Burnouts + Water temps

[l1ttle_d3vil]

Got a few spare rims now so I got a feeling there will be a few more skids happening in the KE... may even put it in the skid comp at the Nightwars if its all running sweet. Just not 100% sure on the water temps to expect though.

I've got two gauges - the standard one on the dash which reads from the head just before it goes into the radiator. The second gauge gets its reading from the bottom water line coming out of the radiator. When cruising this never reaches 40º - which is the lowest reading on the gauge.
Fans come on at 86º, they're pretty much on constantly once its up to temp but hold the temp fine - the Link gets this reading from the sensor on the back of the head.

During the burnouts I've done so far the water coming out of the radiator has got up to around 80º. At a guess the water at the back of the head (where the Link gets its temp from) has got up to 100 - 110º as that is when the lower rev limit cuts in (5000RPM).

So how hot is too hot? What is the maximum temp that could ideally go through the engine before doing some damage?

Cheers
-Matt

[QikStarlie]

wouldnt go much above 100. taking the reading from the ecu sensor.

bigger radiator, bigger fans, bigger burnouts!

[Akane]

It all depends on the pressure cap really, the main problem is having the fluids boiling. And we all have different boiling points, it all boils down to what pressure your rad cap is and what addictives you have in your coolant

[d1 mule]

^ so if i have good anti freeze/boil and see temps of between 100-110 while smashing around the track but its not boiling its all good??

from memory it said on the bottle the boiling point is about 137 degrees with a 50-50 mix water and antifreeze

[l1ttle_d3vil]

So are you saying its fine as long as it isn't boiling? Doesn't sound right, as from what I've read an average radiator won't boil until 130ºc + which seems a bit high. Haven't had mine boiling yet anyway.

Does rust count as a coolant additive? Are there any additives I can chuck in that would help keep the temps down?

Might connect the laptop next time so I can get a better idea on the temps going into the engine, or just put a 3000RPM limit on over 105ishº c. Don't really want to get stuck in the middle of a skid pad 4 hours from home with a cooked engine

[Akane]

Just because it says the boiling point is 137c doesn't mean you can ride your engine at 137c all day long. Things like tolerances with the pistons and head gaskets will blow.

What you've asked is when will a cooling system finally "give up", it gives up when the coolant starts to boil.

Or if you're asking what temps is "sweet" for coolant coming out the end of the head, that's like asking how long is a piece of string :S

The red end on most factory temp gauges are around 130c anyway, and from my personal experience, once you hit the solid red then your head will most likely be warped and head gasket will most likely to be blown.

[allencr]

The second gauge gets its reading from the bottom water line coming out of the radiator.
During the burnouts I've done so far the water coming out of the radiator has got up to around 80º.
So how hot is too hot?

The rad. outlet, bottom line, is where you'll find most if not all factory fan switches and IIRC, most turn the fan/s on between 75-85C.

[Brawler]

I have heard that some 4x4 guys run straight coolant, concentrated with no water, sounds great I really wanna try it oneday

[rollaholic]

eletric water pump might be worthwhile investment if you want to get serious about burnouts. coolant boiling = you are screwed, so like qikstarlie said try and keep it as close to 100 as possible. bigger rad might be a plan, particularly if you are still running a stocker

edit - there was a thread a few months back about coolant temps, sergei had some interesting points to make (doesnt he always). might be worth a search

[Bazda]

Dont do big burns outs.

[Dell'Orto]

I have heard that some 4x4 guys run straight coolant, concentrated with no water, sounds great I really wanna try it oneday

Its less effective with no water. Straight water is a very effective coolant, it just doesnt stop rust and obviously can freeze.

Bazda - you're doing it wrong

[tsoob]

Do do big burns outs.

[edwagon]

I have heard that some 4x4 guys run straight coolant, concentrated with no water, sounds great I really wanna try it oneday

Its less effective with no water. Straight water is a very effective coolant, it just doesnt stop rust and obviously can freeze.

Do not run straight coolant!
It will not cool the engine very well at all - has a much lower Specific Heat Capacity than water (cannot absorb as much heat and carry it away from the head)

Definitely need to have at LEAST 50% water - As there is no danger of my cooling system freezing in Auckland, I run whatever the weaker recommendation on the bottle is, ~30% ish from memory.
Basically just run enough coolant to stop the system from corroding

Now, just you wait until your uncle Steve shows up and lectures you about the perils of a blown head gasket

[sergei]

Got an electric fan? Put larger radiator + couple electric fans + electric water pump (I don't think water pump is a problem). It seems if the water is 80'C on the cold end of the radiator, the radiator and/or fans are insufficient.

[l1ttle_d3vil]

Dont do big burns outs.

But how else do I pop the tyres? Its fine when warming tyres up for drags, just not for sustained burnouts

I'm running a stock ST20DET radiator, from a Primera I think with the standard twin electric fans. Will most likely upgrade to a full alloy radiator eventually but in the mean time will try keep temps down around 100ºc.

[YeMs]

Do do big burns outs.

hehehe yems says DO BIG BURNOUTS. my 1jz ute temp gauge would go past the red when i was in tyre popping mode. my cressida would go into limp mode on the G3 and start blowing huge flames out the exhaust. my s13 would pop tyres before the gauge went into the red. And they all started the next day first pop, and did many more burnouts after.

I think with burnouts you have to expect to break something, that way, when its still running after the tyres blow you can drive off (well, hobble off) with smirk on you face.

However warm down, as long as you havent blown a coolant hose, run a hose over the radiator core. better still if you havnt quite popped tyres, drive down the road and cool the engine down.

If you switch the car off hot, the water pump stops. when the water flow stops, the coolant sitting in the block that isnt moving absorbs all heat from the block and boils, thus creating steam and excess pressure which is what does damage to gaskets/hoses/radiator etc.

better still, put a piece of black tape over the gauge

[holden_fan2005]

In my old 280zx I had a couple of fans pushing air through the radiator too. It ran a factory oil temp gauge so I didn't really bother too much about water temp.

The key would be a big radiator. The zeds take a big load of coolant in the cooling system.

Thrashed the living tits off the thing and that was before it was road legal. After the reg/wof I ended up driving to the skid comp and trashing the tits off it then driving it home.



So all in all. Have a good car, thrash the tits off it and hope she's sweet as after.

[l1ttle_d3vil]

Haha yeah, sounds good. It seems to have handled a good trashing so far. I've set my shift light to switch on at 105ºc anyway so I know exactly where its at. Hopefully everything holds together on the night, it'll be a long 400km tow back home if it doesn't

Hang on... its a Toyota, ofcourse it will!

[stolic]

there are a couple of additives around that may or may not help. But from My experience "water wetter"($20ish BNT) has worked quite well each time I've used it.
I changed my sh!thouse s14 visc fan for some electric fans with a digital gague/controller. Fans were set to turn on @ 78c and off @ 72c with an alarm @ 98c. I was shocked to see just how high the temp could go just from overtaking or driving up hills, up over 100c quickly and it would take a while to come back down. But adding a bottle of the bright pink stuff worked a treat. Temps now stay around 90c when getting raped and the fans can quickly get it back down to normal.
My car already had an aftermarket thermostat which opens at a lower temp (hence the lower fan settings) fitting one in your motor could help you get a little head start on heat soak in your cooling system leaving you more time to pop the bags

Either way, I expect big smoke @ NS

[l1ttle_d3vil]

Cheers stolic, will see if I can find some of that stuff. Different thermostat could be a good idea too so will look into that.

Should line the purple beasts up against each other, see who can make the most smoke. Haha, yeah right...