Team3S: 3000GT & Stealth    Saturday, July 6 2002    Volume 01 : Number 890




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Date: Fri, 05 Jul 2002 03:12:20 -0400
From: "Philip V. Glazatov" <gphilip@umich.edu>
Subject: Re: Team3S: Filling the radiator

Rich, Steve has a 1st gen with a 2nd gen motor and a fresh radiator.

Straight water has a higher heat capacity than a 50/50 antifreeze mix,
therefore the more water - the better. The water wetter goes a step beyond
that.

I have never heard about head gaskets rusting. If they are MLS gaskets,
they are usually made of some high chrome content spring steel, which makes
it stainless. The problems that I heard of with running straight water is
rusting aluminum water jacket (which makes it less heat conductive) and no
water pump seal lubrication that is provided by the antifreeze.

I do not know if the overheating problem on the 2nd gen is normal or not. I
would think that if the Mitsu engineers had to change something to reduce
cooling, they would have exhaustively tested their car somewhere is Arizona
or something. PPE sells those upgraded radiators for high-powered cars. A
larger radiator also helps when you buy their FMIC.

Philip

At 02:40 7/5/2002, merritt@cedar-rapids.net wrote:
>Thanks, Steve.
>As to the water, I didn't have much choice, being trackside. Water was all
>I had.
>I see that you have a 1st gen, which don't seem to have cooling problems.
>
>Rich
>
>At 05:09 PM 7/5/02 +1200, you wrote:
> >Water?
> >
> >Never use just water, you'll end up with a rusted headgasket. I always use
> >proper coolant and when I need to top up I use antifreeze. My car is a 93,
> >2nd gen engine, like I said before I've never had an overheating problem but
> >when the cambelt was changed I got the radiator rebuilt with a new core.
> >
> >Steve

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Date: Fri, 05 Jul 2002 02:16:41 -0500
From: "merritt@cedar-rapids.net" <merritt@cedar-rapids.net>
Subject: Re: Team3S: Filling the radiator

>Philip wrote:
>I do not know if the overheating problem on the 2nd gen is normal or not. I
>would think that if the Mitsu engineers had to change something to reduce
>cooling, they would have exhaustively tested their car somewhere is Arizona
>or something.

Yeah, but with stock boost.
My car will run all day at 100+ deg under stock boost. At 15 psi, it's another story.

PPE sells those upgraded radiators for high-powered cars. A
>larger radiator also helps when you buy their FMIC.

I am considering the aluminum radiator. First, I want to find out if that's the only solution.

Thanks.
Rich

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Date: Fri, 05 Jul 2002 03:24:58 -0400
From: "Philip V. Glazatov" <gphilip@umich.edu>
Subject: Re: Team3S: Filling the radiator

At 03:16 7/5/2002, merritt@cedar-rapids.net wrote:
>I am considering the aluminum radiator. First, I want to find out if
>that's the only solution.

I am still wondering if a big hole in the back of the hood would make
things better or worse. Flash was talking about a string test, but then
someone went ahead and did that and the air was coming out from under the
hood, not in.

Philip

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Date: Fri, 5 Jul 2002 03:43:54 -0400
From: "Darren Schilberg" <dschilberg@pobox.com>
Subject: RE: Team3S: Filling the radiator

Hey now.  The string test worked on my car.

But now I'm set with temperature probes and can remove that seal at the
firewall and see if the probe directly in front of it has hotter air
blowing over it (from the rear turbo) or colder air getting blown over
it (from the back of the hood).

My hunch tells me that it will get the cooler air from the back of the
hood.


And I have a response to a private email about why water and not
antifreeze but am waiting for their permission to post their email to
the list.

- --Flash!

- -----Original Message-----
From: Philip V. Glazatov
Sent: Friday, July 05, 2002 03:25
To: team3S@team3s.com
Subject: Re: Team3S: Filling the radiator

At 03:16 7/5/2002, merritt@cedar-rapids.net wrote:
>I am considering the aluminum radiator. First, I want to find out if
>that's the only solution.

I am still wondering if a big hole in the back of the hood would make
things better or worse. Flash was talking about a string test, but then
someone went ahead and did that and the air was coming out from under
the
hood, not in.

Philip

***  Info:  http://www.Team3S.com/Rules.htm  ***

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Date: Fri, 5 Jul 2002 20:44:48 +1200
From: "Steve Cooper" <scooper@paradise.net.nz>
Subject: Re: Team3S: Now Catch Can, was HELP! Massive oil AT y-pipe

Some of the statements made on the krank vent thread are a bit confusing.


. Conventional PCV valves use reed, flapper, umbrella, ball-check, springs,
etc., to close and restrain the valve. These valves soon fatigue and fail as
they get cycled 50 to 100 times a second at 3000 RPM plus

They don't get cycled, the pcv valve is closed under high manifold vacuum,
open at low vacuum and closed under boost.

This thing was designed for a V twin. In that engine configuration the
crankcase pressure fluctuates as the pistons go up and down. Not so with a
4, 6 or 8 cylinder.

. WHEN ON BOOST, PRESSURE ENTERS THE CRANK CASE, MAINLY THRU THE PCV VALVE,
BECAUSE THE PCV VALVE CAN'T HOLD THE BOOST PRESSURE.

Again I'll have to disagree with this.It's only a very small valve and if it
did leak a bit the pressure would go straight out the other hose.
I had no problems with oil consumption on my car until I got forged pistons
and total seal rings. The real problem seems to be that total seal rings are
hard to bed in properly. My car blows smoke all the time driving slowly but
when I take it out on the track and thrash it as hard as I can it stops
smoking. It never overheats either.

Nobody has yet explained why we build up pressure in the crankcase when the
1/2 inch hose goes straight to atmospheric pressure at the MAS. Maybe on
some cars this gets blocked.

Maybe what is really happening is that we have a lot of blowby, gases and
oil droplets going into the intake via the larger pipe, burned in the engine
producing smoke. maybe all we really have to do is fit a catch can to stop
the oil and no more smoke.

Maybe Roger can give us a true explanation as to how this thing works. Until
then as far as I am concerned it's still BS.

Steve

> Dude, the stock PCV valve will go bad again when running more than 1 bars
> of boost. Not for everyone but many have been reported the thing bad. So
> you have several of them at home do you ? With the different size of the
> valves of the KrankVents the possible crankcase pressure is getting
> reduced

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Date: Fri, 5 Jul 2002 23:38:50 -0400
From: "Darren Schilberg" <dschilberg@pobox.com>
Subject: RE: Team3S: Filling the radiator

Original private message to me posted with permission.

You are correct that antifreeze may raise the boiling point but
antifreeze that is for deep Alaskan winters where it does not reach
above -20 F is no good.  I don't know what the difference is from
ethylene glycol or the others as far as raising or lowering the boiling
point but it isn't so much for the temp control as for what happens when
water spills vs. antifreeze spilling on a track.  Some antifreeze goes
as high as 276 F but then who is going to have a stock temp gauge that
goes above 225 F before hitting the red zone or a programmable
thermostat to tell it to stay shut longer or open earlier?

Using straight water or a mixture of water plus water wetter at the
track prevents any further safety issues on the track or in the pits
from the spilling of antifreeze from a car.  Imagine you are behind a
car that totally loses the radiator hose on their car.  You then get
antifreeze splashed all over your windshield and your tires are coated
in the slippery stuff which then causes you to slide off the track and
into a tire barrier.  The guy behind you doesn't see the warning flag in
time and plows into you.

Having just water means the track is not as dangerous and
dries/evaporates much quicker.  Same thing in the pits when the car sits
and gurgles out antifreeze.  One, it looks immature to have your car
spitting up like this.  Two, if it is water then it is no big deal and
you can quietly mention it is your brake cooling or water injection
overflow tank or something and nobody will be the wiser.

The two links below give some info from the web.  The Water Wetter link
shows a chart where water plus water wetter cools faster than a 50/50
mix of water wetter or even 100% glycol.  But even if this were a few
seconds longer than antifreeze I would still recommend water plus water
wetter for track use just because antifreeze is no fun for track spills.

     Water Wetter

     http://www.redlineoil.com/redlineoil/wwti.htm
    
     "Water has twice the heat transfer capability when
     compared to 50% glycol antifreeze/coolant in water.
     Most passenger automobiles have a cooling system
     designed to reject sufficient heat under normal operating
     conditions using a 50/50 glycol solution in water.
     However, in racing applications, the use of water and
     WaterWetterR will enable the use of smaller radiator
     systems, which means less frontal drag, and it will
     also reduce cylinder head temperatures, even when compared
     to water alone, which means more spark advance may be used
     to improve engine torque."

     Antifreeze

     http://www.nsf.gov/nstw_questions/chem/quest021.htm
    
     "Antifreeze is a chemical substance that is added to
     a liquid to lower its freezing point. It prevents the
     freezing of the coolants used in airplane, automobile,
     and tractor engines, in refrigeration liquids, and in
     snow-melting and deicing agents. The ideal antifreeze
     should be chemically stable, be miscible in the coolant,
     have low viscosity and electrical conductivity, and a
     high boiling point, be noncorrosive, and have good heat
     transfer properties. The most widely used antifreeze
     materials in automotive engines today are methyl alcohol,
     ethyl alcohol, and ethylene glycol; most of them contain
     a phosphate, nitrate, or other anticorrosive agent.
    
     When water is mixed with antifreeze, both the
     characteristics, freezing and boiling points, are
     changed. The boiling point for water will now be higher
     because of the antifreeze. This is useful when driving
     a car in extreme temperatures since the engine will not
     overheat as quickly if no antifreeze was present."

- --Flash!

- -----Original Message-----
From: M3000GTSL84@aol.com
Sent: Friday, July 05, 2002 01:20

Flash-

I humbly ask why u shouldnt use antifreeze/coolant, just water on a
track
3000GT? i always thought that the coolant raises the boiling point of
water.

Im just really curious-thanx

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Date: Sat, 06 Jul 2002 02:12:57 -0400
From: "Philip V. Glazatov" <gphilip@umich.edu>
Subject: RE: Team3S: Filling the radiator

>I don't know what the difference is from
>ethylene glycol or the others as far as raising or lowering the boiling
>point but it isn't so much for the temp control as for what happens when
>water spills vs. antifreeze spilling on a track.

Flash, tell that person, whose email you quoted
<<<deleted>>>..BS..<<<deleted>>><<<deleted>>>
BS<<<deleted>>><<<deleted>>>BS<<<deleted>>><<<deleted>>> Grrrrrr....

If we were concerned about the safety of other cars on the track enough to
choose different fluids, we would have been running sunflower oil in our
engines. It dries out faster than the synthetic.

Here is the only part of the quoted email worth reading (twice if necessary).

>      "Water has twice the heat transfer capability when
>      compared to 50% glycol antifreeze/coolant in water.
>      Most passenger automobiles have a cooling system
>      designed to reject sufficient heat under normal operating
>      conditions using a 50/50 glycol solution in water.
>      However, in racing applications, the use of water and
>      WaterWetterR will enable the use of smaller radiator
>      systems, which means less frontal drag, and it will
>      also reduce cylinder head temperatures, even when compared
>      to water alone, which means more spark advance may be used
>      to improve engine torque."

The original question was why water is better for racing than antifreeze.
Because water transfers heat better than antifreeze. Yes, it boils at a
lower temperature, but hopefully with a better heat transfer and a correct
radiator size we won't get anywhere close to boiling. If the cooling system
is inadequate, the car will boil anyway, regardless of a few degree
difference in the boiling point.

Philip

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Date: Sat, 6 Jul 2002 00:45:50 -0700
From: "Bob Forrest" <bf@bobforrest.com>
Subject: Team3S: Proper coolant for racing (was: Filling the radiator)

- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Philip V. Glazatov" <gphilip@umich.edu>
- ------------------snip---------------->
> The original question was why water is better for racing than antifreeze.
Because water transfers heat better than antifreeze. Yes, it boils at a lower
temperature, but hopefully with a better heat transfer and a correct radiator
size we won't get anywhere close to boiling. If the cooling system is
inadequate, the car will boil anyway, regardless of a few degree
 difference in the boiling point.
> Philip
- ----------------------------------------->

That's true, but it's only a partial answer - the rest was covered in a
previous post forwarded by Flash...  The main reason for not using anti-freeze
at the track is that you endanger the other drivers and yourself.  It's
slippery on the track and can cause an accident, and when it hits a hot
surface it smokes all over the place.  Tracks are now fining people who leak
gasoline or glycol, since both damage asphalt and cause yellow flags (they
have to clean it up before continuing a race).  If they notice either gas or
glycol leaking from your car, you're done for the day.  That's IF they will
even let you on the track
with antifreeze.  Many times you will be asked about it at the tech
inspection.  Besides the frowns from the experienced racers if you say you're
running with antifreeze, in advanced groups, they won't even let you on the
track unless you're running a water wetter mixture.  In the novice groups,
with limited passing and less chance of accidents, they usually don't hassle
you.  A good flush routine once or twice a year will protect you from
corrosion, or you can just run antifreeze when you're not racing.  But always
use water wetter at the track.

BTW, I guess overheating when racing is more of a "turbo problem", since we've
run our 94 Stealth NT in up to six back-to-back runs of 20 minutes each with
no problem.  That's two full hours at 120 degree track temps - and since we're
underpowered for the advanced groups, we run the whole time at redline.  Our
temp gauge barely moves above normal, even when the tires and brakes are
smoking.

Best,

Forrest

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End of Team3S: 3000GT & Stealth V1 #890
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