LT5 Cooling and Radiators

[GOLDCYLON]

Good timing Cliff. On the way home the outside temp on I-17 was 122 on the outside thermometer in Phoenix Yesterday.

[Dynomite]

Originally Posted by GOLDCYLON

Good timing Cliff. On the way home the outside temp on I-17 was 122 on the outside thermometer in Phoenix Yesterday.

It might get up to 115 deg here in Central Valley in July/Aug....I will do another test then. If ambient is 122 deg F.....ALL bets are off on a Stock Radiator keeping the LT5 cool in stop and go traffic with AC ON. Even with AC OFF it might be wishfull thinking with a stock radiator.

I think the Ron Davis would handle it given how fast the Coolant Temperatures dropped when the fans came on at 205 deg F Coolant Temperatures during an idling test with AC FULL On in 100 deg F ambient.

I will watch for a HOT day in the Central Valley or take the ZR1 down to ZFdoc in Cave Creek, AZ on a HOT day to pick up my rebuilt ZF S6-40 Transmisison

[GOLDCYLON]

Originally Posted by GOLDCYLON

Good timing Cliff. On the way home the outside temp on I-17 was 122 on the outside thermometer in Phoenix Yesterday.

And 123 yesterday. But the proof is in the pudding. No need to heat up the tires boyz.

[Dynomite]

What does that mean "no need to heat up the tires"?
What I want to see is actual Coolant Temperatures idling for 10 minutes with AC Full ON.....

Push and hold two buttons each side of Fan Speed Control until you get -00......
then push right Fan Button until you get to - 16.....
then push Fan Speed Control Button......
Show me the actually coolant temperature with Fans Full On (10) idling for 10 minutes in 100 deg F or greater deg F......
That would be interesting in 123 deg F ambient with Spal Fans and Dewitt Radiator

Do It......I Dare You

I did it yesterday in 100 deg F on Black Pavement in the sun.....idling for 15 minutes after a 20 mile cruise in both a 1990 and 1991 ZR1.
Got coolant temperature of 213 deg F stabilized after 15 minutes idling with AC FUll On (fans at speed 10). This with Ron Davis Radiator and Stock Fans with Haibeck Chip.
That is hard to beat

Originally Posted by GOLDCYLON

And 123 yesterday. But the proof is in the pudding. No need to heat up the tires boyz.

[GOLDCYLON]

Originally Posted by Dynomite

What does that mean "no need to heat up the tires"?
What I want to see is actual Coolant Temperatures idling for 10 minutes with AC Full ON.....

Push and hold two buttons each side of Fan Speed Control until you get 00:00......
then push right Fan Button until you get to 16.....
then push Fan Speed Control Button......
Show me the actually coolant temperature with Fans Full On (10) idling for 10 minutes......
That would be interesting in 123 deg F ambient with Spal Fans and Dewitt Radiator

Do It......I Dare You

Car would prob melt like the tires lol. Keep in mind that outside temp is nebulus as the sensor is just below the radiator but it is a TRUE indication of the heat coming up (radiating) from the Freeway tarmac in Phoenix. The acutal temp is really 116. However that is the heat our bottom air feeding Zs are truely subjected too. The hotest I ever saw that outside sensor reading is 131. Also why GM had a proving grounds out here

[Billy Mild]

Anyone using water wetter?

[Dynomite]

Originally Posted by Billy Mild

Anyone using water wetter?

Hib Halverson for one uses Red Line water wetter........

Use of Red Line Water Wetter

[Hib Halverson]

Originally Posted by Dynomite

Hib Halverson for one uses Red Line water wetter........

Use of Red Line Water Wetter

These days, I use either of two coolant additives, either Gibbs Driven CSP or Red Line Water Wetter.

At one time, I advocated solely Red Line's product but Red Line Oil has been sold twice–first, in 8/13, to Spectrum Corporation which was part of Dominus Capital's holdings and, then, secondly, in 6/14 when Dominus Capital sold Spectrum to Conoco/Phillips.

Since these sales, Red Line has already altered the formulation of Complete Fuel System Cleaner. It once treated 120 gallons of gas. Now it treats only 20 gallons, but the price is unchanged. Clearly, this is a move by Red Line's current management to increase profit on that product and do it in a way which customers will not realize unless they read the small print on the container. The reason I'm testing Driven CSP is in case Red Line decides to dilute the formulation of Water Wetter.

In fact, CSP may be a better product than the current Water Wetter because, while RLWW and CSP have a similar effect on cooling systems, CSP's formulation is said by Joe Gibbs Racing to more tolerant of hard water than the "leading brand" which, right now, is Red Line Water Wetter. That feature of the CSP formulation makes more tolerant of mixing with tap water in places where water has a high mineral content.

My current coolant mix in my LT5 is 100% distilled water with 1.5 bottles of RLWW. The next time I change the coolant, I'm going to swtich to 100% tap water and a bottle of Gibbs CSP.

As for the rest of my '95'd cooling configuration, I am still using the same Fluidyne radiator I installed in 1998 during the period of time that the late Jim Van Dorn and I developed that radiator for Fluidyne. The nice thing about the Fluidyne is that it was truly a "drop-in" fit. You simply removed the stock radiator and put the Fludyne in its place. No other changes were required. The Fluidyne's tube count and configuration along with the way the radiator was manufactured offered a noticable improvement in cooling performance. Unfortunatley, the Fluidyne radiator for late C4s was not a market success and is no longer made, but it proved to be a very durable product, having lasted 17 years in service in my 1995.

I also have a 170° thermostat, a calibration with revised fan-on strategy and a front air dam which is in good condition. Periodically, I pull off the top of the cooling stack to clean out any trash between the hvac, the oil cooler and the radiator.

As some may know, Jim Van Dorn died unexpectedly on 14 May at age 59.
In a strange irony, tomorrow (20 June 2015) Jim's three children are having a celebration of their Dad's life. They are holding this event in the Palm Desert, California area where Jim once lived.

The Van Dorn kids have asked me to come speak at this memorial. To honor Jim's memory, I'm going to drive Barney, my '95, on the five hour trip from where I live in Goleta to Indio where the celebration will be held.

The weather down there this weekend will be unseasonably hot–even for summertime in the California low desert. The high temperature on Saturday will be 115°F. That will be a great test of radiator that Jim and I developed 17 years ago and the cooling system configuration I've used all these years.

[RussMcB]

Originally Posted by Billy Mild

Anyone using water wetter?

Yes, especially in race cars. Not only does it assist in heat transfer, it has some additives that help the cooling system. The additives are often in anti-freeze, but most racing organizations don't want slippery anti-freeze on race tracks.

I've never heard a negative thing said about Water Wetter.

Valvoline Super Coolant (made by Zerex) is another similar product with a good reputation.

[Karl]

I will add my cooling experiences. Hopefully you don't mind.

I run Pete's under drive lightweight aluminum water pump pulley and so far with the Fluidyne radiator the cooling is under control.

A couple of weeks ago I was driving about 85 on a hot humid day, somewhere in the lower 90's and the coolant temp on the highway got up to ~208 and when I got off the highway it came down to ~200 and held there.

Today I sat in traffic and its ~81 degrees and humid and the temp did not exceed 200 until traffic began to move ~65 mph and it crept up to ~205.

*edit* Both above are with the a/c on full blast.

I am running distilled water and green antifreeze. Somewhere 60/40 distilled water/antifreeze.