Hi All,

Ok here's the dilemma - current WOT tuning just recently has seen a huge increase in heat...as a result, my water cooled T03/04 turbocharger is boiling the coolant and all the hot air is building up at the tallest point of the cooling system - the radiator overflow bottle...so after lifting the bonnet while it's all hot, it appears that there is no fluid in the bottle or the rad cap (rated at 120 KPA) has been the weak point in the system and sprayed coolant all over the engine bay - as a result, I'm low on coolant (the low coolant sensor kicks in and comes up on the instrument cluster).

So - my question is...where is the weakness in the system ? I am wanting to know if I can just whack on a higher pressure rated rad cap or will this cause more problems ? The way I see it :

* Factory cooling system is rated to a maximum pressure of 125 KPA (it says in the manual)...so if I put in something like a 140 / 150 kpa rad cap (are these even available?), then I suspect the weak point will be on the plastic radiator side tanks ?

* One option is to get a thicker (32mm) radiator (but still with plastic tanks) to perhaps flow / cool better and perhaps bring temps out of the turbo down a bit ?

I would love to hear what other lads with Turbo I6's have done to counter this...obviously not everyone hooks up the water cooling - happy to hear people's experiences are with having both oil / water lines hooked up to turbochargers as I have.

Thanks,
Steve

Steve has a turbo?!?!? Huh - news to me

Regarding tuning of WOT... try something to bring combustion temps down? Richen it up a little (at expense of power) or play with water/meth injection...

Should the coolant be getting so hot as to boil when cooling the turbo?

Is the rad cap meant to spray all over engine? i thought it just opened up the overflow pipe?

New rad would almost be a definate.... i would be cautious playing with rad cap rating... even with stock rad and cap on mine the pressure was sufficient to blow a hole in the side tank of the 10 year old radiator...

Sounds like WOT tuning is a little too agressive. More fuel!


Maybe install a 302 and rely on EGR :D

if you put a higher pressure rad cap on you could risk popping a hose off somewhere - the pressure build up has to have a release somewhere...

Get some coolant with a higher boiling point. I'd try the better radiator too.

a permanent fix all though a bit of money would be get a tig welded overflow bottle and get it heat coated...or/and get an aluminium radiator from desert coolers or get one custom made. bit of kablingy but maybe worthwhile.

Yeah I have been undecided between turbo, hiclone and twin electric superchargers - decisions decisions ![/quote]



Yeah, water injection might be something worth looking into...don't see how it could be a bad thing.



Hmmm, well after what you said about brining down combustion / charge temps...I am thinking it should not theoretically be boiling (current tune may be causing this)...one setup I saw a pic of had, the water line coming from the overflow bottle (the coolest part of the cooling system) - this doesn't seem like a bad idea...



I should specify, it doesn't spray all over the engine - it more-so spurts out, but when the car is travelling it obviously gets all over the zorst side of the engine bay and makes a royal mess.



The radiator in it, is just over 12 months old...so it's not like it's the factory one that has been on for 8 years etc...so I'm not all that worried about it being rusty etc...but yeah the plastic tanks are my concern...I know of a couple that have split under some thrashing.



Yeah I think more fuel might be the way...



You're not helping...go stand over there in the FAR QUEUE



Sure - but at the moment, it is ALWAYS going to do it unless I can figure out a better tune (richen it up a bit) or get better cooling efficiency through a thicker radiator and (or) water injection *shrugs*. May have to look into that.



Yeah I was using the Nulon stuff...AFAIK, that's pretty good stuff...higher boiling / freezing points than Tectaloy...if anyone can recommend some better stuff - I'm all ears !



Yeah don't know how sturdy the factory overflow bottle is...I mean - I have never seen one split (Dave's car exempt...but I don't think that's from heat?)...aluminium radiator was something I was thinking of...but do they do them in a 32mm ? Andrew - if you have any places to recommend, I'm all ears

Thanks guys,
Steve

mwhahaha

Steve, regarding the boiling coolant (i couldnt be stuffed sorting out all the quotes, lol)...

I'm just wondering if the agressive tune is leading to REAL hot exhaust temps which are in turn making the turbo REAL hot. Just a thought...

I'd be a little concerned with the safety of the turbo... if the coolant is boiling, it means it aint getting any hotter (i.e. physically unable), meaning it wont absorb any more heat.. meaning heat stays in turbo... of course, this little tid bit does little to help solve your problem...

'Gman the rad man' on ebay was offering all sorts of funky radiators to me when i ordered the standard replacement... might be worth checking with him what's available for an EL.

I beleive the condition you are faced with is referred to as boil over... if that helps with digging up information.

Hahaha, hiclone... rock on!!

Yeah this is something I suspect too.



I have thought about this, hence why I am not driving the car atm - will hopefully have a look at it this weekend.



Yep I'm going to be getting in touch with him - I have seen radiators suiting EF/EL's on ebay.



Yep that's the term I'm looking for - boilover *mental note made*



The 16 year olds forced induction

Cheers Martin,
Steve

Well Im thinking somethings definatly wrong as Ive never had any cooling dramas on the two I6 turbos Ive done. Although Im using a straight oil cooled T4 as Im not a fan of water cooled turbos. If its an old school water cooled T03 then you can run it oil cool only, I did this on a previous car and the T03 didnt suffer... GTs are a different story, water only.

Give us some details of the tune at WOT, such as boost level, timing, air/fuel ratio... its very possible you are detonating it ( its so so easy to do without even hearing it ) and the exhaust housing is contantly heatsoaked.

Have you got the water lines hooked up correctly? Where are they going in the cooling system?

The standard radiator cools fine, even with a big intercooler in front of it. Maybe test the system... it could be a basic cooling system problem and nothing to do with turbo/tune.

Another thing is if the turbo's exhaust housing is too small, ie TO3 size, it will strngle the airflow out of the head and exhaust temps will rise very fast, thus heating up the water in the turbo

Just go back and check all your basics, I think you've done a simple error somewhere

Must be something simple, we'll get you boosting

Yeah boost is an interesting thing...I just hope it can all be controlled properly

Cheers,
Steve

how about all of the above???



or when it blows up and you need a new eninge, think about getting the tops of the piston, the chambers and the exhaust ports ceramic coated to keep heat where it should be pushing pistons down and going out of the exhaust

you'll find you gain power from coating those parts

ok, first off retard the timing. On 8psi and stock advance it is detonating big time. Good idea to set it to 6psi too. Also get an A?R guage in the dash so you can see it leaning... mine wouldnt go over 2psi without massive lean out on the stock eec/fuel system. Your not using the stock eec/ fuel system I hope.

Check with a turbo shop befor you remove the water cooling, Im not 100% about all water coller to3/4s, the one I used was fine without water, your may need it

I am running a water and oil cooled turbo and have no problems with water temp. My car only runs a little hotter than standard.

Are you running that water cooled intercooler set-up you were talking about?