Keepin me zook cool

[david123]

I have asked this question before, and got answers like, check ya tune n stuff, hit the search button, and got doors, carbys, diffs, no radiators.

Ok, I do heavy sand driving, when I have a following wind, or really hard driving, I have to stop now an then and let her cool down.

I towed, maybe a little bit heavy, but a mates duel axle trailer, lumped full of wood, close to 2 ton, sat her on 80k, no drama, no overheating, sweet as. Fan didnt come on at all.

So there is a problem at wide open throttle, low gears. Fan works. VT V8.

What radiator can I use, get this 4 core out, n get a what, dessert cooler, look for them, coodnt find a web site, ony ebay trading, I have heard of holdem V8 radiators going in, any one know what model, and how.

[alien]

are you using coolant in the system, or just water? that helps heaps.

I've also done a bonnet lift to clear my carby a bit more, and thats allowed more air to pass over the engine too.

[david123]

I have a A9X type bonnet scoop, home made, large opening, and use redline water wetter as well, this has helped a fair bit, but still not good enuf.

Its only when im really workin every ounce of energy she can muster, and naturally when im in the least mood for her to need a rest.

Sand is pretty hard on engines, tho this lil girl duz it well, 1.3ltr, extractors, webber, 31" baja claws down at 5psi an mostly floats, but at times, when im goin where nun cn follow, er, read, showing off badly, haha, catch me if you cn, she fails me by over heating.

Even put slick 50 in her, and red line oils thru the whole of her, all helps.

Still at 100%, no go, she cools very quikly when I stop, need more water im thinking.

[GRPABT1]

I'd steer clear of desert cooler, I have one of their 4 core triple pass radiators in my worked V8 commy and have had it fixed for leaks 4 times now. Get something alloy, like a PWR or this:-

http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/samengine.htm
http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/images/s ... diator.jpg

[david123]

Yea that looks the go, thanks.

I was looking t the site, and they have bigger cams, do you know anything of these, im thinking of a rebuild-engine swap, dunno, but the bigger cam could be the go.

Never dun an engine swap, in me youth I played with holden red blocks a lot, and used many cams, they do make huge differences, but dunno bout lil zuks

Get a 1.6ltr, rebuild it, and install, or a simple 1.3ltr rebuild with bigger cam, ????

[david123]

Bugga, thats an american site, doh, cn these be sourced in OZ

[NIK]

Go the 1600, easy swap and more torque down low
So you have a 4 core rad already? What condition is it in?
My new 1300 rad cools my 1600 ok, Is your timing correct?
Do you have pics of your zuk with A9X scoop was thinking the same thing.
Nik

[11_evl]

sounds like you have tried alot of things, maybe your just working the little engine beyound cooling at big loads??
maybe look at a bigger motor, something that making the same sort of torque/ power but at a less working strain, that will keep the loads downs with the same sort of results
try the tried and proven EFI 1600 16V
or maybe look at an sr20 or toyota 2.7 (that would be fun in the sand)

[david123]

Timing is good, an the radiator is only about 14-16 months old.

Im in NorWest Oz at the mo, me toy is in South Oz, an im on a new computer as me old one went swimin, for some reason it didn't enjoy that.

I just had it made at the local sheetmetal shop, went n spoke to the man, sed what I wanted, we looked under the bonnet for the braseing and went about an inch at the front and about 3' at the rear, front is ( i think) 12' back is 18' its bit over half bonnet length. Will check it out n give measurements and pics when I get home, swing off n fly out on 29th.

I think it works a treat.

[david123]

sounds like you have tried alot of things, maybe your just working the little engine beyound cooling at big loads??
maybe look at a bigger motor, something that making the same sort of torque/ power but at a less working strain, that will keep the loads downs with the same sort of results
try the tried and proven EFI 1600 16V
or maybe look at an sr20 or toyota 2.7 (that would be fun in the sand)

Thats a point, she duz cop a floggin, but it got me thinking when I pulled me mates trailer loaded with wood, no trouble, its airflow, when I have a tail wind is the drama, or when she is flat strap to long, so in my mind, bigger radiator = more water = longer time before possible over heat, and by then, im into the wind.

[11_evl]

correct, but a trailer is only heavy on initial take off and accelerating, which is why you said it cruised along fine. if you said, when i was dragging the trailer i was sitting at 4500 rpm with my foot flat to the floor and it didnt oerheat, than thats a different story??
im just throwing ideas around

[david123]

Yea true, I was quite surprised, so was me mate, he is the mechanic that looks after her, 4th instead of 5th, and did it quite easily.

Ive spent about 8k on the lil bitch so far, only cost me 750, so I godda blow the motor before I can justify pullin a perfectly good motor for another.

Researchin water injection, spozd to up power a bit and cool better.

[cj]

From what you are saying it is fine until you start pushing the envelope.

Is all the airflow going through the radiator or is it able to around/over/under it?

Getting cool air in is important but so is getting hot air away. Such things as lifting the trailing edge of the bonnet or adding vents to it or even the inner guards may help.

Don't forget a decent oil cooler can make a real difference.

How about a proper pusher thermo fan the front of the radiator as well.

[cj]

You could also look at an electric water pump as a booster. Bosch do great one.

[RockHopper]

stoopid question, I'm sure, but does it have a radiator shroud fitted? They make a big differance

[Mike_1324]

Researchin water injection, spozd to up power a bit and cool better.

I've had water injection on mine for a while. Makes a huge difference, but takes a heap of fiiddeling around to get it right.

I have mine drawing the water under its own vacuume, but is switched by a micro switch on the throttle, so that it doesent suck on roll on, or at the lights etc, only when accelerating. It has a small solenoid to open and sut the water flow. Neat little setup.

MF

[GRPABT1]

Yea that looks the go, thanks.

I was looking t the site, and they have bigger cams, do you know anything of these, im thinking of a rebuild-engine swap, dunno, but the bigger cam could be the go.

Never dun an engine swap, in me youth I played with holden red blocks a lot, and used many cams, they do make huge differences, but dunno bout lil zuks

Get a 1.6ltr, rebuild it, and install, or a simple 1.3ltr rebuild with bigger cam, ????

Engine mods like bigger cams are likey to make your cooling problems worse. If you want an engine similar to a cammed up stock 1.3 then get a G13B GTi twin cam motor. I have one in mine and they have about twice the HP of the stock 1.3 and are very revvy, they also have forged internals which makes for a stronger bottom end.

[Pixie-LWBZOOK]

Just a suggestion, but how about modding your car so you don't have to rev the f*%k out of it to drive through sand?

I see you have 31" tires, have you done anything in the gearing to compensate for this?

[alien]

oh another thing - since removing the standard front bumper to fit an open bar, the temp of mine has dropped too.

[MART]

Checked your water pump , if the vanes are corroded they won,t circulate the water properly , mine had the vanes about a quarter corroded whem iI got it and suffered from overheating , now it doesn't , also airflow , Cheers Paul

[droopypete]

If your standard cooling system is in good condition with quality coolant and you have a properly fitted radiator shroud, you should never have a problem, ever.
That said if your problem is only while hammering it in loose sand on hot days, a trick I have done with great success is to set up a "front of rad sprinkler" it is basically 2 or 3 spray jets and some hose from the garden section of your hardware store, a small 12 volt pump and a small water can, when the temp starts to rise, hit the water spray jets and the temp will drop almost instantly, you don't need a lot of water just a mist in front of the rad, it works at any speed.
I was filming a TV commercial on Stockton beach with a mate many years ago, we had 4 off road race cars racing up and down the beach for 3 days and it was DAMM HOT!! my mate Dave fitted this to the "hero" car that we were responsible for and never had a problem, while 2 of the other race cars were having cooling problems in the sand and heat and they both said they would be fitting a system like this in the future.
It also worked for me in Alice Springs on an old Land Rover earlier this year.
Peter.

[ofr57]

If your standard cooling system is in good condition with quality coolant and you have a properly fitted radiator shroud, you should never have a problem, ever.
That said if your problem is only while hammering it in loose sand on hot days, a trick I have done with great success is to set up a "front of rad sprinkler" it is basically 2 or 3 spray jets and some hose from the garden section of your hardware store, a small 12 volt pump and a small water can, when the temp starts to rise, hit the water spray jets and the temp will drop almost instantly, you don't need a lot of water just a mist in front of the rad, it works at any speed.
I was filming a TV commercial on Stockton beach with a mate many years ago, we had 4 off road race cars racing up and down the beach for 3 days and it was DAMM HOT!! my mate Dave fitted this to the "hero" car that we were responsible for and never had a problem, while 2 of the other race cars were having cooling problems in the sand and heat and they both said they would be fitting a system like this in the future.
It also worked for me in Alice Springs on an old Land Rover earlier this year.
Peter.

i know acouple of WRX cars with this they put ice into the container so its even cooler

[GRPABT1]

And better still, there are kits you can buy to spray CO2 onto intercoolers and such

[droopypete]

You can build my setup for $40 and put the rest to fixing up your cooling system.
it is after all very rare that you would need it.

[want33s]

I've never had a cooling problem especially with my new aluminium radiator but ages ago I fitted a cople of sheets of rubber between the radiator and the panel the headlights go in.
These two pieces of rubber about 150mm X 400mm ensure that 99% of the air coming through the grille goes through the radiator.
Maximum airflow .
I would never run thermo fans either but thats another can of worms.
Jas.

[david123]

Just a suggestion, but how about modding your car so you don't have to rev the f*%k out of it to drive through sand?

I see you have 31" tires, have you done anything in the gearing to compensate for this?

Speedo is spot on, sand is frigin hard to drive in, when your in the hills, and its hot as hell, and your climbin n beatin the crap outa everyone else, its like bein in bog mud, very hard work.

Been thinking about the water - radiator spray, should do the trick, but still recon as it should be doin its job propper, its a very hard workin toy, so standard cooling just cannot keep up.

what would be the diff tween a GTI and a 1.6 injected in terms of power, the 1.6 would have more down low wouldnt it.

[VR Rodeo]

OOOps

[VR Rodeo]

If your standard cooling system is in good condition with quality coolant and you have a properly fitted radiator shroud, you should never have a problem, ever.
That said if your problem is only while hammering it in loose sand on hot days, a trick I have done with great success is to set up a "front of rad sprinkler" it is basically 2 or 3 spray jets and some hose from the garden section of your hardware store, a small 12 volt pump and a small water can, when the temp starts to rise, hit the water spray jets and the temp will drop almost instantly, you don't need a lot of water just a mist in front of the rad, it works at any speed.
I was filming a TV commercial on Stockton beach with a mate many years ago, we had 4 off road race cars racing up and down the beach for 3 days and it was DAMM HOT!! my mate Dave fitted this to the "hero" car that we were responsible for and never had a problem, while 2 of the other race cars were having cooling problems in the sand and heat and they both said they would be fitting a system like this in the future.
It also worked for me in Alice Springs on an old Land Rover earlier this year.
Peter.

You could hot wire it off the windscreen washers jets and reservior

Have never had any probs with my thermo, although mine is hooked up to a Davies Craig switch and set to come on fairly low and can also be by passed to run full time if I know it will struggle

[david123]

Yea I have an override switch so that when i hit the pedl, I turn it on so that it is on before the heat hits.

Jaso, why no thermo. I ook off the fuel an power hungry standard, and in went new bigger radiator an thermo, thinking that means more power to the wheels an less fuel when its not needed.


Cors that could also be part of the prob.

[11_evl]

if you dont have an engine fan now, id say get a custom thick ass mofo alloy rad made up. or try adapt one of those aftermarket alloy ones from a silvia or the like. they are pretty cheap these days