After experiencing high coolant temps and some noticeable performance loss on the street in very hot weather (over 95 F ambient) on my 2016 ZO-6 I have decided on a course of action. I have read every thread here I can find on this issue from proper evacuation and charging of the intercooler to discussions on 160 F thermostats, larger radiators and intercoolers, intercooler expansion tanks, ECU tuning, thermal bricks etc, ect, ect. One thing I have decided is there is no simple inexpensive answer for the 2014-2016 ZO-6 cooling issues. When I looked at major performance vendors that I have dealt with in the past (Lingenfelter, Tony Mamo, LG, Katech) none of them offer simple solutions to this problem. They offer expensive solutions that address the root cooling problem that these cars have. Since my car is primarily a street car with occasional 1/4 & 1/8 drag strip use these fixes are to expensive. Then there is the warranty issue as my car is under warranty until 2021. I talked to the service manager at my dealer and a ECU tune is out to reset the fan temps as any major driveline problem will not be covered if the ECU program is changed. The dealer does not have any problems with warranty for simple bolt on's as long as GM does not have to see the ECU. With this in mind I am going to do the following which I hope will help:
1. I ordered Fasterproms 1.7 gallon expansion tank.
2. I ordered fasterproms thermal reduction plates
3. I ordered a 160 F thermostat ( at least the radiator will see full flow at roughly 35 F lower coolant temp).

If this doesn't at least help the situation my next step is to order a new radiator from LG.
Mods currently in the pipeline are AFE intake, Mamo ported TB, midpipe. That's as far as I figure I can go without a tune and losing my warranty.

 

interested to see how things work out. That expansion tank is for the inter-cooler fluid correct?

 

Get a DEI thermal blanket to wrap the passenger side Cat that sits right next to the oil reservoir.

 

A8 or M7?

 

I tried to add the Fasterproms expansion tank and thermal reduction plates to my 15 Z06 in 2015. Be aware that the thermal reduction plates require tuning your ECU. Ask Jeremy.

 

OP. What really high temps?

And as for a loss of performance in hot weather? Lol. Not a car on the planet unaffected by it. It's all science of thermo dynamics. Colder air = denser = more oxygen = more energy...

you can cool things off but it's all relative.

superchargers like we have in this config make the most heat you could find. Huge heat pumps.

turbos are the way to go and will be the weapon of choice next gen. Count on it.

 

The expansion tank is for the intercooler circuit Mike D
A8 Daniel
Good suggestion IM4A2Z
16/C7Z I agree with you and I understand how hot ambient temps affect all cars both NA & FI. They affect my 08 C-6 NA car just not as much as my 2016 ZO6 and the addition of a larger radiator, a tune, 160 degree tstat, and methanol injection solved a large part of the temp related issue with the C6. The difference here is that on the C-6 I did not have a warranty to deal with. If that was the case on the ZO6 I would get a dyno tune and put meth injection on the car in addition to the other steps. The car is running at as high as 215-230 F coolant in 95F and above ambient temps. It depends on how hard it is driven on the street and whether I get stuck in traffic. I have not taken the car to the drag strip yet but I expect the problem would get worse during long waits in the staging lanes. I am not saying these temps will hurt the car, just that it will run better if I can get the coolant and intercooler temps down.

I will look further into the thermal reduction plates requiring a re-tune peterjank. They are currently on backorder and I was told by the vendor no re-tune was required. Curious but Fasterproms web site was off line yesterday & this morning with a message they did not renew some agreement for the site. I will call them tomorrow to see what they say about the issue you raised. Thanks for the heads up if they agree with you..

I expect that all the major vendors mentioned in my original post think of the fixes I mentioned as band aids except maybe the radiator from LG.

In a e-mail reply from Katech (probably the company with the closest ties to Corvette engineering) I was told that the 2017- 2019 ZO6's were only a partial answer to the problem with heat and Corvette's real solution was the 2019 ZR1.

 

 

 

Just driving around town or on the highway you won't notice a thing. If you get a power loss it shows up at wide open throttle in the above 5K rpm range. For the normal street driver's typical 2 or 5 second blast at wide open throttle it won't be noticeable either. If you are planning on tracking the car then go for the newest available if not then don't worry about it. Track usage generates much more engine heat since the average power is much higher due to many minutes of wide open throttle driving Vs a few seconds. That is when the cooling system lets you down.

Bill

 

I just bought a 2018 2LZ 8AT last month and have also been having problems with high oil temps consistently. The last two weeks here in SoCal have been brutal (115°+) so my oil temp has gone as high as 240°. I've also taken my car to the track once and my oil temp went up to 290° and went into limp mode after the first session. Is this normal for even the newer model Z's?

 

yes. for the A8's of any ilk. the A8 uses a trans cooler in place of the Aux radiator on the M7 cars. a moronic and lame attempt by GM to keep the A8 trans cooler vs relocating or splitting duty between Aux rad and trans cooler in same location. So the trans doesn't overheat or get hot but the engine does lol.. the reason they DIDN'T do that or more for a car that sells as well as the Z06 is beyond me. should have been done alongside of the ZR1 development.

PS. the 2017 lid update was ONLY to tilt the rear bricks and allow EVEN cooling through all cylinders. not "additional" cooling in the traditional sense. don't be fooled. the bricks are not larger in any way. Bill confirmed this in another thread (which was already known but quickly forgotten about).

 

I could've sworn I'd already responded on this one, I apologize for the delay. An expansion tank will help, as will our radiator. We use an adapter to delete the factory oil cooler and run lines to one in a different location away from exhaust heat. Our hood has a significantly larger louvered area that will help pull heat out without having any sort of negative affect on warranty. Feel free to give us a call at 972-429-1963.

Thanks!

Dane