Preventing getting hot with the A/C on
06-29-2015, 12:53 AM
#1
Preventing getting hot with the A/C on So far with my On3 A/C kit with the Derale's I hadn't had any issues with the A/C on and the fans keeping up. Over this last week we have crept up into the 100 range and driving the car the other day it slowly started to get warm. Eventually I turned off the A/C and the needle took a nose dive and rested where it usually would sit on a hot day, no issues.
During stop and go traffic it remained fairly steady then when I started moving I got a slow creep with the temperature. My best guess is the fans aren't blowing enough through the condenser or maybe the old radiator could just not be keeping up.
What have others done to keep the temperature down on the cars? Buddy of mine suggested throwing in a Griffin in place of the stocker, but I was reluctant to do this unless it was really going to fix the issue. In the past he had stood his radiator up with a Griffin and said he had no issues with temp, pretty much like what I have without the A/C on.
Currently I have fully wrapped hotside with a turbo blanket and the Derale's blowing through the condenser. Is there anything else I can do to help bring down temps? I've had the car idle in place with it being 90ish out and A/C on no problem and had no issue but seems triple digits seem to be an issue.
Any help is greatly appreciated!
During stop and go traffic it remained fairly steady then when I started moving I got a slow creep with the temperature. My best guess is the fans aren't blowing enough through the condenser or maybe the old radiator could just not be keeping up.
What have others done to keep the temperature down on the cars? Buddy of mine suggested throwing in a Griffin in place of the stocker, but I was reluctant to do this unless it was really going to fix the issue. In the past he had stood his radiator up with a Griffin and said he had no issues with temp, pretty much like what I have without the A/C on.
Currently I have fully wrapped hotside with a turbo blanket and the Derale's blowing through the condenser. Is there anything else I can do to help bring down temps? I've had the car idle in place with it being 90ish out and A/C on no problem and had no issue but seems triple digits seem to be an issue.
Any help is greatly appreciated!
06-29-2015, 08:14 AM
#3
Unfortunately I didn't have my scanner plugged in so I don't have the exact temp but would guess in the 225 - 230 range. It was just under the third mark on the temp gauge. In the past when I hooked up to it and scanned it would hang around the 210 mark.
06-29-2015, 04:53 PM
#4
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Ive been dealing with this for years, only when its reeeally hot it over heats in traffic.
I have a griffin stood up and run 2 factory pullers off a saab 93 turbo. I dont think putting a griffin radiator in will fix your problem.
This issue is you need more air flow.
I am going to relocate the condenser to behind the inter cooler this year. I will get a custom aftermarket condenser, they are about $100. They make custom lines and put a fan behind it as a puller.
I believe this is the only way to make a truly bullet proof ac system with a front mount turbo on these cars.
I have a griffin stood up and run 2 factory pullers off a saab 93 turbo. I dont think putting a griffin radiator in will fix your problem.
This issue is you need more air flow.
I am going to relocate the condenser to behind the inter cooler this year. I will get a custom aftermarket condenser, they are about $100. They make custom lines and put a fan behind it as a puller.
I believe this is the only way to make a truly bullet proof ac system with a front mount turbo on these cars.
06-30-2015, 02:07 AM
#7
I have the signal coming from the stock system and have them directly wired to the battery for power. I was wondering if maybe there was a big enough amp draw that it could be slowing down the fans slightly with everything on the car virtually running short of headlights.
I'm not a giant electrical guru so I could be wrong on that thinking. I have thought about snagging a truck alternator and throwing it in just to help other systems.
*****, I do have the front of the bumper cut out, but I think a majority of the air is being slowed by the IC. I do like Sprayed's idea of throwing a puller behind a condenser and mounting it behind the IC and then dropping my fans back to the radiator directly. Will have to stare at it for a bit and brain storm.
I'm not a giant electrical guru so I could be wrong on that thinking. I have thought about snagging a truck alternator and throwing it in just to help other systems.
*****, I do have the front of the bumper cut out, but I think a majority of the air is being slowed by the IC. I do like Sprayed's idea of throwing a puller behind a condenser and mounting it behind the IC and then dropping my fans back to the radiator directly. Will have to stare at it for a bit and brain storm.
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Volt drop is?
06-30-2015, 08:18 AM
#9
Nope, will have to check that out, buddy did mention when he was borrowing the car this week it looked like the volts on the gauge were down lower then he remembers seeing so it could be a big draw being pulled. I need to just pony up and quit being lazy and throw on that bigger alternator, maybe it could help resolve the issue.
07-01-2015, 09:06 AM
#10
Can you let us know what alternator you end up going with Rawr in case we need to upgrade as well? I've noticed my volts are down at idle but jump as soon as I hit the gas so I'm wondering if that's normal or not too. I drove around the block for 20 minutes in 90 degree heat getting up on boost but it didn't get hot so I'm hoping I'm okay lol.
07-01-2015, 07:01 PM
#12
Well guess I'll snag a truck alternator anyway, noticed driving home the other night with everything on when I tap the brakes all the lights go dim so I'm sure there is a big draw on the system as is.
07-02-2015, 08:33 AM
#15
Ah okay, I had heard of guys having this problem but they equated it to having an iron block. Has anyone tried deionized water with water wetter? I have a few friends who run that combo in they're big HP cars and they report running 20-30 degrees cooler than with a water/coolant mix.
07-03-2015, 10:13 AM
#17
I'm running a SBE LS1 block. Have the typical Dexcool mix with distilled water and water wetter. I was thinking about making some sort of spacer to move the condenser forward and throw the pushers in between directly on the radiator and be kind of pulling on the condenser. May mess with it this winter when I stick the car in hibernation or something. Only problem I see is the top line would have to be redone because the valve would be where the front support is located.
08-02-2015, 02:20 PM
#18
Hey Rawr, did you make any more progress with this? I took mine out the other day and it was about 95' outside and I was into boost pretty frequently and it got just a touch over 210 with a 180' stat in it. I'm concerned over heating could be a problem on really hot days and 95' in Seattle is unheard of as it is lol. I let it idle for a minute before parking it and it started to come down. I'm thinking an oil cooler might be a good idea and maybe moving the fans directly to the radiator as well. Anybody else out there have any suggestions from they're own experiences?
08-02-2015, 08:08 PM
#19
Haven't messed with it much. Sounds like yours was doing similar to what mine did, through traffic it would slowly heat and then I'm sure once it got close to boiling it just started climbing fast. One of the seals in the system is leaking so I lost my charge a few weeks after this and the weather was good enough for ttop weather so never messed with it much.
The other week I went for a drive with some friends and it was mid 90's, climbing a ski pass with some hard 4th and 5th pulls up the hills and in the corners temp never broke 190. Brother-in-laws stock Camaro hit 215 and he backed out of it when trying to keep up, granted he is on a stock thermo verses my 160 and was having to probably exert a bit more effort to try and stay with me with his bolt-ons, but shows that the fans do a decent job of keeping up.
I just plan to do like someone else mentioned and make up a new top line and make some space between the condenser and radiator. Components for doing it aren't too bad for price so if it doesn't work, then it at least gives me experience for the next project I suppose. The cars on their own have a hard time keeping cool because there isn't nearly as much air across the front as there is on some other cars. On the other side of the state there is typically 4 - 5 days during the year that it might get unbearable, but I will either manage or take one of the other cars if it doesn't work out on the hot days.
The other week I went for a drive with some friends and it was mid 90's, climbing a ski pass with some hard 4th and 5th pulls up the hills and in the corners temp never broke 190. Brother-in-laws stock Camaro hit 215 and he backed out of it when trying to keep up, granted he is on a stock thermo verses my 160 and was having to probably exert a bit more effort to try and stay with me with his bolt-ons, but shows that the fans do a decent job of keeping up.
I just plan to do like someone else mentioned and make up a new top line and make some space between the condenser and radiator. Components for doing it aren't too bad for price so if it doesn't work, then it at least gives me experience for the next project I suppose. The cars on their own have a hard time keeping cool because there isn't nearly as much air across the front as there is on some other cars. On the other side of the state there is typically 4 - 5 days during the year that it might get unbearable, but I will either manage or take one of the other cars if it doesn't work out on the hot days.
08-03-2015, 08:20 AM
#20
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i removed the weather stripping seal on the plastic by the windshield wipers as a test just to see if it would help pull the heat out of the engine bay while driving and i was amazed how much it actually helped. if you are having issues while driving that might help you, but not so much for sitting still in traffic...