Miata cooling system thread
#321
I have to imagine mine is an anomaly. I see 217F EVERY time I'm on the highway. It's awful I end up putting the heater on every day when it's 100 degrees out.
There is no way other AZ MSM's are having the same problem. They would easily be blowing head gaskets.
I need to get these fans in before we start hitting 110+ every day for weeks at a time, with the occasional jaunt up to 118.
There is no way other AZ MSM's are having the same problem. They would easily be blowing head gaskets.
I need to get these fans in before we start hitting 110+ every day for weeks at a time, with the occasional jaunt up to 118.
#324
No, most of that 100 mph goes around the nose of the car. Very little of it goes through the rad due to the high pressure stacked up behind the radiator. It would be interesting to measure speed, although the mass of the air would be a more important measurement. Fun experiment: get some big fans blowing over the front of your car, then see if you can spray water on the radiator (or IC, or AC condensor, whatever is leading the charge).
Fans and good shrouding made a significant difference to one of my cars at a steady 75 mph.
Fans and good shrouding made a significant difference to one of my cars at a steady 75 mph.
Fair enough- can we at least agree that ducting is a good thing and one of the steps you need to do to keep a F/I track miata cool?
#326
Ducting is key, as is running an under tray, it helps prevent high pressure behind the radiator helping flow and thus cooling. Im not FI but we have our own unique cooling issues at 6000'(air density). My car came from the east coast there was no ducting, and a huge oil cooler camped in front of the radiator; twin pass afco 21.5 x 12.5 x 2.5 thick, smaller in surface area than a stock radiator, and no under tray. The first test day was 50 degrees at 4800', the car ran 210 degrees, clearly the car would overheat during race season without changes.
The changes included getting rid of the over sized oil cooler and mounting a smaller unit next to the radiator. Ducting the radiator so all air had to travel through the radiator and oil cooler, I also performed a coolant reroute, 160 thermostat and installed an under tray. The result speaks for it's self, on 95 degree days racing at 6000 feet I see temps around 180 degrees, at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca last October temps never got higher than 170!
here are a few pics small space, kind of hard to get good pics.
The changes included getting rid of the over sized oil cooler and mounting a smaller unit next to the radiator. Ducting the radiator so all air had to travel through the radiator and oil cooler, I also performed a coolant reroute, 160 thermostat and installed an under tray. The result speaks for it's self, on 95 degree days racing at 6000 feet I see temps around 180 degrees, at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca last October temps never got higher than 170!
here are a few pics small space, kind of hard to get good pics.
#328
Hi, I thought id share more of what I am building on the onset.
I am in the mist of a ground up build of my 92 1.6 NA Miata.
The old engine and gearbox is out, and I have a 99 VVT 1.8 6 speed that's currently lined up.
My challenge, beyond the weather conditions mentioned above, is that our local track is huge, 3.5miles to be exact with long straights where our normally aspirated BP motors struggle to keep up with the competition (S2000s, Evos, Civics etc)
So the solution is go for forced induction which in itself presents the cooling problems which are currently in discussion.
I ask this separately as I believe the weather conditions is unique and not many of you stateside have this recurring problem (all year round at least)
Would a properly ducted hood be enough to drive air thru the Massive radiator, intercooler, and airconditioning exchange unit? I have an SPL fan lined up along side the 76mm trackspeed engineering radiator.
Everything else is still in the midst of being bought/planned.
Thank you all for your contributions.
I am in the mist of a ground up build of my 92 1.6 NA Miata.
The old engine and gearbox is out, and I have a 99 VVT 1.8 6 speed that's currently lined up.
My challenge, beyond the weather conditions mentioned above, is that our local track is huge, 3.5miles to be exact with long straights where our normally aspirated BP motors struggle to keep up with the competition (S2000s, Evos, Civics etc)
So the solution is go for forced induction which in itself presents the cooling problems which are currently in discussion.
I ask this separately as I believe the weather conditions is unique and not many of you stateside have this recurring problem (all year round at least)
Would a properly ducted hood be enough to drive air thru the Massive radiator, intercooler, and airconditioning exchange unit? I have an SPL fan lined up along side the 76mm trackspeed engineering radiator.
Everything else is still in the midst of being bought/planned.
Thank you all for your contributions.
#334
We've got prototype electric water pump setups going out to a couple of testers as well as on a car here. It worked very well on an NC, now we'll see how it works on the NB. We redesigned the flow for the entire system, even taking the turbo coolant into effect. No hot water gets recycled into the engine, it all goes through the rad.
#336
Ok. Onto step #1 for cooling. A new undertray. I have read this thread and I jumped over and went through the DIY Aero Thread. I still have a question or two before I jump into this project. I saw some people using ABS for an undertray, but I also saw some people had issues with it. Am I better off using ABS or Aluminum for an undertray? I saw that Emilio had some issues with the .060 ABS being too flexy and grounding out. I also konw there was a lot more front Areo on his car (flat front and ducting). I am currently just running an OEM bumper and type R-lip. It will stay that way for a while. So what material would people suggest ABS or Aluminum, also thickness? I found a local shop with ABS if that is still a good option.
Also... In my head I am thinking running from the R-lip to the middle of the front axels. Would that be an ok area for coverage?
Cooling list....
1. Undertray
2. Radiator Ducting and FMIC Ducting
3. Track Testing in July
Also... In my head I am thinking running from the R-lip to the middle of the front axels. Would that be an ok area for coverage?
Cooling list....
1. Undertray
2. Radiator Ducting and FMIC Ducting
3. Track Testing in July
#339
With any material (AL, ABS, fiberglass), remember you can always add stiffness by putting in a bend. It doesn't need to be much of a bend either.
The OEM undertray goes to the front axle line, so I'd say that's a decent location. Also, keep in mind that the OEM undertray also incorporates air outlets at the back to help drop engine compartment pressure. You should be able to do something similar with a bend that adds stiffness. Louvers also add stiffness.
The OEM undertray goes to the front axle line, so I'd say that's a decent location. Also, keep in mind that the OEM undertray also incorporates air outlets at the back to help drop engine compartment pressure. You should be able to do something similar with a bend that adds stiffness. Louvers also add stiffness.
#340
With any material (AL, ABS, fiberglass), remember you can always add stiffness by putting in a bend. It doesn't need to be much of a bend either.
The OEM undertray goes to the front axle line, so I'd say that's a decent location. Also, keep in mind that the OEM undertray also incorporates air outlets at the back to help drop engine compartment pressure. You should be able to do something similar with a bend that adds stiffness. Louvers also add stiffness.
The OEM undertray goes to the front axle line, so I'd say that's a decent location. Also, keep in mind that the OEM undertray also incorporates air outlets at the back to help drop engine compartment pressure. You should be able to do something similar with a bend that adds stiffness. Louvers also add stiffness.
Louvers... I thought it was best to keep it flat. Am I mistaken due to the lack of Aero mods on my car?
A local shop (MAP) posted this EVO undertray. Are you thinking something similar? Duct air into the engine bay with them?