Overheating worse after upgrading radiator
Thread Starter
Cruising
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 10
Likes: 2
Overheating worse after upgrading radiator
Hi all,
Just got back from my first track day with an upgraded radiator and I'm not too happy. I'm running even warmer than I was running on the original factory radiator. Last track day I was at 240° and this one I hit 260° and went into limp mode. Oil temps were about 278° when it started screaming at me. Ambient temp was 81°. I'm running the CSF 7077 which has good reviews but obviously something is not happy. What can I look at next? I was thinking about adding the LG motorsports oil cooler to try and get some of the oil heat out of the coolant.
2017 Z06 A8
Just got back from my first track day with an upgraded radiator and I'm not too happy. I'm running even warmer than I was running on the original factory radiator. Last track day I was at 240° and this one I hit 260° and went into limp mode. Oil temps were about 278° when it started screaming at me. Ambient temp was 81°. I'm running the CSF 7077 which has good reviews but obviously something is not happy. What can I look at next? I was thinking about adding the LG motorsports oil cooler to try and get some of the oil heat out of the coolant.
2017 Z06 A8
Last edited by Albert Pender; Sep 20, 2023 at 11:28 PM.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 954
Likes: 377
From: Louisiana
1. Do you have air in the system?
2. Have you tested the radiator cap? If it has failed it will let in air at too low of pressure.
3. Are you running the correct mixture of coolant to water?
Z06 is notorious about overheating on track, so you might want to look at the LG upgrade. https://www.lgmotorsports.com/lg-mot...k-package.html
2. Have you tested the radiator cap? If it has failed it will let in air at too low of pressure.
3. Are you running the correct mixture of coolant to water?
Z06 is notorious about overheating on track, so you might want to look at the LG upgrade. https://www.lgmotorsports.com/lg-mot...k-package.html
Premium Supporting Vendor
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,457
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From: DFW Texas
Thermostat or a serious air pocket. Drill the thermostat and test to verify, but I would bet that's the issue. Oil temp is generally about 40 degrees higher than water temp on C7's, an 18 degree difference would indicate water temps are driving oil temps up.
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2015 C7 of the Year Finalist
yup, Elmer
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2000
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From: N. Alabama
Some of us use liquid to air oil cooling. There is that belief that running oil lines through the all in one coolant radiator only puts more heat into the engine coolant side of the radiator. My Ron Davis radiator only has engine coolant passing through the engine coolant side. I don't use the oil lines on the other side of the radiator. Also, make sure every shroud surrounding is closed off tightly. Wide gaps around the new radiator can greatly affect the efficiency. And, as others have mentioned, make sure no air pockets in system. Oh yeah, thermostat? Some will remove the thermostat completely but that only sends the coolant through the radiator too fast to exchange the heat in some cases. Some restriction (thermostat) slows down the flow enough to allow cooling exchange.
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Premium Supporting Vendor
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,457
Likes: 657
From: DFW Texas
Some of us use liquid to air oil cooling. There is that belief that running oil lines through the all in one coolant radiator only puts more heat into the engine coolant side of the radiator. My Ron Davis radiator only has engine coolant passing through the engine coolant side. I don't use the oil lines on the other side of the radiator. Also, make sure every shroud surrounding is closed off tightly. Wide gaps around the new radiator can greatly affect the efficiency. And, as others have mentioned, make sure no air pockets in system. Oh yeah, thermostat? Some will remove the thermostat completely but that only sends the coolant through the radiator too fast to exchange the heat in some cases. Some restriction (thermostat) slows down the flow enough to allow cooling exchange.
Thread Starter
Cruising
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 10
Likes: 2
Thanks for all the suggestions. I pulled a hard vacuum on the system and got almost another 3/4 of a gallon into it. Just to be safe I'm gonna swap out the cap and thermostat, they're cheap and easy enough to swap.
My tracks day are usually at Hallett in Oklahoma. Usually on course for about 15 minutes at a time. Would the LG oil cooler be overkill for what I'm doing with it? Assuming I can fix this hard water temp spike.
My tracks day are usually at Hallett in Oklahoma. Usually on course for about 15 minutes at a time. Would the LG oil cooler be overkill for what I'm doing with it? Assuming I can fix this hard water temp spike.
