drill holes in thermostat
 

I have been reading the thread of water cooling and have seen ERA folks drilled the thermostat to gain more water flow/cooling, can this mod apply to SPF as well

I would love to have mine running a bit cooler if this mod would help

http://www.erareplicas.com/427man/cooling/thermomod.htm

http://www.stewartcomponents.com/tec...ech_Tips_3.htm


Regards

Tan,

I drilled mine when I was having difficulty burping the system last year. I don't think drilling helps you run cooler per se, unless your overheating problem is due to a trapped air pocket.

Even after successful burping, the car ran hot. Dave B. suggested that I run Evans coolant, and that definitely helped until I blew a hose, lost it all and decided not to spend the $ to replace it. Finally, I installed a fill tank and now run about 50/50 distilled water/anti-freeze.

Since that mod, it's been pretty rare for the engine to run hot enough to turn on the fans.

Chuck

The purpose of the hole is to allow air and water to pass through the thermostat even when it's closed/cold. Especially air. It makes the burping process quick and easy. I have not bought a thermostat in a while. But I'v heard some of them already have the hole in them.

It will not changing the cooling efficiency of the system at all. You will not run any cooler.

Anti-freeze lowers the freezing point, raises the boiling point under pressure, lubes the water pump, and helps prevent corrosion. But pure water is a better coolant than an antifreeze mix. It transfers heat better. With a surfactent, it will transfer heat even better.

I use about 25% anti-freeze, 75% tap water (I have very good water), and a bottle of surfactent. I don't have any problems running hot. The fan only comes on if it's a hot day and I'm sitting in traffic. On a cool day, I have to block off part of the radiator to get the engine warm enough to operate well.

It might be that the water is going through the radiator too fast and not being given enough time to cool down, that's what happened in mine. I had to put in a restrictor at the thermostat to keep the water in the radiator longer. It cooled down from 210C to 90C.:)

Tan,

I installed a high flow thermostat in my car. Not sure how much more flow you get, but it looks a lot better. It already had a hole, plus I added another small one ( just to make it easier for air to pass). I don't run coolant in my car anymore. Just distilled water and water wetter. I never have a cooling issue even with the 514!

Scott

is there a way to tell if the water is flowing through the radiator too fast as opposed to just not cooling enough?

Check the bottom radiator hose, it should be substantially cooler than the top one!!
John

This whole thing about the coolant not being in the radiator long enough to cool-down does not make sense to me. If it's not in the radiator long enough to cool down wouldn't that mean it's not in the engine long enough to heat up?

Is there any science here to back this theory up, or did this just get started and now there is no stopping it?

Bob

You just might be on to something there.**):cool:

Not science... there isn't an automotive water pump made that can flow coolant too fast...

It is explained in the second link in the 1st post. FWIW, Stewart Components is pretty much the highest "authority" there is when it comes to cooling systems.

Scott

I wonder if race cars even have a thermostat? It seems to me that if the coolant flow is retarted up to a temperature point and then is wide open for total unrestricted flow, then unrestricted flow (no thermostat) would allow the engine to warm up slower and remain cool under hot running conditions.

Does this make sense?

LREYBURN ... can`t speak for others , but when I was racing dirt track , I and the others I ran with , never used a thermostat , but we all used restrictors to slow the coolant flow . It was a trial and error process to find what worked for your engine . Maybe this is why there is some misunderstanding of its use ? I would NEVER run no thermostat and a restrictor for the street :eek:.
On the track , a thermostat is one more component that could fail .... at least that`s my story and I`m sticking to it !

The radiator is designed to flow at a given rate or at least within certain parameters. The design is based upon type of radiator material, number of fins per inch, number of cores wide, and number of passes. In short the radiator offers a certain number of square inches of heating surface. Now you throw in flow rate. Too high a flow rate will not allow each square inch of heating/cooling surface to absorb and transfer the engines heat. Basically you need enough transition time to absorb/transfer the heat to the radiator, and then to the air. I see this all the time in my line of work (boilers). The physics are the same.
I tried Evans coolant in a 428 Mustang and had coolant creep through the gaskets. Also straight Glycol (Evans) has a much lower heat transfer coeficient than water. The reason people/racers like Evans is that the product at attmosphere (o psi on radiator cap) will boil at 375 Deg F. Therefore should the engine develop a hot spot there is less chance of Flash (Steam )
Check a freinds car (That has no heating problems) that has same size engine and radiator for temp inlet vs outlet. This "Delta" should be your target. A high flow thermostat will probably not flow too high to cause a problem, but running without a thermostat or restrictor disk will!
I am new to the Cobra world just having purchased my first 427 SC (FE). Anyone in Orange County Ca. please give me a call @ 714-401-6054
Dane

Email
 

Sorry guys dont mean to intrude on your thread, Bobcat i sent you a private message. I need to email you something, please email me.

fmagnifico@pnmcpas.com

Thanks

Frank

You're exactly right. When we talk about cooling, what we're talking about is transfer of heat. Heat is energy; and energy can neither be created nor destroyed, only altered.

The whole process of cooling is to move the energy from where it's highest, (engine) to where it's lowest (ambient air). It's done through a two step process, first to the fluid in the engine, then to the air in the radiator.

There are a number of facters that affect this transfer. Some fluids are more efficient than others - water is better than anti-freeze. Contact with the heated surface. Water solutions form a surface tension layer that decreases energy transfer. Surfactents like Water Wetter decrease that surface tension and increase efficiency.

Time on station is what we're talking about now. The thermostat or restricter plate causes enough restriction in the fluid flow to keep the fluid where it needs to be for just that little bit longer. Think of touching a hot pipe. A quick slap of your finger may not cause significant damage. But lay it on for a couple of seconds, and you'll get enough energy transfer to really hurt.

A good water pump at high rpm's will flow enough fluid to prevent this heat transfer. You measure the fluid temp, and it appears to be good. But the engine - heads in particular - are overheating. We all know what that does.

I'll add a question to the discussion, because it's of importance to cooling.
What PSI cap, should any given high performance engine have and why ? (non stock engine)

Remember horsepower equals heat

The pressure cap has a purpose. The boiling point is raised with higher pressures. I generally use a 16psi cap. Anything more and you have to wonder about the efficiency of your system. Higher pressures will also put a strain on the rest of the system, and everything will have to work harder. That costs you power and economy.

Yes, power = heat. The more power you make, the more heat it will produce. It's that whole energy conversion thing again. That's why people who couple a high powered stroker with a stock Mustang radiator have so much trouble.