The 160* Tstat and Fan settings is not easy to understand, lots of people don't get it and it's often misunderstood when they try. They think because they put a thermostat in a pot of water on the stove, heat it and it opens at 160* that it proves some theory about how the Tstat works in the dynamic process while an engine is running at different rpms, speeds and under different climate conditions and while the coolant temps are constantly changing on either side of the Tstat as it performs to manage coolant temps outside a pot of boiling water on the stove.

Thank for your suggestion to "search" for threads that might help to educate me. I'd suggest you look at your thread count and start date and compare to mine. I also suggest that you try your own advice. See how many times you see me in those threads. It's not my first rodeo, and no worries, I don't take your statements as facts.

 

Answer is that when you get into boost, this is going to start to heat soak the engine. The current crop of S/C's only put boost to the motor when you push the pedal down, not when you are holding the pedal steady and the waste gate is dumping the boost so you can hold the car at the same MPH.

So just cruising at the same speed, your not dumping boost to the motor, and it will hold it normal temps. Now where you do gas pedal down, the first boost will start to heat up the engine, and by the second boost even quickly back to back, the motor is already slightly heat soak, the motor gets hotter, and now ECM is pulling timing/your not getting as much power from that second and later boosts of back to back hits.

On some motors with lower amounts of boost to say 600hp, Meth kit alone with the stock radiator and radiator fan is enough to control the added heat, so you are getting full power on back to back boosts. Its when you are pushing more boost to get higher HP numbers, and even in say a road course type even that you are on the boost many times around a lap, then this is where a better cooling radiator, and fans comes into to play instead.

To take it one more step,the stock radiator and fan is designed to hold the motor at about 210*. There is the 160 T stat and fan setting tweaks to bring the motor temp down during cruse to 180*, but when you get on the motor, the stock radiator will not hold the temp below 210* isntead. Hence with the motor at say 180 degrees, it allow for more HP. So if your trying to hold the motor at 180 even while pushing the motor hard, the stock radiator and stock fan are not up to the challenge.

As for S/C cooling of the compressed air itself, the TVS units have inner cooler coils in the blower that the air passes through, an external radiator on the front of the car in the nose, and water is used/pumped through the system to pull the heat from the compressed air. They are the two coils to the right of the orange pieces.




On centrifugal blowers, there is an air cooler in the front of the car in the nose that the compressed air from the super charger passes through to cool the compressed air back down before it make is way to the intake manifold isntead.

 

i think the cooling issues on a supercharged vette is hit or miss. Maybe I have been lucky. Live in SC where the summer heat can be 95-105 and is my daily driver. I am running stock radiator / fans, 160 thermostat , adjusted my fans in the tune (i did burn the connector, but by passed it).

I believe your engine timing and fan setting in your tune has a lot to do with how well your radiator can keep up. some people cant keep them cool, some have no problems at all.

 

With a mild centrifugral FI setup such as an A&A Si-trim or Ti-trim, running a 3.8 or 4.0 pulley on an LS3 isn't going to see boost until 4500 rpm and after. If you're driving on the streets, every day driving, think about how much time (in terms of percentage) the engine is going to see 4500 rpm and more. Before 4500 rpm, you're basically driving an NA LS3. And, if you are seeing more than 10% @ 4500 + RPM with this type of setup on a C6 with street tires, you're either already arrested for reckless driving or anyone observing you would say you should be.

If anyone can honestly say they're in boost half the time they're driving on the streets, then I'll concede, you will eventually overheat, but no coolant upgrade of any kind will make it much better..

 

I have a 2012 convert that i had Lingenfelter install a Magnesun super charger on 600 at the crank 518 dyno to rear wheels. Added bigger Dewits radiator at the same time

 

 

True, I can finally agree, you might have spent too much money based on your setup, which was the condition that I set as a parameter in my response. I am no exception to any rule......BRO....There are more LS3s out there with A&A or ECS setups in the under 600hp range than there are big HP boosted street cars.

Your statement - F/I is going to make cooling an issue period, is inaccurate. It depends on the setup, geography, and the intended use. A dedicated track car vs. a dedicated drag car vs. a dedicated street car... all FIed, will have different cooling system needs, and different cooling needs if these cars are equipped with a roots vs, a centri blower.

You're not alone in misunderstanding how Tstats work. Maybe a little research would clear that up for you. I have, and can start producing close to 100 HPT datalogs I have done just setting up one LS3 with an A&A V3. At least a third of those dealt with coolant temps under all rpm ranges, under different air temps as high as 115* and as low as 40*, with different Tstats and different fan settings. I can bring those out if you can produce any DLs of your own showing that - F/I is going to make cooling an issue period.

 

 

 

Agree...no sense in continuing to waste clicks....bro......