Will this setup work for cooling my LS1
11-03-2009, 11:03 AM
#1
Will this setup work for cooling my LS1 Here is the standard LS1 cooling diagram:
Here is what I am considering doing.
1. Eliminate all routing for heater. Not needed at present.
2. Run steam vent into top of water pump. I understand this is a common procedure. (blue line)
3. Tie expansion tank to the low pressure side of the system. This would be on the line exiting the radiator and going to the inlet for the water pump. (red line)
This is where it gets unusual:
4. I read that the Cobra R Mustangs used the overflow line from the standard radiator as a bleed line to an expansion tank by using a special cap.
What if I used a 7 LB. cap here? When the system reached 7 lbs, wouldn't the overflow become open to the expansion tank? Wouldn't it stay open as long as the system continued to run, (ie. over 7 lbs)? (orange line)
5. I would use an 18 LB cap on the expansion reservoir, with an overflow line (green line) going to a reservoir.
I understand common practice is to use the higher pressure cap on the radiator, and the lower pressure cap on the expansion tank. But I am not venting the radiator line to atmosphere, but keeping it within the pressurized system. The advantage is I can use a standard radiator without welding in new bungs.
Will this system work, including the expansion tank tied to the water pump inlet line (red line)??
Here is what I am considering doing.
1. Eliminate all routing for heater. Not needed at present.
2. Run steam vent into top of water pump. I understand this is a common procedure. (blue line)
3. Tie expansion tank to the low pressure side of the system. This would be on the line exiting the radiator and going to the inlet for the water pump. (red line)
This is where it gets unusual:
4. I read that the Cobra R Mustangs used the overflow line from the standard radiator as a bleed line to an expansion tank by using a special cap.
What if I used a 7 LB. cap here? When the system reached 7 lbs, wouldn't the overflow become open to the expansion tank? Wouldn't it stay open as long as the system continued to run, (ie. over 7 lbs)? (orange line)
5. I would use an 18 LB cap on the expansion reservoir, with an overflow line (green line) going to a reservoir.
I understand common practice is to use the higher pressure cap on the radiator, and the lower pressure cap on the expansion tank. But I am not venting the radiator line to atmosphere, but keeping it within the pressurized system. The advantage is I can use a standard radiator without welding in new bungs.
Will this system work, including the expansion tank tied to the water pump inlet line (red line)??
11-03-2009, 07:32 PM
#2
For an LS1 1998+:
Thats not an accurate drawing. Do you have an LT1? LS1's don't have that "pressure bottle". All we have is an unpressurized overflow tank. Once the coolant gets pushed into it it just sits in there, its not pressurized at all. Then when the engine shuts off and cools that coolant in the overflow tank is supposed to get sucked back into the radiator by suction.
That heater return line isn;t on our cars. The heater coolant goes right back into the water pump, right next to the port it came from.
In your second picture..........get rid of that "heater return line" and that "pressure bottle" looking thing...and you have our cooling system.
.
Thats not an accurate drawing. Do you have an LT1? LS1's don't have that "pressure bottle". All we have is an unpressurized overflow tank. Once the coolant gets pushed into it it just sits in there, its not pressurized at all. Then when the engine shuts off and cools that coolant in the overflow tank is supposed to get sucked back into the radiator by suction.
That heater return line isn;t on our cars. The heater coolant goes right back into the water pump, right next to the port it came from.
In your second picture..........get rid of that "heater return line" and that "pressure bottle" looking thing...and you have our cooling system.
.
11-03-2009, 08:10 PM
#3
It is an accurate drawing. It would be typical for a LS1 car like the Corvette where the radiator could be lower than the engine. The expansion tank is not a coolant recovery tank.
I think the drawing is from one of the LS1 books published.
I think the drawing is from one of the LS1 books published.
