Steve Snake Driver

Point of interest, oil temp on gage is precooler. Oil into engine post cooler is ~ 20 degrees less (don't recall if that is C or F). They do read CF and he was familiar with Lawdogg's shield and wrap. Doesn't recommend the wrap as it can be hard on cats. Not big on external oil cooler due to concerns about oil pressure drop in engine oil system. He gave some examples from other projects which all sounded reasonable (on iPhone so not gonna do long winded response). GM is looking at some water cooling solutions but he cautioned that service life engineers have to sign off on any solution so that is a large part of the lack of any immediate solution. A perception entirely my own - the Corvette guys and girls are aware of the situation and do want to resolve it and there seems to be some frustration that corporate demands and policies play a role. That perception based on talking to several different Team Corvette people at Carlisle.

JDMUSCLE

This seems promising.. Looks like they've got something to resolve the issue but it's in the works through the corporate garbage. Thanks for posting

NSC5

Steve,
Thanks for posting the info. I am not surprised at the temperature measurement point since a measurement post cooler doesn't provide the more important high temperature point reading although dual point measurement was surely done in development to measure cooler effectiveness.

I remember reading in some business literature years ago about a consultant who was dismissed by Roger Smith (GM CEO during the 1980s) after he joked that he understood Smith had just received a customer complaint about a 1929 Chevrolet-indicating it took over 50 years for a customer complaint to make it through the GM bureaucracy to the top. Hopefully within the corporate hierarchy they now understand that you can always come up with an excuse but an excuse and a valid reason are distant relatives at best.

Gomer

lawdogg's wrap is a wrap around the oil lines, not the CATs. I can't see how that can affect the CATs... unless they were counting on the lines and cooler as heat sinks for the CATs. LOL

Snorman

FWIW...I think I was the first one to wrap the adjacent catalytic convertor with DEI heat wrap. I ran the car like that for one track weekend, then removed the wrap when we fabricated a proper heat shield (you'll note that GM installs a number of heat shields on the exhaust system, so this is not "snake oil" IMO). When we removed the heat wrap from the cat, it crumbled and disintegrated into pieces. And yes, a shard of it blew into my eye.
S.

four0nefive

This is great info and I'm glad you posted it. The only issue is that when Chevy (Corvette team) says they are working on a cooling system, how long are owners going to have to wait? I remember a few months ago, SBC_and_a_Stick asked a question about additional cooling in the "Ask Tadge" section and Tadge responded, saying that they are working on an extra cooling system, but we still have nothing from Chevy themselves. I'm glad DeWitts and Ron Davis have better dual pass radiators that help cut temps, but say something went wrong wit (although with a better radiator that allows the engine to run cooler shouldn't cause issues), who knows if Chevy would warranty it.

Here's what I think Chevy should do (not sure how good of an idea this is):
- Develop a cooling kit for the Z06 and Stingray that will allow the car to run full sessions without overheating (I know people have done this already, but for those who are having trouble this would be good)
- Offer the kit for either free or at very reasonable price

Or they can go a completely different route and allow dealers to install an aftermarket radiator and warranty the car (the key here is that the dealer has to install the radiator for the car to very warrantied. I know Dodge does this the Viper and aftermarket parts).

Steve Snake Driver

Apologies. The GM guy didn't mention anyone's name when he talked about the exhaust pipe wrap. I mentioned Lawdogg in the post because I happened to recall something wrapped. Sorry for any confusion.

Snorman

No problem at all, I should probably have stated it a little differently. I was the first to try it, and probably the first to take it back off the car.
I think people will find that the cat destroys the heat wrap if they haven't already.
Thanks for the info!
S.

GTB/ZR-1

Hey Sean- who fabbed up the shield for you & materials, pls?

Thx

NSC5

Probably better than the heat wrap destroying the cat!

Your heat shielding looks very nicely installed.

OnPoint

Good news that they are in fact working the issue.

I believe they'll get it solved. It'll just take them longer to do so than many of us prefer.

Snorman

It is 1/16" aluminum with DEI thermal barrier on the cat side. We fabricated it at my buddy's shop. He has a brake so we're able to cleanly bend it. I cleaned it up with a bench grinder so no edges or points. It is version 1.0 as I have a few ideas to improve it.
S.

GTB/ZR-1

Nicely done... Once I find the right Z, I may be ready for your v 2.0 lol

Thx

lawdogg149

Thanks guys for clarifying it wasnt me wrapping the cats.

Also stay on them up there. Everyone that owns one of these cars needs to keep asking them over and over all weekend up.

My heat shield.

johnglenntwo

Us as in your C7, now Z06, "Beta Testers"!?

Steve Snake Driver

I would also point out that Petite LeMans is last week of September and the Corvette Corral is another opportunity to do so.

descartesfool

Great to know they are looking into it, and too bad it has to take so long for solutions to become available. Perhaps if you talk to them again you could ask how it happened that the cooling was not designed for more performance in the first place. Did they not expect they would see cars overheating when driven fast on track? Surely they knew everything that could be known with their own testing.

lawdogg149

I will be there as always. Indeed will be a bee in there ear. Last year the ran away from me. But they may of been because I drove my viper to the viper pit.

rsilver

Great news! Thanks for posting this.
This is consistent with what i heard at the dealer two days ago from service and a tech who will meet in the field with some corvette engineers. The dealer has seen a lot of overheating issues.

snoreman, nice looking shield. Interested to see how it works and what 2.0 is. I was wondering where you attached it and how.
Definitley like to do something like this for my PS unit. Your material would work great for that.....bob

OnPoint

Haven't had a Stingray, so don't know what issues those have. Haven't had any problems with my Z, but it's pretty clear some have.

I don't think it's any secret. Apparently GM realizes that as well, which is why I think they'll continue to work the issue. Which is different than the LS7 valve guide issue for example, which GM hasn't done anything to fully acknowledge or publish a solution. Those problems weren't manifested by numerous magazine testers, published pro driver reports - i.e high profile, consistent feedback - that thermal management has been for some with these cars.

I frankly think they knew about the issue, but assumed it would daylight only in small isolated numbers, and vastly underestimated the amount of track duty the car is seeing.