The other benefit to a straight water solution is safety for you and your fellow participants.

Like Arizona Boss, I have had my alternator belt cut through the lower radiator hose. The spray not only slicked down the track for other participants, but it also coated my front tires leading to a very white knuckled incident at the end of the main straight at VIR two years ago.

I would consider Evans for a street car, especially an older car like my Olds 442. It would allow me to run a lower pressure system, reduce maintenance, and avoid boil over in car with no computer controls. I can see why the Peterson Museum would use it in the collection. As the cars in the collection age, the cooling system's rubber and other components can deteriorate. Running a zero pressure system puts a lot less strain on these components. The Museum would also save money in the long run by not having to replace coolant every three years.

 

[venom52]

To update. I have ended up going with the mishimoto kit and modified the watson enclosure to fit with it. Still working on some things but should be all buttoned up this weekend.

 

[captdistraction]

do a little thread revival:

Last event at Chuckwalla, I had an abbreviated session but collected some interesting data on oil temperatures (+500ft elevation, 78* ambient temperature, 7700 RPM redline, car with boss oil/water cooler and Setrab 915 in fabricated ducting/enclosure, boss 302S grille/hood):




Oddly the brief spot at 300* (before cooler) was in the middle of two carousel sections with a short straight, and on other laps including my fast lap wasn't much warmer. I'm not sure if I'm having a temp probe issue (possible), but also while I have everything apart I think its a good time to move on from my 915 and to a 934 or 948. Either way it was further into the session (25 min in, but only 15 min of running the car). Ideally I want to control temperatures in temperatures upward of 90 (I won't race above 100* ambient regardless) for 30-45 minutes.

The 948 is an additional $300 over the 934, has some more capacity, but I'm curious if the 934 would work for me? it would fit slightly better, but I want to ensure adequate cooling capacity. I've gotten by thus far with the little 915, but wanted to get some feedback and advice. I am dropping the boss cooler to simplify the plumbing and add space/clearance.

Are there other models/brands that fit where the 915 is in width? (14" from core to core ignoring the bracket mount points) That would allow me to reuse the existing ductwork with just redesigning the top bracket (drilling) and moving the bottom bracket down to accommodate core height.

 

[JAJ]

Something weird happened on lap 6. Could you throw up a graph with throttle position or speed instead of altitude? From 1.3 to 1.8, lap 6 looks like the rest, but otherwise it's a lot hotter. Could it have been debris in the cooler duct?