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Post by motorhead on Jul 22, 2011 16:18:17 GMT
Hi All. Am running a 2 litre zetec in our finished Rocket and have done a couple of trackdays at Outlon Park. However, it seems that whatever we do, the car gets very hot. Has anyone else experienced any overheating problems and what have been your solutions?
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Post by Tim Kerr on Jul 22, 2011 17:37:00 GMT
Yes! Loads! Will reply in full tomorrow as i am on my phone but have a look at some if my past posts. I have got a bigger rad and running a Davis Craig electric pump. Have also changed my pipe work so have a look at the diagram I posted.
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Post by motorhead on Jul 25, 2011 9:20:21 GMT
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Post by motorhead on Jul 25, 2011 9:34:13 GMT
Originally the car overheated in about half a lap. After this work, it takes about 3 laps, but driving a slower cooling down lap, the temp comes down again in about half a lap, so it seems the rad is a bit marginal on track. We have also fitted some very technical "bits of string" www.quote-4.me.uk/images/mev/smaller/2011-07-25 10.31.07.jpg[/img] The bits towards the front of the car don't move at all, with the fan on or at high road speeds, and I've also noticed when stationary, sometimes you can feel warm air on your legs coming over the bulkhead, so I'm concerned there isn't enough flow on the back side of the rad now. Will fitting a bigger custom rad help, or are we going to have to sort the airflow first do you think??
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mightylad
Senior
.....Mighty MEV Rocket.....
Posts: 559
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Post by mightylad on Jul 25, 2011 11:54:11 GMT
Hi,
Were you having the cooling problems before you fitted the floor?? I have the 1.8 with a 1.6 rad but the front underside is completely open.. it is plumbed up as-per Nigel's diagram in the tech section... and seems to run with no cooling problems at all..
How have you connected it all up?
(this thread should probably be in the tech section!)
Ol
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Post by motorhead on Jul 25, 2011 13:20:21 GMT
We didn't have any cooling problems 'till we hit the track. It was fine on the road as designed, but track use is a lot harder on the car. Putting the plate on the bottom certainly helped a lot. If you're not on track yet, I really wouldn't worry.
BTW, you're not far from us, or Outlon Park. If you decide to go to a track day let us know, might see you there!
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mightylad
Senior
.....Mighty MEV Rocket.....
Posts: 559
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Post by mightylad on Jul 25, 2011 16:14:34 GMT
Ahh ok... i must admit to not having had time to get to Oulton park yet - but i have some time at the end of the month so i might look at booking something (weather permitting!) other than that the amm was my first track outing in the Rocket
Ol
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Post by motorhead on Jul 26, 2011 8:44:22 GMT
We'll be going again probably end of August. We have another issue with mapping etc. but we don't need advice on that so much as we know what we need to do. We're awaiting a new exhaust system from JP's in Macc, as the current standard focus one is very restrictive. We should also be getting our wings from RTR today :-)
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Post by Tim Kerr on Jul 26, 2011 15:23:02 GMT
Not sure if you read my thread in the technical section www.mevowners.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=cooling&action=display&thread=976 I also have a floor fitted the full length of the car but did fit a mesh grill just in front of the rad. With the Davis Craig pump i have not had any cooling issues at all on the road. Still doing my run in miles before getting out on track but am confident that this will have sorted it. Any more info just let me know. Tim
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Post by motorhead on Jul 26, 2011 16:22:40 GMT
I did read your thread. I think we'll try the custom made rad like yourself, and we already have the full floor too. As for the electric pump, we'll leave that for now. Here's hoping the bigger rad will suffice.
Let us know how you get on, on track
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Post by andychalmers on Aug 4, 2011 15:02:14 GMT
I am a rally boy as well as building a Rocket. I cannot comment on my rocket yet but may be able to help. I run a super 1400 rally car, 170bhp and had a custom rad made and was told it would be good enough for 500 bhp, wrong. Since my car revs to 9000rpm it produces alot of heat. I have to run basically a larger cosworth alloy rad to cope with it. A few tips, alloy rads are alot better than the black painted rads. Some cheap standard rads are alloy which could be fine. The std Focus 1.6 rad is quite large however its very thin so does not hold much water. You need to maxise the airflow before you decide on a new rad. No point in a large rad if no air is passing through it. In my oppinion the front mesh on your nose is too restrictive, I would totally remove and note the difference. I would seal arround your rad with the likes of mud flap material or card as a temp measure, so all passing air will flow through the rad, otherwise good air is wasted going round it. Possibly put a bonnet scoop style device under your front end to direct air into the rad. You will also need a air exit point behind the rad, so the floor piece should be open or use bonnet vents to suck the hot air out. Try this and see how you get on.
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Post by andychalmers on Aug 4, 2011 15:07:00 GMT
Also pull fans seem better than push fans, mount fans on the back of the rad to increase air flow.
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Post by s t o n i c on Aug 4, 2011 21:34:40 GMT
I'm curious about what temperatures the cars are running at? Thermostat not fully open until 98 so would 105 be considered too hot?
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Post by nigel on Aug 5, 2011 6:28:15 GMT
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Post by motorhead on Aug 5, 2011 12:06:42 GMT
andychalmers. We have tried all this. We had some spare aluminium sheet from when we were a bit paranoid about noice levels before attending our first trackday. We were advised no refunds if it failed you see, But I think you're bang on the money about getting the air out again. You can just about see on pic 2 we boxed in the sides, although the sheet is covered with grey noise reduction foam from a hifi shop. We filled in the floor underneath, removed the grill completely for the track, it's only in there now for the road and is loose. We're going to knock something up so it can be put in, fixed and taken out again at will. We also, bent the front of the new flooring down to "scoop" more air in, although we found that was scraping the floor a lot under braking so we put ti back again. We've definitely got as much air going in the front as possible, but testing with the string showed ist wasn't really coming out again. Also, your shins get warm as the air comes over the top of the bulkhead, and there isn't much room for flow there. We looked at custom rads, and the quotes we had were both circa £400, but at least a 3 week wait, and there isn't much of the summer left now. Besides, we're also a bit worried about stones going thru a rad worth £400. SO... We have bought a brand new focus rad, same as the one in the car, just to make sure, (we'll keep the old as a spare to get us back home, if the new one gets holed on track). Plus, if it does get holed, it was only £50 as appose to £400, and we have also bought a new 14" kenlowe HiPo fan from burton power, with added "jetboost" so this should get us more throughput than the standard fan. Following this, we are also going to put some large holes in the bulkhead to help the hot air get out again and remove the grille on the "bonnet" vent, as removing the one at the front certainly helped, and then put some sort of lip at the front of the bonnet vent to try and create a low pressure area above it. We'll follow your advice and put the fan on the back of the rad to pull the air through. Regarding temperatures, our fan kicks in at 80'C, and the thermostat we have opens at a temperature significantly lower than boiling, (we cooked it in a pan of water to check it, the old thermostat didn't open as far as the new one, but that was 80 something too). 98' does seem too high to me, and so does a running temp of 105? When we've seen temperatures approaching that, the cap on the coolant filler tank at the back dumps coolant all over the engine bay. On the road it generally stays at about 80 something
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