I noticed that with BrianBrave's solution the IC gets the stock resevoir, and the radiator gets the newly installed (smaller) tank.

Needswings is now offering on their website a solution that separates as well. But with needswings the radiator gets the stock resevoir tank, and the IC looks like it is on its own (no resevoir).

My SRT is a daily driver, so I do sometimes get stuck in traffic, but I also push the car. Which one of these would be the better setup?
I know the idea with the needswings style is to merely separate the IC and prevent the heat sink, but is the IC's fluid getting cooled enough?
And with Brian's is the radiator running too hot for daily use?

Thanks in advance,
Steve

 

if you are running a supercooler as i am there shouldnt be any issues. i separated mine the same way as needswings but just plugged the hoses instead of valves. no resovoir for my supercooler. i havent had any issues with i/c heatsoak . i have noticed a slight increase in engine temps,(around 10 degrees C.). jake at eurocharged si hunting a lower tstat for me . 180 degree tstat should lower to where i want it.

 

I've heard this assertion before, but I don't see how a lower thermostat will make any difference in most locales except in the winter time. Assuming the t-stat is wide open (as it normally is in the hot summer months), it doesn't matter if it opens earlier at a lower temperature or not...the engine is going to run at the temperature the cooling system can achieve whenever the t-stat stays wide open, regardless. If it's running over 180, a 180 t-stat or a 160 t-stat or no t-stat are all the same. The thermostat is to regulate the cooling system's water temperature to ensure that it isn't too cold, not that it's not too hot.

With the supercooler, the engine will run hotter because you've robbed some of the cooling capacity of the cooling system by placing the supercooler in front of the condensor and radiator. You would do better to go to a bigger or more powerful fan IMO (or you could just turn off the AC for that matter, but who's gonna opt for that...).

The reason you can potentially get away without a reservoir on the charge air cooling system is that once you add the supercooler and separate it from the engine cooling system, it may never get hot enough to require much expansion surge; the rubber hoses take up the minimal expansion without overpressurizing the system. Probably fine for a daily driver, but I question whether you might still need some extra surge if you're racing the car or running it really hard in hot weather. With this in mind (and being in southwest FL) I opted for BrianBrave's extra tank.

 

When I developed the super cooler I noticed that the expansion of the water did not require a spit tank as the temperature change did not warrent it. I autocross and last summer it was just fine, this year it is not as hot as usual.

The super cooler lets plenty of air thru and does not cause me any issue with the exception of no more severe BAS/ESp codes and engine shut downs due to inlet air temp spikes during a run. Thats a good thing. Just found a photo to let you see the stat I made and super cooler.

BTW the engine will run cooler than the factory stat if the radiator and fan can reject the heat, and that is true with the C up to my max ambient so far of 93 degrees F. My stat I made is 180 degrees, by Stant. Enjoy Woody

 

If you do a lower thermostat and reprogram the cooling fans the cars run cooler. My car never see's higher then 180-185 engine temp, with cooler engine temps there is less heat transfer into the intercooler fluid if you keep the same resevoir. If your splitting the tanks then I don't think it is as important, but if you run the supercooler I don't think it is a good idea to raise engine temps up another 8-10* degrees. If you go that route I would lower the engine operating temps. There are several different ways to go, I still run the LET cooler because I don't like the idea of blocking the radiator and A/C condensor, and because we get stuck in traffic alot I figured may as well cool off the whole system. My A/C runs ice cold in bumper to bumper traffic.

 

hi woody. jake at eurocharged said he would hunt for a 180 tstat for me but havent heard any reply. i dont think i want to attack modding 1 any idea were i can find 1?

ckovach its always been my experience that if the tstat is lower say 180 from 195 the engine runs cooler because under 195 the tstat closes back down to raise the heat in the engine. by going to a 180 tstat it opens sooner and having the fan set to run 10 degrees cooler i hope to run the car yr round at 1800 degrees

 

^ PTE sells thermostats. they just made a post on mbworld in a new cooling thread.

 

thanx . i caught that thread and emailed pte. hopefully i will hear something this week

 

the separation can be done either way, both work. we designed a bolt-on kit so no one would need to cut any stock hoses or need the unneeded expense, weight or engine bay space of an overflow. if you ever wanted to combine the systems back to oem config you can do so in about 20 seconds

 

I used a brianbrave setup and have no issues with engine coolant overheating. Mine is a dialy driver.

 

I bought and installed the Needswings seperation kit over the weekend. I was a bit of a bull because I broke off the top nipple of the overflow tank trying to take off the hose. I also broke the two prongs on the sensor, on the bottom of overflow tank. I took it out for a good run cycle and temps where great (83-85F) but S/C wouldn't engage when I kicked it down on the highway, after it had warmed up for awhile. Either the sensor being broken cause the S/C to take it easy or I need a new pump finally. I was going to get the pump at the time I upgrade to a better E/H. I will try and solder the prongs together and see if that helps but I don't have any warning lights, and people have changed out there overflow tanks so I am assuming the sensor does nothing more than provide a coolant level reading.

Has anyone replaced their overflow tank and sensor? $$$?

I was thinking as I write this that maybe I have just had an air bubble that is causing me problems. I will continue to run with the valves open to see if it alleviates itself. Replies welcome

 

Well I have run a few good hot cycles through the system. I checked the #13 fuse which was fine, and wired the pump to come on with the key. Turned key on and nothing, so it is definitely the pump. It is just a crazy coincidence that the pump goes out during the install of seperation tubes. Maybe some coolant leaked onto it and shorted it out. Now I have to wait on a pump to arrive to get my S/C back on track. It kicks on just long enough to heat up and kicks off.

 

did you use the factory plug on the new pump? when i wired mine and pushed the connections together i missed 1 of the very thin prongs. upon inspection i straightened it and reinserted the plug and the pump ran without issue.
im not sure about wiring the pump for full on. as woody said in the past just rev the motor and the pump will engage and stay engaged until the engine is shut off. the full on only helps with cooldowns at the track while the engine is off. maybe a wiring issue there?

 

Definitely check the pins in the plug. I did the same thing (bent the pins).

 

"Well I have run a few good hot cycles through the system. I checked the #13 fuse which was fine, and wired the pump to come on with the key. Turned key on and nothing, so it is definitely the pump. It is just a crazy coincidence that the pump goes out during the install of seperation tubes. Maybe some coolant leaked onto it and shorted it out. Now I have to wait on a pump to arrive to get my S/C back on track. It kicks on just long enough to heat up and kicks off.
"

we usually put 30-40 miles on the cars before closing the isolation valves (one good heat cycle will do it). with the issue your having now you might as well open them both back up for the time being as you may get a little flow that way. check power to the pump, if good power and no start then ya know what to replace.

you never touched the IC pump durring the installation of the isolation kit correct? and you did fill the overlfow talk back up after install i assume so the pump shouldnt have been affected by the install.

let me knwo what you find and ill help where i can

 

this is text book IC pump failure. comes on, heats up, turns off. time to get a johnson (pump that is).

so another question then. Is there any benefit/risk of performing a coolant separation without a larger HE? I mean will the IC coolant get just as hot and/or have overflow issues?

 

F.Y.I. Asked Rob yesterday if i could install the isolation kit with the existing
let H/E i'm now running, he said no problem. I can't tell you if the isolation kit will work with the oem H/E, maybe some one on the forum can answer that.
good luck with your cooling mods. ILLCYA

 

I have the OEM H/E and installed Robs isolation kit 2 weeks ago. No problems.

 

I couldn't find the thread. Can someone post it up?

Thanks.

 

Just to clarify. I have not installed a new pump (yet). I was installing the seperation tubes from Needswings, on stock wetup, and thought I had an air bubble issue. I had put over 100 miles on one hot cycle and a couple 20-30 mile cycles on the setup, and was still getting the s/c disengaging on me. Sooo I wired the pump to come on with the key to see if it was running, but was dormant. I have ordered a bosch lightning pump, for I do not have an aftermarket I/C (yet). Unless the connectors have come loose or been damaged on the stock pump, it has just come to the end of its life. I have right at 30,000 miles on the car so I guess it is right on par. I will update when new pump comes in. I plan to put the LET intercooler on at some point, for I don't want to totally block the radiator, and I will not be running at the track (more than a few times). thanks for everyones help.