A few weekends ago we were able to attend Gridlife Midwest at Gingerman in Michigan. This was the first time we were able to see the car run and the first time the car was run on track since we worked on it.
Sadly, it did not go as well as we had hoped. The car was plagued with cooling issues yet again. Luckily we were able to resolve the cooling issues with an at track rough fix to the point the car was able to complete a full session of driving!
I believe this is the first time the car has lasted more than a few laps on track since being turbo; so while we did not get in the testing we were hoping for, we are glad to have figured out the cooling side of things.
Below is an account of how things happened and the route we went to resolve the issues with some thought process behind it so if anyone else is in a similar issue; they can maybe walk through it at the track and fix it.
TLDR: We believe that the charge cooler is causing a massive restriction and not allowing airflow through the cooling stack. Ultimately the decision on what to do is with Jeremy, but we would like to remake the charge cooler with a better core that is more appropriate for this level of racing. Jeremy will also be revising the inlet ducting to work with the larger opening.
The below photo was the cooling system that the car arrived to us in. After 2 laps, oil would be in the 260-270*F range, water would be 240*F range. We felt that the cooling stack was too thick and needed to be thinned out to allow airflow through the cores. The oil cooler was also a double pass which meant there was significant pressure drop through the core, especially with 50weight oil.
The below image was the cooling system we designed and had built along with ducting.
The entire system is fully ducted, from bumper to radiator very little air can escape. The oil cooler and radiator cores used are high-performance units made by PWR/C&R. The charge cooler (intercooler) was kept from the previous setup as we saw no major issues at the time. Thursday, the car went out and could not complete 1 lap without overheating the water, they found out that the thermostat was not opening (top hose hot, bottom hose cold, or vice versa). Friday morning, with no thermostat installed, the car would last 3 laps but coolant temps were still getting up to 250, oil temps at 230.
We thought that air extraction was not allowing air to make its way through the cooling system so we removed the hood to rule this out. If you have a buildup of air pressure after the cooling stack, air will not want to go through the cores, hindering performance. On the second outing, the car performed similarly, with the car still overheating after 2-3 laps but it did cool down if Jeremy stayed off the throttle which he did for ½ a lap. Maybe a slight improvement, but coolant temps still got up to 250 on the 2nd lap, oil still at 230.
Between the 2nd and 3rd run group, we wanted to improve flow to the top 1/3 of the radiator and oil cooler to feed the small portion of the oil cooler and radiator un-obstructed airflow. With a little help from a die grinder, we removed a piece of the ductwork and bumper to increase airflow to the top 1/3 of the radiator/oil cooler. On this outing, the coolant and oil dropped to 210/210. This is the first time the car, in about 2 years, has actually lasted more than 2-3 laps on the track.
Ideally, we want to get the car to a place where it is cooling all the fluid mediums; with the oil cooler behind the radiator. We will see if we can get to that point but we are excited to be making a bit of progress on a situation that has truly plagued the car for a long time.
Recap video that Clay put together with some drifting and a few clips of Jeremy's car going around at Gingerman. It really was a nice event; we're hoping to go to another one maybe in August.
Thanks,
Eric