Zardilla Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 As the topic indicates, I'm curious as to fellow RB z'ers experience with water temps while tracking their cars. I'm running a 16" generic electric fan without a shroud and the day I blew my engine up (unrelated - low oil issues) my temps were staying pretty consistently in the 195 degree range. As I'm finally getting my car back together I've considered running a mechanical fan to provide more CFM, but fabricating a shround for this would be a challenge and I'm not sure how much additional benefit I will gain. I can get a nice shroud for the existing 16" fan or go with dual 11" spals, not sure if this will give much extra either. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z-ya Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 What radiator are you running? What do you estimate your WHP to be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iBang Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 My 240sx has a griffin R33 skyline rad and a pair of generic 10-12" e-fans and it stays cool pretty well. I haven't really ducted any air but it stays under 100c without any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan5138 Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Honestly an aluminum radiator with an unshrouded 16" electric would probably cool great. If its still running a bit on the hot side, put in a thermostat with a lower opening temp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonycharger72 Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 My experience with an electric fan and an RB was not good !!! I initially ran an RB30 N/A in my Z with the stock 1974 Z Radiator (the smaller one) and it was fine, never overheated, Then I slapped a turbo on the side of the RB and the problems began!!! I started with the intercooler right in front of the radiator, even at speed the car wanted to bake, so I moved the intercooler down and out of the way, that helped a little, but still the engine wasn't really keeping cool! Then I installed a 16" Spal to replace the 16" EBAY fan - it was rated at 2200cfm (I know the EBAY ones say more, but they are full of sh#t ), it helped quite a bit, but still not right, I then installed a Radiator from a 1999-2002 Holden Rodeo, big single 35mm alluminium core and plastic bottom/top tanks and that basically did the trick.....................until I got stuck in traffic! On a side note - this radiator fits between the chassis rails and costs about $200AUD, its designed for 4x4 Rodeo with the V6 in it, so a reasonably cheap option for Aussie's wanting to upgrade their radiator! It is about 640mm wide and about 500mm tall (with tanks) from memory, you have to make up mounting brackets that are bolted/welded to the radiator support - but the bottom pipe works perfectly with the stock RB30 radiator hose, which was handy !!! http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HOLDEN-RODEO-TF-PETROL-99-02-AUTO-NEW-RADIATOR-CR1990A_W0QQitemZ270236787938QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Car_Parts_Accessories I live in Australia, and it sure gets hot here, so maybe my experience will be different to you guys, however I have mates who have had similar issues with their Z's in OZ and ended up running electric water pumps to solve their cooling issues - this option works a treat apparently, I never did this because electric water pumps and their electronic controllers are sure expensive and I took my car of the road and started pulling it to pieces !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zardilla Posted February 12, 2009 Author Share Posted February 12, 2009 I'm currently running the PRC (double pass) rad that others on the RB board are. I've had the engine rebuilt and targeting 400rwhp (not heroic), however as I want to do more track days the cooling system needs to be rock solid. My mechanic thinks the electric fan set up will be insufficient and that a mechanical fan will be better. As I said previously, my experience was that the 16" fan did reasonably well, but I'm still looking to hear others experience when putting an RB through extended duty. BTW - I'll be running a setrab oil cooler as well. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zmanco Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 The fan is mainly to move air over the radiator when stopped or at low speeds (creeping in traffic, parking lots, etc). At any reasonable track speed the movement of the car through the air is the main source of airflow over the radiator and the size of the fan at that point has little impact on cooling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayolives Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 After chasing cooling issues for some time, I switched from the CSR electric pump to a manual one and have seen NO difference in cooling. I do have less drain on my charging system which is powered by a small Powermaster alternator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zardilla Posted February 13, 2009 Author Share Posted February 13, 2009 Thanks for the comments guys. I'm going to get a shroud and see how things turn out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z24O Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 other than traffic standstill situations the best way to cool things down is to look at airflow air will take the path of least resistance so if there are gaps around your radiator eg between bonnet/hood and rad support panel,vent holes either side,radiator not sitting hard up against the support panel all the way around,etc then the air is not going through the rad to transfer the heat away (especially thick cores which increase air resistance look at sealing the gaps,adding ducting from the front of the car outside the grille area as mentioned an oil cooler is good....as long as it isn't in front of the rad as this defeats the purpose,ditto for intercooler but this is usually a bit tricky to relocate let us know how it goes paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Rowe Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 I havent got mine running yet but not far off, and I am concerned about the cooling. I have a specially fabricated ali radiator which I think will be good, but of course I have to load up several other components that will physically block the airflow to the radiator. ie From the front back - oil cooler, then intercooler, then 10 inch fan for aircond condensor, then aircond condensor, then radiator, then 2 12inch pull fans for the radiator. One of my mates has suggested leaving the aircond condensor fan off, however I am concerned that this will make the aircond pressures go up when standing idling, however do you think the radiator fans will pull enough air through the condensor to manage this? Also he reckons 1 16 inch will be better than 2 12's as each motor blocks off airflow? Complicated eh - any feedback? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zedman240 Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 On my setup I'm using an alloy radiator with a single 12" fan and as said before, when you are racing, the fan does nothing. As Z240 said, it is wise to block any way for air to escape from around the radiator so it has to go through it. I had a gap between the radiator and rad support panel; shoved some dense foam and that helped a bit. When I'm racing, temp sits just under 3/4 which is a touch to warm for me. I'd prefer two smaller fans for traffic and good ducting for racing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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