Heres the deal, 105* in Texas for 58 days this summer, Mishimoto radiator, replaced stock drivers side puller fan with a slim SPAL 12" fan rated at 1200cfm with a shroud--modded stock one. Both fans work. Car temp rises in heavy traffic with A/C on, cools rt down on the go or under load. So what are the options for cooling this thing down in these extreme temps--. W/O A/C its fine but damn hot. Have a Tomei bypass for the oil cooler waiting to go in...any other ideas? Dual fans are not the answer--no room on pass side. Read the threads on cooling that got me this far. So who has a working solution with AC running on the car.

 

I have the same issue, I am buying a turbo blanket to help keep under hood temps down and hoping it helps.

****edit**** forgot to mention im running a half size radiator. Obviously make sure you dont have any air pockets in your cooling system.

 

Sounds like an issue with cooling system. Thermostat, air pocket, pin hole leak in rad, fan switch

I know of quite a few evos that have no inner fan and do not get hot ever.

 

Turbo blanket is a great option. You could also
Heat wrap your downpipe
Coat your exhaust manifold
Heat shield for the manifold
Make sure your radiator fins aren't bent and dirty
clean your A/c condenser so if flows good to the radiator
Do a coolant flush
JDM 160 T stat

That should help make your cooling system more efficient.

 

Yeah I don't run the inner fan and don't have heating issues in Vegas whens its 110 out here. I didn't think about an air pocket. If your adding coolant you've got a leak.

 

Hmm interesting-- No leaks, don't think I have air pockets-- fluid level is always good, don't have issues unless I am sitting in traffic. The lower thermostat is a good idea until it cools a little then it causes issues-- I was trying to avoid. I was really puzzled and this didnt start until I swapped out the inner fan. But at 1200cfm I would have thought that was enough. No issues with the car moving-- just at a stop after its been running, with the A/C on, temp starts to come up-- creeps up. If its at idle in the drive no problem...add the A/C then its an issue-- both fans working. Keep it coming--thx for the ideas, thats what I am down to now..

 

seems like the extra heat from the A/C is kicking your radiators butt. What about changing the temp the fans come on in ECU flash? Maybe you can have them come on sooner.

 

I have worked to make my Eclipse heat "resistant" as I turn it into a track car while, at least for the near term, keeping the a/c. Here are things I've done which in bumper to bumper traffic on a 90 deg sunny day for hours with a/c on have left me with peak temps pretty low (210 deg F peak):

- three 1/8" holes drilled in my oem thermostat (after reading a Formula SAE paper discussing amongst other things cooling system modifications that recommended it)
- swirl pot inline with upper radiator hose, air bleed line feeding to surge/header tank
- surge/header tank with bleed lines to the feed/inlet of the radiator and top of the surge tank, and return line near the outlet of the radiator.
- custom dual-pass radiator from Ron Davis radiators. Thicker than all aftermarket radiators, with ports for the surge tank bleed lines, water temp probe, and an integrated oil cooler.
- pull 12" spal fan and push 10" spal fan. Don't remember the cfm but at the time they were they highest I could get with these dimensions and thin enough to fit.
- fmic/radiator ducting that is sealed with aluminum tape as much as possible. Radiator is sealed to the radiator support with pipe insulation foam from home depot racing.
- turbo is wrapped with a ptp turbo blanket.
- manifold is heat shielded with a stainless steel heat shield.
- o2 sensor housing is header wrapped.
- hood has huge vents for exhausting heat and of course lowering pressure behind the radiator thus improving its airflow.

Here are pics of the engine bay, though I don't think it says more than what I've explained above. Also a shot of the car (work in progress, off to body shop tomorrow for the rest of the body work) to show the kind of hood vents I have.

 

tsi awesome setup you are one of the first people ive seen build your setup around your cooling system most people do it backwards and wonder when they have problems to the op the only thing i can add that has not been said is try water wetter or another brand they do work.

 

im only using one oem fan in my 9 down here in SUNNY HOT AS HELL Florida, no overheating issues, but it did cutoff twice within minutes one day when it was 100+

 

Thx-- great ideas and methodical thought process. Funny about the thermos mod--used to to that on other cars I have had to beat the heat. I agree with the other post as well, my radiator is getting its butt kicked! There have been some old posts on the fan controller, thinking I may not be getting full power or potential form the Spal fan ( read volts) to the fan. May also need to just buy a more powerfull (CFM rated) fan-- felt I had enough already but maybe not.. Need to revisit the heat from the turbo area as well whille I have the heat sheild for the manifold there could be and likely is radiant heat from the turbo and down pipe that could be driving up temps as well. Thx again for the posts and ideas guys.

 

Is your electrical fan wired to be on all the time or is it switched on thermostatically once a certain temp is reached? If the latter, then wire it to be on at all times.

 

Would make sense and I appreciate the idea--need to look into something like this. Was just out with the car--seems to be cycling fans on and off every few seconds---wonding if its the control unit now---as this is something new.

Wiring the fan to be on all the time presents other problems at speed and can cause cooling issues while getting air thru the radiator.

 

OK, figured it out. I do want to that everyone who responded and shared some excellent ideas upfront-- so I may try a few for kicks. However, I must have received a severe case of DUMB A$$ will working thru final assembly. As I looked again at the fans, I finally got a piece of thread and dropped in in front of the radiator and guess what It was blowing out and inside was pushing back thru the radiator--- yep. I looked at the wiring that I diligently wired in the same colors as stock and sure as SH** I had blue and black crossed--making the fan run in reverse, causing the car to heat up in traffic.. I admit, it was just me and another example of---triple and quadruple check your work. Can't believe I made such a stupid and obvious mistake-- I color coded for a reason---and there you have it. Thx again all. M

 

Glad you got it fixed. I hate when its something small like that!