ramairetransam

iTrader: (18)

Looking to add an aftermarket mechanical water pump to my procharged 99 formula . I have an aster bracket . Who is running what and what spacers did you use or did you have to machine a pulley down ??

The car has a v6 radiator so its twice as thick as the stock ls1 radiator . running a forged ls3, fmic , ls2 water pump . I have ac and will be keeping it . I get up to 220 while in the city with the ac off when it was 80 degrees. I have a spal 9 inch fan and a 16 inch procharger fan . Not sure where to start besides spending 2k and buy a ron davis radiator , edelbrock water pump and then a new spal 16 inch fan . I'm not even sure how to fit the edelbrock water pump pulley .

I need some help procharger buddies , sick of the overheating , on the highway it will run around 186 even if its 90 out .

dlandsvZ28

If you do a search there are many threads discussing this issue. There are naysayers that say overheating with a ProCharger isn't so. I think you would disagree.

As you probably already know the engine acts like a huge vacuum cleaner sucking air up from the air dam to the ac condenser and radiator. Even so, the ability of the Fbody cooling system to keep the car cool in high temps with the AC on is still just barely acceptable to say the least. And moving in slow traffic or in stop and go traffic was even worse. And all the glass on the car doesn't help matters either (huge front and rear window).

The ProCharger fbody system took away the ability of the air box on the stock cooling system to channel air up from the air dam leaving the ac condenser and radiator with little if any air flow thru the ac condenser and into the radiator.

On the stock system the engine was the vacuum source. With the Procharger the engine is no longer the vacuum source to move the air. So, IMO, it's not the ProCharger that directly causes overheating. Instead it's because the engine is longer the vacuum source for ambient air flow.

I doubt a mechanical water pump will help. I tried a Meziere electric water pump. It didn't help either. In fact, IMO, it made it worse because it took up more space and blocked air from the rear of radiator to move down into the air stream below the car. Instead hot air ended up in the engine bay. I also tried a huge two row BeCool radiator the same time I was running the electric pump. Didn't make any difference. With the thick BeCool it really got tight to evacuate hot air from the engine bay.

If your region rarely gets over 100 degrees in the summer, then two 12 inch high capacity pusher Spal fans mounted on the face of the condenser will stop overheating. The fix has worked for some on this forum. Some disagree and suggest the fans are a restriction. Do a search on fan mounted AC condensers. You will find fan mounted ac condensers are factory installed. They work because you have to move air across the cooling fins on the condenser.

I found that two fans on the condenser worked until ambient temps went north of 100 degrees. Higher than 100 and the fans didn't move enough air for the heat transfer necessary to keep the engine cool. And that was simultaneously running water wetter, the SLP 97 standard transmission radiator, and a reduction of anti freeze down to 20 percent.

Eighty percent water transfers heat better than a 50/50 mix with antifreeze. Obviously winter temps will dictate whether you can run an 80/20 mix year around.

I recently moved the ac condenser off of the face of the radiator and moved it forward into the bumper cover. I didn't get a lot of testing done last summer. But on days where temps were over 100 I never had any overheating and I was getting 50 degree temps thru the AC vents.

It's the ac condenser that is the restriction for air flow to the radiator. And the air that does pass thru it is heated up to about 130 degrees. That leaves only a differential of about 50 degrees (180 - 130) to cool. So it's no wonder the radiator can't keep up when ambient temps go over 90. Even if ambient air is 90 degrees, there's still a 90 degree differential compared to only about 50 degrees or less when the ac condenser is working.

IMO, if the ac condenser is moved, I doubt you will continue to have overheating issues.

BTW, the C7 ZO6's have overheating issues too. I think there's like 10 or more fans and coolers installed attempting to keep the car cool. GM says it solved the issue with model year '17.

So if you are at the track with a '16 and get hot, pull over and cool off. You won't boil, but it sure won't help your lap times.

ramairetransam

iTrader: (18)

Any recommendations on what fans I should get. How did you hold then to the condenser

dlandsvZ28

The fan modification can be expensive if you opt for a pusher fans that put out a lot of cfm. Pusher fans don't spec as well for CFM as puller fans either but cost about the same. I would search for some feedback on this forum who made this modification. For me it didn't work when temps were over 100 degrees.

I used Spal. I think they are still made in the USA. I was told that the ATI 16 inch puller fan is actually made by Spal. But it doesn't spec for CFM like a Spal extreme puller fan does. I have the Spal Extreme but it was the light duty race (don't expect a lot of hours on it) fan but wasn't told that when I got it. I reinstalled the ATI 16 inch puller fan because I didn't want the Spal Extreme to fail on me. The ATI fan pulls enough air now with the AC condenser removed from the front of the radiator and moved into the front bumper cover.

If you opt for the Spal Extreme puller make sure to look at the specs and get the one that is for extended duty. Do the same for the 12 inch pusher fans for the front of the ac condenser.

IMO the ATI shroud isn't even close if compared to the Mighty Mouse shroud because it doesn't seal as well to the face of the radiator. The Mighty Mouse shroud is cut specifically for Spal or the ATI fan with an additional hole for a Spal on the driver side. Unfortunately with the SC head unit on the lower driver side the two fans on the Mighty Mouse shroud aren't staggered like the stock fans (driver side fan low, passenger side fan high).




Not sure if the fans come with mounting bracket kits. If it does, the kit contains wire ties and foam squares that are attached to each corner mounting bracket. The foam is self adhesive and is placed between the mounting bracket and the fins on the ac condenser. A rod type wire connector inserts thru each mounting bracket. A push on flat connector on the rear of the condenser attaches to the wire connector. Don't pull them too tight - just enough to hold the fan in place. The foam will protect the fins and bars on the condenser. Once used the wire tie can't be reused (you can go tighter, but not looser).

IMO the ac fans don't torque enough on startup to damage the fins or the bars in the condenser. The preferred method to attach fans is with a shroud. There isn't enough room for a shroud.

You can run the fans with a switch- on in the summer, off in the winter. Racetronix makes a nice harness for dual fans but is perhaps overkill for 12 inch fans.

Some things to check:

Some ATI fan wiring fan instructions were wrong. As a result the ATI fan runs backwards. Check to make sure the fan is turning the correct direction. I would remove to check direction instead of the shop cloth method.

The ac condenser over time fills with debri kicked up by the air dam. It's usually the bottom 25 percent that fills. So the logical area for air flow is to the bottom of the AC condenser first only to learn that the bottom of the ac condenser is blocked. Check the radiator too.

Make sure you don't have air in the cooling system. Use water wetter. Run more water in the coolant in the summer.

There's a 15 to twenty degree window from the time the thermostat starts to open and when it is full open. Set the PCM fan settings accordingly.

If you have removed the plastic shrouding in front of the radiator reinstall it. Its function is to direct air up to and thru the ac condenser and the radiator.

ramairetransam

iTrader: (18)

thanks for the tips . I was looking yesterday and i still have the condenser shroud in place , is their really room for pusher fan to go under it ,, i forgot to look when i just had my car on the lift yesterday doing new sway bars.

The fans are running correctly , i've been procharged 10 yrs now . The condenser could have **** in the bottom fins that's a good point . This winter i need to replace my ac compressor and maybe do the condenser too .

Do you have any pics of where you moved your condenser to .

dlandsvZ28

Last version of about six to get it almost ideal. Still need to make some changes to the side brackets so the FMIC attaches on sides like the ATI FMIC instead of top and bottom like it currently is attached. I might move the washer tank as well. Doing so will allow me to move the ac condenser back an inch or two.




Will send you a PM with more details.

ICRAZY6

iTrader: (68)

I would like to see some more pictures of this install. I was fighting to install to Derale 12" pusher fans last night on the condenser. Have wiring to do this evening and possibly installation of my two row 1" tube radiator. Next issue to deal with is where to mount the new trans cooler? Would mounting it on the back of the IC be a huge mistake? I have no room on the front of the condenser now due to the fans. I could mount on the radiator back side..... I don't want to hack up the car to stand the radiator and condenser up.