Sick of overheating! rad/ther/fan ?'s

[stinkydriverx]

Hey guys,
Ill try and keep this short,
I think I blew my head gasket on the freeway (happened a long time ago).
Im not very good at diagnosing.
But there is white smoke coming out of the number one cylinder right where the head meet the block. So I don't think im too far off on the diagnosis.
Anyways, I have been driving it due to the fact that I have no choice. On the few occasions im in traffic it obviously overheats. I have even drifted it a few times.
Now that I have the money to fix it, Im looking to do It once.
So other than the obvious headgsket, which my bmw tech friend will be doing. Im Going to revamp the cooling system, as this is going to be primarily a track/drift car now that I have a daily. Whatever thermostat was in there before always kep my temp at a quarter. I would like it to be at the proper operating tempterature, and I want it to stay there while its being driven hard.
So here are my questions...

Should I get the factory 80 degree thermostat?


Is it worth 200+ dollars to go to an aluminum radatior????

AS far as spal/electric fans go, Should I go with a push or pull fan? What size shold I go with?
Sorry for the long post, Im just confused.

[Sagaris]

Sticky thermostats are a common thing (as to why your car wasnt getting fully warm) I would stay with the OEM temp. thermostat and an Aluminum radiator would be a nice addition moreso for the weight savings up front.

Thats all I have to add.

[e30trooper]

Ben Twin!
id say run without a thermostat if you are going to track it , but on the freeway you will run to cold and we all know that = rich.

[jlevie]

The choice of thermostat (75 or 80C) will make little to no difference in engine temperature when the car is driven on the track. There the effectiveness of the radiator is what matters. A radiator with more core depth will be more effective than the stock radiator, but we don't see cooling system issues in Spec E30 race cars when using the OE radiator.

A 16" pusher fan and shrouding is more effective than a puller fan and if you use a thicker radiator you have to use a puller fan dues to lack of room between the radiator and engine. As to fan rating, an 1800CFM fan is the smallest I recommend for an E30. A 2300CFM fan is the best choice and is able to keep the engine temp reasonable when the car is brought to a stop from a hard run, like in a red flag situation. That would also be my recommendation if the car is used for Autox or drifting.

Running the engine with no thermostat messes up the coolant flow and can cause overheats.

[bimm3r82]

I did a little write up of the fan install and a cooling system revamp i guess.. not having the ac and the fan clutch rotating on the engine was a big diff imo.. here's the link towards the bottom of the page.. Since im here in wisco i made a shroud for the front of the rad to cover it up cause the bitter winter is to much.. doubt you will need that though..

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=119794&page=2

[stinkydriverx]

Instead of having the fan automatically come on through the water temp sensor, I would rather control that with a 3 way toggle switch or something along those lines. So I would jut need to ground the fan, find power, and wire that into the switch right? It shouldnt be that difficult. So one 16" pusher fan is enough to cool it down?

Part of me thinks that there is no need to spend almost 300 on afermarket cooling stuff. A properly working stock cooling sytem should keep it cold. The problem with drifting at the track I go to.... Its a 2nd gear track, so you never get going fast enouh to properly cool. Then you have to sit in line again until you can go for another run. So im thinking I might save the money spent on the aluminum rad, and get a good fan setup... Something that flows over 2000cfm.

thanks for all the help guys!

[jlevie]

The best solution, which is easy with an SPAL relay kit, it to control the fan automatically with a 82-83C thermo switch in the radiator and also have a cabin mounted over ride switch. The switch alone will work, but the thermo switch is a good safety if you forget to turn on the fan and the engine starts to run hot. While a switch alone will work with low power fans, I'll always use a relay for anything more powerful than 1200cfm. The current draw of the larger fans is really more than a switch wants to see.

For drifting or Autox, you want the highest rated 16" fan you can get your hands on since those are all low speed high events. In an SPAL that works out to 2300-2400cfm.