Cooling system help needed

[1990notch]

I'm currently running a 180 thermostat, yet my usual cruise temps seem to be 190. At 190, the car pings a little and is way down on power. At 180 or so the car runs great, has lots of power and no pinging.

Is it common to see coolant temps 10 degrees higher than your thermostat rating? If I put in a 160 thermostat, will it run at 160 or 170? What's the ideal temp for power?

[BLOWNBY]

What are you using for a temperature guage and where is it reading from. Do you have an electric fan? If so what triggers it to come on or is it always on. 10* probably isn't to bad to be off. Also electric or mechanical pump? As long as it is not climbing you should be OK. Many SC guys run a 160 Thermo. I do!Many run 180 as well. Kind of a crap shoot. :shocked:

On the highway it would hold about ~165 (autometer guage) regardless then in 90* stop and go it would creep up to ~185 with ~low 190's the highest. So i had no worries as to my cooling system.

Plus this was on a ~700 rwhp car.

[1990notch]

What are you using for a temperature guage and where is it reading from. Do you have an electric fan? If so what triggers it to come on or is it always on. 10* probably isn't to bad to be off. Also electric or mechanical pump? As long as it is not climbing you should be OK. Many SC guys run a 160 Thermo. I do!Many run 180 as well. Kind of a crap shoot.

I'm using an '04 version PMS. I'm going by the temp on the PMS display and the stock guage. I'm running a Taurus electric fan, contolled by a DC-35 (from dccontrol.com). It uses a thermistor probe in the radiator to sense water temp. This fan pulls alot of air, but not quite as much as a mark8. I'm using the stock water pump with a 93 cobra pulley. I would go to an electric, but I don't know how long they last or how well they work on the street.

Before I added the SC, the car ran fine at 190. I guess the difference is the inlet air temp is alot higher with the SC even during stop n go traffic with no boost. I'll try a 160 today and see if it helps.

Thanks for the response blownby.

[BLOWNBY]

I'm using an '04 version PMS. I'm going by the temp on the PMS display and the stock guage. I'm running a Taurus electric fan, contolled by a DC-35 (from dccontrol.com). It uses a thermistor probe in the radiator to sense water temp. This fan pulls alot of air, but not quite as much as a mark8. I'm using the stock water pump with a 93 cobra pulley. I would go to an electric, but I don't know how long they last or how well they work on the street.

Before I added the SC, the car ran fine at 190. I guess the difference is the inlet air temp is alot higher with the SC even during stop n go traffic with no boost. I'll try a 160 today and see if it helps.

Thanks for the response blownby.

Basically all sounds fine with your setup.

Electric WP are great as they have high Water Flow even at idle unlike a mechanical pump. most electric WP have a life of ~2500 hours. This equates to like 80,000 miles. I haven't heard anything bad about them yet?

[1990notch]

Basically all sounds fine with your setup.

Electric WP are great as they have high Water Flow even at idle unlike a mechanical pump. most electric WP have a life of ~2500 hours. This equates to like 80,000 miles. I haven't heard anything bad about them yet?

Okay, I had the electric water pump idea in mind a while ago, and now you've sold me on the idea. I like the idea that I could cool down after a run with engine off. I've seen three brands on Summit... CSR, Moroso and Meziere. Any thoughts of which has best long term durability?

[BLOWNBY]

Yup electric fan & electric Wp makes for a nice combo at the track.

I run meizere. I think all three brands are fine. Look at the flow rate as well. 35 gpm should be about the minimum for a modified setup. The mezeire 311 is some $$$, but flows 55gpm. That is what I have ran and works great. Plus gives more clearance for 8" crank pulley as the motor is set up from where most sit.