dsddcd

So I finally got a chance to run the new track rat and everything went pretty well for the first time out. On a 65°F day at COTA the car was running 270°F Oil temp and 230°F coolant temperatures during the 25 min sessions we were running. The car is a '15 manual and all stock engine, exhaust..... Looking at some of the cooling options I believe that removing the oil cooler load from the cooling system we should see coolant temps drop thus keeping the car on track as the ambient temps rise. I have looked at all the solutions out there and it appears that rather than adding the GM secondary radiator, transmission cooler for auto's, and putting in an air to oil heat exchanger that you could sufficiently remove enough heat from the cooling system to allow for longer sessions.

Since I have not seen anyone else post any quantitative information on this approach I am posting this to see if anyone has had success.

5thGear

HighBeta

Dewitts in Michigan also offers a decent kit you might want to investigate.

https://www.dewitts.com/collections/...ducts/1139114m

And there are numerous reports that simply adding the secondary/aux GM radiator is sufficent for your purposes in an M7.

dsddcd

I have tracked down a few adapters so that should be the easy part. For all my oil coolers I use Setrab cores but will need to measure the car and I will put in the largest that I can fit.


Yes, Dewitts makes a great product I have used in C5 & 6's but I do not like that it impedes flow to the intercooler or primary radiator.

On the note of the secondary radiator I have seen the same, all reports are dramatic reduction in the coolant temperature. Since we are seeing the oil temps soar my though was to remove the load from the oil system from the cooling system and reject that heat to atmosphere thus keeping the oil cool and lowering the coolant temps.

The next item is to address the intercooler and radiator. Ultimately there are only (2) idea's there:

1.) Move the intercoolers to a location in front of the wheels like the kits that are available. Unfortunately I am not a big fan based on the cars I have seen in person. I have not seen a TIKT car yet but I don't like that the brake ducts are lost either. Maybe in the near future the ZR1 will provide the parts needed to do it right as a retrofit!

2.) In other cars prior I had aftermarket radiators made that had split circuits. One for Engine Coolant & Engine Oil, Engine Coolant & After cooler, Engine Coolant & Trans Fluid.......

Dane@LGmotorsports

We make various cooling parts such as the factory oil cooler delete below. Give us a call at 972-429-1963.

Bill Dearborn

I have a 15 manual and installed the Secondary Radiator. It has three advantages, it works, is simple to add and it doesn't impact the warranty. With a 15 you should still have some of the 5 year powertrain warranty remaining and maybe some of the B2B warranty remaining.

I have tracked the car in ambient temps into the low to mid 90s and have never come close to over heating the engine. Coolant temps remain in the mid 220s and oil temps remain in the mid 270s. I can' say how well it will cool a car running in ambient temps in the 100s since I don't participate in events where ambient temps are that high.

However, GM's claim that it drops oil and coolant temps about 14 degrees seems to be spot on. For a mod that results in that large of a drop, upgrades the car to a 2017 configuration and costs less than $1K it is hard to beat. When you go to sell the car you don't have to put it back to stock or explain to potential purchasers why you butchered the car.

Bill

LuckyC7Z06

I deleted the oil cooler and installed a thermostat and fan driven oil cooler on the passenger side fender. I cut, shaped and directed the front brake cooler duct to the cooler. There’s lots of room on passenger side to do this. I then cut wheel well liner and put in a metal mesh screen for air to vent out I also put in a small sheet metal plate to deflect air away from intake so it won’t suck in the hot air from cooler.
i don’t track so losing front brake cooler was not an issue to me. I was just hating seeing 220-260 plus temps on oil & water. being modified and slow moving traffic was really taxing the system.
since then I haven’t seen the water above 205 or the oil above 200. I did change out thermo switch to a higher temp one as it was triggering cooling fan too soon and oil wouldn’t warm up. (believe that crap?)
It was all DIY in my garage with supplies from Lowe’s and reputable parts that I was able to purchase from Amazon. The mod shop I go to can’t believe how good it works!! Oil is always 5-10 degrees cooler than the water temps and they say that’s amazing because the cars oil temp sensor is in Oil tank on the return side and if it’s reading cooler than water it’s working awesome!
I don’t have many pics of it as it was all done off the top of my head and I didn’t know if it would work good. I can take some this weekend if it interests you but like I said I did lose the brake cooler for that side. I had my doubts to the point I had already ordered an extra wheel well liner in case it didn’t work I could put everything back like it was.
good luck!!


Note outside temp on radio
Outside temp at 100 still cruising and oil temp steady and always slightly cooler than water.

dsddcd

Thank you everyone for your input. Upon doing further research it appears that the #1 problem in the aftercooler taking clean air to the radiator. I have come up with several options:

Option 1.)
• Factory Radiator
• Aftercoolers, Bumper & fender parts from LG
• Custom Built Oil Cooler to be used in place of the Secondary Radiator or in front of the radiator

Option 2.A.)
• Factory Radiator
• Aftercooler relocated to the position of the secondary radiator (Factory or Aftermarket)
• Katech System or Custom Laminova (Much higher Quality) Water to Oil cooler

Option 2.B.)
• Factory Radiator
• Aftercooler relocated to the position of the secondary radiator (Factory or Aftermarket)
• Mount the oil cooler in front of the radiator or above the aftercooler like the Dewitts option

Option 3.)
• Have a custom radiator made with integral aftercooler
• Custom Built Oil Cooler to be used in place of the Secondary Radiator

Option 4.A.)
• Custom Built Oil Cooler to be used in place of the Secondary Radiator
• Wait until the ZR1 part are available and upgrade the front end with all the ZR1 parts

Option 4.B.)
• Factory Aftercooler & Radiator
• GMPP Secondary Radiator
• Dewitt’s Oil Cooler
• Wait until the ZR1 part are available and upgrade the front end with all the ZR1 upgrades

jbsblownc5

Very nice, interesting work!!

GSpeed

Dan, Start with this post- You seem to enjoy data, and there is every conceivable test completed with the Z. https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...velopment.html

To answer your question- If you remove the oil cooler load from the cooling system, you are looking at a 20-25* drop in coolant temp. You must size the oil cooler properly, as the temp sensor stops reading at 306F. Because this car is imported to Europe, it cannot contain lead. The LT4 polymer engine bearings actually get TIGHTER with temp, and catastrophic engine failure will occur at 330-340*F.

The next issue you will have is blower intercooler pump cavitation and shut down. Please see and read this thread and video:

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-shutdown.html

We have solved that issue with our cooling system design. Our competitors now package some of our components with their kits to prevent this issue.

I also suggest looking at this:

https://www.google.com/search?q=gspe...jkA7cQ_AUICygC

We are the only manufacturer that includes a new shroud. Please see this thread for pics. and info- Note this is our "no cut kit" or stage zero system in this post, but it utilizes our custom shroud and cooler setup.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-solution.html


Honestly, we categorize all of our data on here, corvette forum. Our testing is legitimate and as open and honest as possible. Trying to obtain data from any other manufacturer is hard. Maybe because it never happened? None the less, good luck in your search for a cool car, we would be glad to help.

djnice

GSpeed

We were not able to get that info, but its from one of the chief engineers of the platform who has driven two of our customers cars. Its extremely important to not surpass the 300* limit, because of that, and the fact that the sensor has an upper limit of 305*

Mikec7z

I believe this is one of the most important posts on the entire c7 forum.

He is correct to attack the oil temperature directly by cooling the oil down further than it already is.

Cooling the oil allows it to maintain its viscosity and not break down. It keeps the engine bearings safe. When he notes that he had to put in a higher thermostat temp sensor because it was keeping the oil too cold... you know he is onto something.

I plan to explore this option on my car and have requested him to take some more pictures using a flash this time around. Just turning the wheel and seeing the wheel liner and where he cut, would be a great head start.

Has anyone else on the forum done anything like this yet without getting carried away replacing a single other radiator or heat exchanger etc?

My gut says that this alone is all that the track guys really need to replace to keep their cars in the safe zone. The brake cooling duct being interfered with is a bit of a concern, I am wondering if there is not another way.

I think the LG and Gspeed noses would solve this without having to mess with the duct, and i personally am hoping someone releases a zr1 nose that fits the z06.

I would build this and replace the nose in a heartbeat.

The T-man

-----------------
Do you have more install pics of this mod? I think alot of members would be interested as effective as it appears to be
or a whole thread showing what you did w/ part #'s etc etc....

Mikec7z

he basically hooked any oil cooler in the front compartment. I think there are ones that are more efficient than he used available, so you have to decide on budget. A great website to get started is the improvedracing.com where he got the black piece you see that fits in the place of the oil cooler. He PM'd me this stuff already, which is why i am speaking up in case he does not show back up for a while...

http://www.improvedracing.com/oil-co...tat-p-737.html

The black piece has a mechanical plunger inside, that opens at heat above whichever temp unit you buy. You want to buy the 180 degree unit.

That then allows full amount of oil to flow up to the cooler.

The second thermostat that he talks about is the one that causes the fan to engage. The website i linked has fan kits that will give you ideas. They are hooked up to the thermostat which measures the oil temp as it approaches the heat ex changer that the fan is attached to.

Another way to do it is to wire it to something existing, like one of the existing fans power cable etc.

Im still waiting for any pics from him myself, if he sends me some, ill ask him if i can put them up here

Mikec7z

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ictly-fyi.html

xslangx

Lucky Z06 sent me the parts list for his build and I'm duplicating it, will be more than happy to show what was done after complete. Will post up pics soon

Thanks Lucky for the help

NTMD8R

Sounds like a possible solution.
Question #1.... LuckyC7Z06.... it appears car is an A8 (automatic), right?
Question #2.... LuckyC7Z06.... why is the engine light on in both your pictures of the temps?

Thanks

Thomasmoto

I bought the DeWitt's complete kit and while it helps, it doesn't alleviate the issue completely. You mostly see it during regular hwy driving. And their oil cooler obstructs the a/c condenser a little so it takes some speed to make it cool enough for the a/c.
The kits LG and GSpeed offer are the only absolute solution to the problem.

0Tom@Dewitt

We are working on it and should release it sometime this fall