Cooling woes on my LS1 miata, can anyone explain the 160 thermostat to me?
09-15-2016, 12:38 PM
#1
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Cooling woes on my LS1 miata, can anyone explain the 160 thermostat to me? My 1999 LS1 miata now has approximately 1500 miles on it since I have been able to drive it. Here is a picture:
I have searched and searched around but haven't had much luck so here I am. The car still has some cooling issues, and I am running out of ideas. I don't like just throwing parts at my cars and hoping they work out, I rather prefer to understand them beforehand know that the new parts are the solution to my troubles.
As it sets, I can start and drive the car just fine. I can cruise around town, hit the highway, whatever I want, for a period of time. Then, at the point that I am guessing that my engine and everything associated with it get good and heat soaked, the needle starts to creep up more than I really want. I have let it get to around 230-240 before I turned on my heater and it went back down. This is too hot for me, If I was really pushing it, then I could understand, but this is just driving. I can't even turn on my AC for obvious reasons. I have the proper ducting going in the mouth of the bumper to the radiator, I added some side ducting to keep it from getting around the radiator, I vacuum filled the system so I don't have any air circulating. The radiator is a V8R unit that is meant for this swap, with the dual cooling fans that kick on at factory 02 set points(190 I believe), and I have the stock thermostat in place.
So my questions are this:
Is there anything glaringly wrong that I am doing? Anything beyond basics that I have missed.
It has been suggested to me to install a lower temp thermostat to bring my temps down. I don't need an explanation on how they work, what my question is, is if I add say a 160 thermostat, and I program my fans to kick on earlier to support that unit, why will that help? If my thermostat and fans already can't keep up at the higher temp(when I know the stat is all the way open, and the fans are on), why will the lower stat help me?
Sorry for the long post.
I have searched and searched around but haven't had much luck so here I am. The car still has some cooling issues, and I am running out of ideas. I don't like just throwing parts at my cars and hoping they work out, I rather prefer to understand them beforehand know that the new parts are the solution to my troubles.
As it sets, I can start and drive the car just fine. I can cruise around town, hit the highway, whatever I want, for a period of time. Then, at the point that I am guessing that my engine and everything associated with it get good and heat soaked, the needle starts to creep up more than I really want. I have let it get to around 230-240 before I turned on my heater and it went back down. This is too hot for me, If I was really pushing it, then I could understand, but this is just driving. I can't even turn on my AC for obvious reasons. I have the proper ducting going in the mouth of the bumper to the radiator, I added some side ducting to keep it from getting around the radiator, I vacuum filled the system so I don't have any air circulating. The radiator is a V8R unit that is meant for this swap, with the dual cooling fans that kick on at factory 02 set points(190 I believe), and I have the stock thermostat in place.
So my questions are this:
Is there anything glaringly wrong that I am doing? Anything beyond basics that I have missed.
It has been suggested to me to install a lower temp thermostat to bring my temps down. I don't need an explanation on how they work, what my question is, is if I add say a 160 thermostat, and I program my fans to kick on earlier to support that unit, why will that help? If my thermostat and fans already can't keep up at the higher temp(when I know the stat is all the way open, and the fans are on), why will the lower stat help me?
Sorry for the long post.
09-15-2016, 01:02 PM
#2
I know you said you have proper ducting but this sounds exactly like an airflow issue to me. Case in point I had a 79 vette that I swapped a 383 into and driving around town the temps would creep up on me into high 250 range, I went through everything and eventually found that my radiator wasn't getting proper airflow. I got a new shroud and ensured proper airflow and problem went away instantly as if it never had been an issue.
If this doesn't turn out to be the case then stronger fans set to come on earlier with a 160 T-stat I could see helping but something else is going on here, the t stat and fan settings are more like band-aids to the real issue which IMO is airflow
If this doesn't turn out to be the case then stronger fans set to come on earlier with a 160 T-stat I could see helping but something else is going on here, the t stat and fan settings are more like band-aids to the real issue which IMO is airflow
09-15-2016, 03:04 PM
#5
I have to agree with usnfenix. You made sure there is no air in the system. Temps drop when the heater is turned on, so, no stuck thermostat. You would have mentioned if you were losing coolant. The v8roadster radiator is more than adequate for the swap. Unless your fans are cross-wired and pushing instead of pulling, airflow seems to be the most logical place to look...
09-15-2016, 04:06 PM
#6
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Fan 1 is on at 190, off at 187, Fan 2 is on at 195, off at 190.
I will look further into making sure the air is going through the radiator and not around it.
I will look further into making sure the air is going through the radiator and not around it.
09-15-2016, 05:55 PM
#7
Another thing to think about that sometimes come into play is the heat not being able to escape from the engine compartment. Every engine compartment is different so what works for one may not work for another, Cowl vents/ hood vents are an option and so are fender exit vents. A simple way to test is to drive without the hood and see if it helps.
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09-16-2016, 05:09 PM
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If you have access to a thermocouple reading meter or
a temp gun (or the money to spend on one at Harbor
Freight) I'd look at the upper and lower radiator hoses
first; if the radiator is shedding tens of degrees then it
is probably "good enough" in itself (although sitting still
is nowhere near the heat load of higher-pedal operation).
You might check to be double sure that the swap did
not omit or eliminate the crossover tubes, that the present
thermostat has either a weep hole or that little tiny "dongle"
valve that's supposed to let steam bubbles past the plate.
Steam pockets in the heads can be a runaway situation.
a temp gun (or the money to spend on one at Harbor
Freight) I'd look at the upper and lower radiator hoses
first; if the radiator is shedding tens of degrees then it
is probably "good enough" in itself (although sitting still
is nowhere near the heat load of higher-pedal operation).
You might check to be double sure that the swap did
not omit or eliminate the crossover tubes, that the present
thermostat has either a weep hole or that little tiny "dongle"
valve that's supposed to let steam bubbles past the plate.
Steam pockets in the heads can be a runaway situation.
