Sanity Check - Overheating Issues in tune?

Dom88LX · Oct 6, 2021

I've been chasing overheating issues on my V3 Si trim supercharged fox and after eliminating everything I can think of mechanically (SVE aluminum radiator, water pump, thermostat, contour fan upgrade), I'm hoping someone could take a look at my msq to see if there is anything egregious in the tune that would be contributing to the problem. This is from a microsquirt plug and play from EFISource. Thanks for any feedback!

Mods:
BBK short tubes
BBK catless H pipe
4.10 gears
Vortech V3 Si
stock longblock

a91what · Oct 6, 2021

A datalog will help as well.

Dom88LX · Oct 6, 2021

a91what said:
A datalog will help as well.

Here are two, to the gas station and back.

KRUISR · Oct 10, 2021

Define overheating issues? Where is temp sensor for fans? What triggers fans to come on?

Dom88LX · Oct 11, 2021

KRUISR said:
Define overheating issues? Where is temp sensor for fans? What triggers fans to come on?

I should clarify I have a 165 degF thermostat. The fans are triggered by the ALED output in microsquirt to come on when coolant temp > 170 degF w/ a 10 degree hysteresis.

the car will hold temperature at idle and light driving sitting in the driveway, 160-170 degF. At highway cruising the engine temps will creep up to 220-230 as read on my laptop running tuner studio. They'll also jump up after any spirited driving (burnouts, high RPM shifts).

I'm concerned my timing table is off as I pulled it for a base mustang tune and adjusted from there and I am a rookie when it comes to microsquirt/digital tuning.

KRUISR · Oct 11, 2021

Where is the temp sensor located that is giving the 220 reading? Are your fans running constantly when driving?

a91what · Oct 11, 2021

Do you have the air dam installed? It goes below the radiator support. Some guys remove it or it gets ripped off or folds over with age. It is required to keep the engine cool at speed. The cooling fan is for idle and below 30mph.
You should have at least a 185 thermostat normal operating temp for a sbf is 200

KRUISR · Oct 11, 2021

Another question, with the Contour fans, are you running them in low speed or high speed or do you have both modes configured?

I have a 180 thermostat, all side and bottom air dams and run the Contour fans in dual speed modes. My temperature sensor for the fans is located in the lower rad hose (only runs the fans when the coolant is greater than 205). When driving around (moving greater than 30 mph) my fans NEVER come on. Only when in slow traffic or stopped.

Dom88LX · Oct 12, 2021

KRUISR said:
Where is the temp sensor located that is giving the 220 reading? Are your fans running constantly when driving?

Wherever the ECU picks up coolant temp. I'm not sure where that location is? I know the temp gauge is in the front of the intake manifold but I dont think this wires into the ECU. The fans run constantly at HIGH once coolant temp gets over 170.

Dom88LX · Oct 12, 2021

a91what said:
Do you have the air dam installed? It goes below the radiator support. Some guys remove it or it gets ripped off or folds over with age. It is required to keep the engine cool at speed. The cooling fan is for idle and below 30mph.
You should have at least a 185 thermostat normal operating temp for a sbf is 200

I have the air dam on order.

what's the rationale for a 185 thermostat vs a 165 or the stock 190? could a lower Tstat cause cooling issues at speed?

Thanks!

Dom88LX · Oct 12, 2021

KRUISR said:
Another question, with the Contour fans, are you running them in low speed or high speed or do you have both modes configured?

I have a 180 thermostat, all side and bottom air dams and run the Contour fans in dual speed modes. My temperature sensor for the fans is located in the lower rad hose (only runs the fans when the coolant is greater than 205). When driving around (moving greater than 30 mph) my fans NEVER come on. Only when in slow traffic or stopped.

solely High speed mode. basically, I'm trying to rule out every possible contributing factor before going 10 toes in and tearing the heads off the engine and doing a gasket job.

a91what · Oct 12, 2021

The thermostat controls the engine temp, if you are overheating you have a cooling system issue.
Efi engines are designed to run around 200* to burn off junk in the oil.

KRUISR · Oct 12, 2021

Do me a favor. With car cold, open rad cap. Start car and let it warm up. When t-stat opens do you see coolant level drop and coolant start to come through rad tubes?

Once circulating, is the lower rad hose still round or collapsed?

I think you have either an air flow through the rad issue or coolant circulation issue. The Contour fans will pull more than enough air to keep cool at idle, provided they are fit to rad properly. Another thought I had, do you have an A/C condenser mounted in front of the rad? I have seen a dirty/plugged condenser impede air enough to cause issue.

For water pump, standard or high flow unit?

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