Water Temp problem
 

Im having a little problem with my water temp. Car has been turbo for 6 months now, no problems. Water temp was only an issue under track use in the summer under 100F temps, so it was pretty good. Running FBM rad, Mishimoto termostat, dual SPAL fans, oil cooler, blankets, and everything we could think of for cooling.
But for around a month now, and in mild ambiet temps (65-80F), my water temp gets very high, very fast. This is using OFT to meassure. Thou the map and everything else was done with Ecutek. OFT its easier.
Even when on the highway under normal conditions temps get to 190-200F and after 1 or 2 pulls it goes to 210F, thou the OEM temp gauge stay in the middle, and doesnt move at all. We checked the fans, they work well, rad also, no problems with termostat... but we cant find out whats happening...
Could this be a sensor related issue?? i really need a solution... i lost all the confidence i had in the car... dunno if its going to blow after 1 lap at the track!!!! hehe
Thanks!

How hot are you getting? Have you considered running redline water wetter and distilled water? Did you bleed the system of air? Do you have a leak? You can also try making your own shroud to prevent air from going around the radiator, others have done this with some success.

Here are my temps (water is warmer than I'd like as well).

Buttonwillow 6/27, hottest session of the day (about 100F ambient) temperature results:

- 15 minutes on track
- PTuning laminova cooler
- Setrab series 9 15 row
- Koyo aluminium racing radiator w/ Redline water wetter, 70% distilled water / 30% OEM coolant.
- All -10AN oil ports and hose
- Oil lines routed through air cooler then water cooler before returning to engine

Peak IAT: 123F
Peak Coolant: 240F
Peak RPM: 7443
Peak MPH: 105
Peak Oil: 237F
Peak EGT: 1452F

Avg IAT: 108F
Avg Coolant: 219F
Avg RPM: 5164
Avg MPH: 69
Avg Oil: 213F
Avg EGT: 1374F

No leaks, will do a bleed before next track day. I have the shroud, works very well! havent run water wetter, will look into it (not so easy, i live in Argentina, and we dont have everything you guys get in the US eheheh).

I dont have a log right now, but its very close to what you got. Peak temp was about 240F and oil manage to got to 250F. That was at the track under a lot of heat and pushing the car hard.
My issue is that now water gets to 210-220F doing some pulls in the highway... :( this didnt happend before last month.

There should be sellers like on amazon maybe that ship to where you are. Use less coolant, more distilled water and some redline water wetter or similar product. You could also run 100% distilled water with water wetter too for even better cooling. 220 is pretty hot just for a highway pull. Is your turbo water cooled? If so, where is the return line?

From reading, it seems you do not have the Fan Shroud installed with your slim fans.

The fan shroud is vital to maintain the car temp. in check because it allows the slim fans to pull air across the whole radiator.


Get the FBM fan shroud ASAP.

Have custom fan shroud installed :) it went in at the same time we put the new fans hehe.

Just to be clear, i didn't have any water temps issues for around 6 months!!!! I still don't know if its even a water temp problem or just a sensor problem. We have DOUBLE checked everything we could think of. This week we are putting an external temp sensor to see if that give us the same reading.

Anyone had similar experience with the OEM gauge indicating normal temps but OFT (or similar) reading hot?

Thanks all for the inputs! keep them coming!! already got some good info :)

Does it do it with the A/C on or with it off? What temp does your fan kick on at? Does the fan make a difference?

The temps go up without the A/C. Turning the A/C actually makes the temp stay more stable ... since both fans turn on at full speed.
Normal fans speed should kick at 87C. We tested it with the car in the shop, 10 mins at 4-5.000rpm with the hood closed. The fans kicked in at both normal and max speed, so they appear to work as intended. We just cant figure out why OFT reads hot, when the car seems to be at normal temps.

I am NA and I get 190f on my coolant as my normal operating temp. If I am stuck in traffic the temp jumps up to 225f, then drops once I get moving. Just offering a little perspective.

those temps sound normal considering the fact that the intercooler blocks the free flow to the radiator and turbo generally means heat soak..

I've seen worse than that so I ordered this , (it went out of stock soon after) ..
http://store.worksmotorsports.com/Co...s.20042811.htm
not sure why most places sell this in the kit so it seems like it's hard to purchase the thermostat individually, unlike many other thermostats Cosworth explains how it really works and why running a higher flow thermostat is even better than running without any thermostat..


I will try low-temp thermostat and 30/70 distilled water method to keep my coolant temps low (I've seen some great results with them so it seems like worth to try..also make sure you add distilled water (instead of 50/50 mix) during hot summer days since water evaporates and lower the coolant/water ratio to compensate ..

good luck

my friend used the Redline water wetter on his car and he hated it since it left a lot of residue in the radiator :/ seems like there are many reported issues with the water wetters in general
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...opics/612422/1

and I've looked but didn't see any proven results (some people claim it's beneficial only for racecars that doesn't have typical thermostat and/or water pump) it looks like a marketing gimmick :)