ERA 753 - Final Assembly in Progress

[patrickt]

Fred, if you, say, wrapped your oil cooler in some pink insulation and aluminum foil over that, and took it out for a good ride and only gain 10 degrees, how would a thermostat do any better?

[ERA Chas]

You've duplicated my findings exactly in 52 ambient weather.
Pat's question is very valid.

To avoid the 'dead horse' syndrome, I wish you best luck in your testing Fred. I know that engineers never take 'no' for an answer-my kid is one.

I just wanted to save you a few bucks on another item for shelf dwelling. (I have several-ahem)

[fkemmerer]

Originally Posted by ERA Chas

You've duplicated my findings exactly in 52 ambient weather.
Pat's question is very valid.

To avoid the 'dead horse' syndrome, I wish you best luck in your testing Fred. I know that engineers never take 'no' for an answer-my kid is one.

I just wanted to save you a few bucks on another item for shelf dwelling. (I have several-ahem)

Thanks, I do appreciate that. You are right about the engineer part . Since I already have the cooler, its a little easier to justify the work to put it on as long as I can find a spot where it does not effect the appearance of the car. Thanks again for the help. Thanks to your and others help, I have a much better expectation on what can (and can't) be accomplished with these changes.


- Fred

[RICK LAKE]

fkemmerer Fred my motor like yours is all aluminum and we both run a FI system in our cars. I have the opposite problem of running too hot. I modifiled a 180 thermostat from a dodge bb to keep my temps in the 190's to 210 range after being on the track. Oil temps are in the 220f. I run the rotella 15-40 with lucas oil suppliment. I do have the twin fans in the nose instaed of the splitter. They look good but do little to move the air.
Have you thought about have a cooler added into the radiator and keeping the front mounted one for looks? Raising the coolant thermostat to a 195f may also help.
I can't get over that your motor can't get hot enought and mine I can cook eggs on in just 5 minutes. This is also with the ERA street pipes. I have heat shields and fire barriers through out the car. A paxton hood pulls in air by the ton. I added to 4" fans to help remove the heat from the engine compartment out the side louvers. I swapped from the copper rad to the Aluminum Griffen one. The only thing I have not added is a fan schroud.
On a side note, how is the traction control working? Rick L.

[fkemmerer]

Originally Posted by RICK LAKE

fkemmerer Fred my motor like yours is all aluminum and we both run a FI system in our cars. I have the opposite problem of running too hot. I modifiled a 180 thermostat from a dodge bb to keep my temps in the 190's to 210 range after being on the track. Oil temps are in the 220f. I run the rotella 15-40 with lucas oil suppliment. I do have the twin fans in the nose instaed of the splitter. They look good but do little to move the air.
Have you thought about have a cooler added into the radiator and keeping the front mounted one for looks? Raising the coolant thermostat to a 195f may also help.
I can't get over that your motor can't get hot enought and mine I can cook eggs on in just 5 minutes. This is also with the ERA street pipes. I have heat shields and fire barriers through out the car. A paxton hood pulls in air by the ton. I added to 4" fans to help remove the heat from the engine compartment out the side louvers. I swapped from the copper rad to the Aluminum Griffen one. The only thing I have not added is a fan schroud.
On a side note, how is the traction control working? Rick L.

Rick,

What does your ignition timing look like at light loads and lower RPMs? I've found that not running enough can make a motor run very hot. I am running somthing like 34 degrees at idle (this may be too much depending upon your cam).

BTW, I am running ERA's radiator, their HD electric fan and the 2 small fans in the noise with no divider. My water temps will creep up to maybe 195 to 200 degrees if I let the car idle for awhile on a very warm day. I think that this is pretty much normal. Problem I have is getting the oil up to temperature.

Haven't gotten to the ETC yet. I have competition tires on my car so I have relatively good traction in low gear. I want to get everything else right with the motor, then do a full dyno tune on the car, and the last step will be the ETC calibration.

- Fred

[fkemmerer]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Fred, if you, say, wrapped your oil cooler in some pink insulation and aluminum foil over that, and took it out for a good ride and only gain 10 degrees, how would a thermostat do any better?

Well, the cover I made only blocks the front of the cooler, not the top, bottom and sides. I figure that I am loosing some heat on all of those surfaces as well on the lines that lead to and from the cooler. I figure that the thermostat might be worth another 5 - 10 degress in cool weather.

The real reason that I am doing this is that my oil temps don't get above 70 degrees C (approx. 160 degress F) even in warm weather. Rather that hastle with removing the cardboard block when it does get really hot or I run the car hard, I think its best to just install the thermostat.

I looked at my car on the lift yesterday and it looks like I can install the thermostat down low between the radiator and the chassis cross braces in the front if I make a custom bracked to allow the lines to clear the lower radiator hose. This should be a good spot in terms of "hiding" it and this location should keep the lines short.

BTW, the sensor for my oil temp gauge is installed in the front of my canton pan. I wonder how much of the temperature drop when the car is moving is really the oil temp vs. the fact that the sensor is in the stream of cool undercar air. Does anyone have any thoughts on this one?

- Fred