i really would like to know if the people with the mesh grill are seeing these gains? i mean it essentially opens the entire grill up

 

Here in Arizona, you don't need anti-freeze because your pipes won't freeze, but you need anti-corrosion protectant, so you need a little anti-freeze.

I'm not familiar with the Crossfire's coolant type yet, haven't researched it... But for my mustang, I ran 55% water, 2 bottles of Hyperlube additive, and the rest anti-freeze. I went from 210 degree operating to 188, which is only 8 degrees above the thermo rating. Of course having more water helped, but the additives are the most important.

I did a lot of research about additives and metal types, and the hyperlube was the best when it came to aluminum protection. Water wetter was one of the worst, but its not like it would damage anything, I just wouldnt rely on it too heavily vs the anti-freeze also put in with it.

A downside is my first attempt ended me up with some gross brown tint to my coolant because I was working with the stock coolant and mixing with that. It was clear I had to do a few changes to start over again.

What am I getting at? Yes additives work, you just need to pick the right one, and a good water/anti-freeze % for your geographic area. You need about 35% anti-freeze to protect against corrosion, and even less if you use a good additive that helps with cooling AND with protection. This allows more water to be used.

I'll be looking into this soonish.... Coolant is a big deal to me, that stuff touches every important part of the engine bay.

 

I just did this last night. There's another thread about this exact same thing, the guy that runs the turbo PT Cruiser I think. But he only cut the fins near the intakes. I took it a little further and did all of them. I used a dremel with a cutting wheel, didn't radius the edges though. Hope it holds up. Today I was driving around Philly (RTs 422, 1, 30, & I-76) and usually the dummy gauge is pegged right at the middle mark (4th from the top) when the car is sufficiently warmed up. Today I noticed that with driving it does get lower. Cruising on I-76W @ 60 mph, the needle got to the 3rd from the bottom mark. Without a scan tool, I don't know what temperatures this is but it does work.

Ambient temp when I started driving was 74 degrees and when I came back is was around 83-85 degrees. I did notice that it took longer to warm up though. All you northerners take that into consideration.

I don't think I ever use the horn, so I was contemplating driving "Grille-less" but decided to put the grille back on seeing as how I was already in front of the car when this thought occured to me.

Justin

 

i really would like to know if the people with the mesh grill are seeing these gains? i mean it essentially opens the entire grill up

 

Reducing temps this far is not a good thing. 188 is too cold for efficency in a modern engine. Corrosive by-products don't get completly burned off and various engine components don't get to the temps needed to provide design clearance specs. While cold dense intake air is benificial in regards to combustion, running an engine designed to run at 210 degrees or more at 188 is not a good thing. ( A 50% mix of water and antifreeze will maintain temps better than a reducing the amount of antifreeze in the mix.) Running too cold will build sludge and carbon deposits. I don't mean to make light of some suggestions here but having spent 38 years in the automobile manufacturing business I can assure you there are engineering reasons behind what's done in the construction of an automobile. There's nothing wrong with the suggestion of opening the grill area which was orginally suggested here but I sense the feeling of a need to take it farther to the point it's actualy detrimental.

Bruce

 

I respectfully disagree running at around 180 is not going to harm your motor in any way, Yes your motor may not be as emissions friendly, but harmful... I have run many motors in the 160-180 range and never experienced what your describing.

 

Please note the factory 87 degree C stat is 188.6 degrees F, thats the opening temp.

The computer in cool weather will throw a code with a 170 stat due to low temps.

The reason for additional cooling aids is for HIGH OUTPUT DEMAND SITUATIONS. It is beneficial when driven at full power like on a track or road course, and not the average person. This is to keep the IAT down to reduce the likelyhood of timing being retarded.

I can tell you that the stock fan probably never goes to full speed in regular driving.

Bee cool, Woody

 

I understand most of these posts are aimed at high performance driving. I just took note of one post that sounded like every day operating temps were better kept lower than engine design perimeters. A thermostat marked 180 degrees doesn't mean that's the temp the engine will run at. That's the crack point for the thermostat to start opening. The engine temp runs about 20 degrees hotter than what's marked. Guess I didn't mean to sound so negative, I just wanted to point out that too cold isn't a good thing. I'm new to the Crossfire and this forum and I'm really impressed with what I've seen here.

Bruce

 

You don't happen to have a block heater in your car, Bruce? j/k

 

Four brand new Crossfire’s pull up to a bar on a hot summer afternoon at the exact same time. They were purchased that morning from the same car dealer at the same time. They then drove two hours to the bar using the exact same route at the exact same speed.

The only difference was; prior to selling the Crossfire's - the dealer modified only one part:

One Crossfire had a 170 Deg Thermostat
One Crossfire had a 180 Deg Thermostat
One Crossfire had a 190 Deg Thermostat
One Crossfire and its thermostat removed.

If the coolant temperature off all four Crossfire's was taken at the exact same time that they pulled up to bar, and the coolant temperature of the Crossfire that had it's thermostat removed was 230 Deg F

What was the coolant temperature of the other three Crossfires? (+ / -)

 

WOODY I'LL SAY THIS AGAIN, YOU CONTINUE TO AMAZE ME. THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR RESEARCH. BETWEEN YOU, BRIAN,240 AND STEVE MY TO Do LIST IS GETTING OUT OF HAND. THANKS AGAIN. ILLCYA

 

Hey Waldig, do you think hooking the IC pump and radiator fan to a switch would yield any significant advantages in cooling the entire cooling system between track runs?

 

Bluemdsrt, running the pump is no good without the fan being on. Once you start the car and bipp the throttle once over about 1500 revs, the pump is going to be on until you shut off. The S/C will also start then but shuts off if you go out of gear or roll to a stop.

Both together will assist in cooling the intake air and the plumbing a bit. THe fan would assist the cooling the most and with a cooler stat the block would be cooled significantly (from the earlier runs). I have been working to get better data and on my next autocross session I will be running 3 temperature measuring monitors with a camera to record the event. This will allow me to get real time data on the H/E water in, H/E water out, and the manifold inlet air temperature during the runs. Thats at the end of the month, info to follow.

Brian I guess thats a joke that no one answered, yet? I know that the ECU will control the temperature by the computer disregarding the stat or the lack of its presence. It the ambient is cool, the ecu will not be able to hold up the temp as the main fan can only slow to a stop to try and increase the temp to the desired level. In my set up I have instrumented the radiator to see the water temp in these conditions, which is how I reinvented the same old idea about altering the grill structure to allow more air into the radiators.

Woody enjoy

 

so what are the other three crossfires running????

 

Brian the other 3 would still be 230 =). Damn temp ****'s with thier computer controlled fan voltage.

 

Great post again the simple things can make a big difference sometimes.