Hello everyone,
It's been a little while, but development of our M60-equipped race car has resumed, and we've finally worked-out the oiling-system gremlins, managing to keep the car on track for a double race weekend over the memorial day holiday.
We have a Mishimoto E36 M3 radiator, and a smaller 12" electric pusher fan of unknown origin, that has been on the car for at least 10 years. The vehicle also has a stock thermostat. While it was clear/sunny, ambient temps probably didn't exceed about 70 degrees all weekend. The altitude at the track is about 2250 ft.
Equilibrium ECT during the races was about 210-212 degrees, and EOT stabilized at about 245 degrees. Engine oil temp is being measured coming out of the block, before the filter/cooler.
Coming off track, heat-soak at the scales, and maneuvering to our paddock location was problematic for the cooling system. I'm not sure if it was a runaway condition (I wouldn't leave the engine on that long), but ECT would incrementally rise at idle.
I would like to see ECT at 180-190 degrees on-track, and ideally, something very similar when putting around the paddock and waiting at the scales. One issue I see is the *evacuation* of dirty air after the radiator. The V8 presents quite a bit more frontal area to the radiator, and the engine maintains quite a bit of girth all the way to the firewall. If I place my hand in front of the radiator next to the fan, I can feel airflow back out through the front of the radiator.
Our plan is to upsize ye ole pusher fan (Garey, which one do you have?), and create side/bottom shrouding to prevent air spillage when the car is at speed. While that alone is probably enough to get temps under control, we're also going to upgrade to the Mishimoto Z3M radiator (PM me, if you want a screaming deal on a 1 year-old e36M3 Mishimoto rad). At some point, we'll likely add strategically located hood louvers, to aid in evacuation.
Is there a source for a lower temp T-stat for these engines?
-Bruce
It's been a little while, but development of our M60-equipped race car has resumed, and we've finally worked-out the oiling-system gremlins, managing to keep the car on track for a double race weekend over the memorial day holiday.
We have a Mishimoto E36 M3 radiator, and a smaller 12" electric pusher fan of unknown origin, that has been on the car for at least 10 years. The vehicle also has a stock thermostat. While it was clear/sunny, ambient temps probably didn't exceed about 70 degrees all weekend. The altitude at the track is about 2250 ft.
Equilibrium ECT during the races was about 210-212 degrees, and EOT stabilized at about 245 degrees. Engine oil temp is being measured coming out of the block, before the filter/cooler.
Coming off track, heat-soak at the scales, and maneuvering to our paddock location was problematic for the cooling system. I'm not sure if it was a runaway condition (I wouldn't leave the engine on that long), but ECT would incrementally rise at idle.
I would like to see ECT at 180-190 degrees on-track, and ideally, something very similar when putting around the paddock and waiting at the scales. One issue I see is the *evacuation* of dirty air after the radiator. The V8 presents quite a bit more frontal area to the radiator, and the engine maintains quite a bit of girth all the way to the firewall. If I place my hand in front of the radiator next to the fan, I can feel airflow back out through the front of the radiator.
Our plan is to upsize ye ole pusher fan (Garey, which one do you have?), and create side/bottom shrouding to prevent air spillage when the car is at speed. While that alone is probably enough to get temps under control, we're also going to upgrade to the Mishimoto Z3M radiator (PM me, if you want a screaming deal on a 1 year-old e36M3 Mishimoto rad). At some point, we'll likely add strategically located hood louvers, to aid in evacuation.
Is there a source for a lower temp T-stat for these engines?
-Bruce
Comment