Hot Ride In a Sonic 7 - How to cool down?

[karatcrypto]

Hello everyone,

I have had my Sonic 7 for one and a half years and it drives great. My only issue is the amount of heat I get in the cabin once I have been driving for any more than thirty minutes. In the winter its not so bad but now in the summer it is too much. 

The radiator is blowing it straight into me. The radiator also has 2 fans which come on quite quickly after I start driving. 

There is an escape for the hot air but it comes straight over the "window" and down into the cab too. 

I have ordered some Evans Power Cool 180 Waterless Coolant which I am going to put in today. (It looks like it just has water/coolant at the moment),  but any other suggestions are welcome. 

I was thinking about getting more airflow which means making more holes but thought I would ask here first in case there is an easier solution. 

I have attached some pictures so you can see the car. 

Thanks. 

[wishful4444]

Good day Karatcry

I also have a Sonic which uses Evans Power Cool 180. It was used by the builder of the car from new. Are you aware that you need to use the Preparation fluid prior to filling with Power Cool?

I get heat into the cabin but so far it isn't a problem. I can't compare it with water coolant as It's never run with water.

I don't notice any heat coming in above the screen.

Perhaps find out where the heat is coming into the cabin (you will probably need a willing assistant to root around whilst you are driving) and seal gaps/holes.
I suppose you could put a grille/outlet on the bonnet panel to let heat out that way.

The photos are not displaying.

[daydreamer]

In my Sonic , it is hot in the cabin in summer,  in winter it is quite a blessing but in summer quite uncomfortable in traffic. On the move it is ok.

A good portion of hot air comes through the cabin , over the pedal box and over the bulkhead at the passenger footwell. Some hot air comes up through the water drain chute for the windscreen.

I have a front floor plate so no hot air escapes under the chassis.  if you don't have a front floor plate then I expect quite a lot goes under the chassis.   Some air comes out through the gaps for the wishbones,  I can see the grass waving about near these gaps when I am parked and the fans are running.

RE Fans running,  do they start within 60 seconds , even on a cold morning ?  If so and you are running donor ford ECU then  your cylinder head thermostat may have no power or no return earth.  You can diagnose this with an OBDII reader , if the head temp is -270 degrees then this is probably your issue.  I had the same issue on my first engine & loom build.

oh, and welcome to the form , it is good to see another Sonic.

[Stiggy]

The Sonic was designed with cooling in mind.Many don't realise that down each side of the car is a large duct for air. This starts just behind the front wheels then kicks in at the back just past the start of the engine bay. This will allow cool air to flow into the engine bay and cool the alloy pipes feeding the radiator in the process. See blue oval below
The radiator will send air out above the bonnet in an effort to create down force but this is not effective. Air flow can be reduced over the bonnet and directed out of side ducts with a little alloy sheet. See blue square below which needs cutting into the sides near the bulkhead.

[wishful4444]

Good day MEV ltd


"The radiator will send air out above the bonnet in an effort to create down force but this is not effective."
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Given that the bonnet completely covers the radiator and has no cut outs/grilles how is air sent out above the bonnet?

[skyquake]

There's a channel in the dashboard moulding, which allows air out from underneath the bonnet, over the top of the flyscreen.

[karatcrypto]

Thanks for the heads up on the flush, I didn't know that. I got it today so going to put it in an see how that works. Can anyone else see my photos? They are showing on my screen?

[wishful4444]

Thanks skyquake.

I was confused with "above the bonnet".

[buildityourself]

Looks like your photos are not public. Are they in a private album? 

[karatcrypto]

Jul 24, 2019 18:48:44 GMT buildityourself said:

Looks like your photos are not public. Are they in a private album? 

yes they were urls from a Google folder. I have tried uploading different pictures but they keep showing as thumbnails. I thought maybe they were too large so i resized them. I work on a pc all day but I can't work out how to get the full photos to show. 

Back to the MEV I have done the flush and added the 180 coolant so ill give it a run tomorrow and see if i'm any cooler. 

As I hope you can see from the picture i uploaded the radiator has two fans but there is nowhere really for the hot air to go except up over the flyscreen. It definitely gets in under the steering wheel too as that's where I really feel it. Anyway. Lets see how this Evans stuff gets on. 

Thanks for the help on that 

[wishful4444]

karat

I suggest you check all hoses/pipes/thermostat housing for any leaks. Evans coolant has less surface tension similar to anti freeze and more likely to leak than water.

Did you flush out much 'gunge' when you used the prep fluid?

Can see the photos now.

[skyquake]

Apologies if this is an unhelpful question, but why do we think that using waterless cooland aids with the original problem of hot air in the cabin?

The coolant system still has to dissipate the same amount of heat energy, regardless of whether the transfer medium is water or anything else.

IMO you would be better off looking at directing the radiator outflow away from the cabin as much as possible. Out through the cutouts for the suspension might be a possability, or as Stuart suggested, down the side ducts and out the back.

On my Sonic (Equilibrium), I have a fuel tank more or less immediately behind the radiator. I have been looking at options for directing the hot air away from the tank (as preheating of petrol isn't exactly ideal). Given the space constaints I was more of less expecting the split the air four ways. Up over the tank to the bonnet/windscreen vent, down each side duct/out the wishbone cutouts and out below the floor. In reality however, as I have no real idea of the airflow patterns at speed, it is very likely that the air will be directed wherever it gets pushed by the flow. Guess I'll have to drive it round the carpark with the girlfriend strapped to the bonnet with a can of smoke, and see where the flow is going!

[kiwicanfly]

I too was wondering how waterless coolant was going to help but as always discussion on one subject often leads to another -

Jul 25, 2019 18:27:45 GMT skyquake said:

Guess I'll have to drive it round the carpark with the girlfriend strapped to the bonnet with a can of smoke, and see where the flow is going!

Can you do that? Got to be cheaper than a wind tunnel session at MIRA for evaluating wings etc.

What about around a test track to check cornering air flow and high/low speed effectiveness?

Mind you you'd need a slim one or it may effect the results.


www.123rf.com/photo_43792034_beautiful-driver-sexy-girl-model-sitting-on-white-bonnet-of-luxury-car-.html

[wishful4444]

I will avoid all comment relating to female strapped to the bonnet, I'm sure it must infringe some law or regulation.
I doubt an excuse such as 'it's a mascot like the Rolls Royce Silver Lady officer' would suffice.

I agree waterless coolant is about heat dissipation and higher boiling point.

[buildityourself]

Did you manage to improve this? As you never updated.

Did you consider moving the radiator in front of the chassis, as the air has more options then. Thats where they go on the current Sonics.