JonGTR

I'm running B&M's #70297 oil cooler kit with a fan. It's rather large and kicks on at 175 degrees, but it's going on the Z and I plan to track it.

300 degrees is way too hot. The Z without a cooler only gets to 220 degrees.

Enthalpy

Oops, forgot to comment on the oil.

He's right, 320 is way too high! For a street-driven car like yours, you want a thermostatically-controlled setup so your oil isn't too cold in the colder months. You are on he right track (pun intended).

Ericy321

Any leads on a nice oil cooler with thermostat TD or anyone else? I can only find the ones that cool all the time.

tdonnell

Thanks for the comments guys, yes Enthalpy, I have the coolant lines to and from the turbo running from the TB coolant feed/return that is attached to the cylinder head. I figure it doesn't matter what order, seeing as it goes straight through the turbo either way. So looks like I am fine. If I have been beating on the car I usually let it run at idle for at least 1 minute, if I have just done a short trip, maybe only 10-30 seconds. I'll let it idle a bit longer now though.

Looks like I need to get an oil cooler, thanks for the part number Jon.

It started overheating for the first time today, it was about 86 degrees and I was running the a/c full blast, pulled into the parking lot to get my eye looked at (rust ring left over from mild steel shard that I managed to get out), they use and alger brush (micro dremel basically) to scrub the rust off your cornea. Anyway, the temp gauge was only 3/16" away from the red zone! I shut the car off and let the cooling fan run for 5 minutes, then shut the hood and went in to get my eye fixed.

Looks like I need a Koyo radiator and FAL fans too! Anyone have the part number for that Rad?

Thanks guys.

JonGTR

You don't need the Koyo. It's a waste of money IMO. The FAL 220's do all the cooling you need. I've run the car hard in 105 degree weather and they still do fine with the stock radiator.




Did you read my post?

Enthalpy

We put a Koyo in Tommy's car after he reported spiking temps as he climbed hills. There are quite a few hills in Colorado. wink1.gif

We found the manifold's stock gasket (between the manifold and the head) was damaged and belching hot gasses on the coolant pipe that runs directly under it. I would check this FIRST! Those stock gaskets failed multiple times on the dyno! Tommy finally went with all-metal gaskets.

He went with the radiator anyway for peace of mind. I can't argue with that. The thin air in Colorado means less cooling at a given speed.

Realize there are other things at play here:
-If you haven't insulated your manifold, then it is SPEWING hot gasses and INTENSE radiation (think radiative heat from a fire or a heat lamp) straight onto your radiator and intake pipes. Since the delta T is so large, don't underestimate the effects of a heat shield for your manifold! Coating is okay, but something to physically block the radiation like sheet metal would be best. Same goes for the turbine housing and downpipe.
-The A/C system PUMPS hot air into the radiator because the condensor is sitting in front of it. This is why it's advisable to run both fans when the radiator is hot and the A/C is on. I can show you how to wire that into your Haltech if you want.
-If your fans are failing, then you will start to overheat rougly below 20 mph regardless of what you are doing.

Make sure to do the above first before investing in a radiator. It would be a shame to waste that kind money fixing the wrong problem.

As far as an oil cooler, you have two options. Air to air offers some of the best aftermarket support that I know of, but you have to rig up a thermostat for it if it's street driven. Air to coolant has the advantage of WARMING your oil faster on cold starts (improving your cold engine mileage), but it has the drawback of being quite a bit more complicated.

DTN

My stock gasket is metal. I threw away the chrome moly gasket that came with my header in favor of a new OEM metal gasket.

Ericy321

Missed your post somehow Jon. Thanks

tdonnell

Thanks again for all the informative replies everyone!

I have the manifold and downpipe header wrapped, but it still gets wicket hot.

I will have to purchase the FAL's and throw them on.

I am using the stock gaskets all around and they hold up fine damon, I dunno why tommy's blew out. The ones I get from the dealer are all metal twin layer.

I want to make heat sheilds as well, out of 16 gauge stainless.

Enthalpy

Look for the telltale black streaks near any exhaust flange for evidence of a leak. You would be utterly amazed at how small a leak it takes to COMPLETELY kill your ability to spool! They can obviously make bad things hot as well.

Tommy put together a manifold heat shield that looked pretty damned clean. It's admittedly tough to make a clean-looking heat shield, but it's worthwhile. I have one on my turbo car that I fabbed up!