A fair mount of my LSX friends run the steam vent directly to the top of the water pump with a tapped hole.
A fair mount of my LSX friends run the steam vent directly to the top of the water pump with a tapped hole.
Only thing that brass's me off from that is the owner who finally gets it right and then proceeds to tell you or me that he just had a great idea to fix his cooling system/whatever, but forgot who had been trying to help him for the last few times when he was crying in his coolant!Jac I have a question for ya. I've looked for hours on Google and I can't find any reference to coolant pressure (s) in the various areas of the coolant system in a typical automotive system.
Smokey Yunick wrote some articles and Circle track had some good info on this plus the introduction of the 'Evans' coolant flow & pump. All SBC related though.
I assume it must be less in the recovery tank than the radiator cap value or it would open. Just what are we looking at. Do you think that pressure would be greater at the pump outlet, then lower as it leaves the engine and regains pressure as it travels back into the tubing and is transferred to the radiator? Does the pressure go up or down in the radiator? I would think that the radiator would have greater volume that the pipes running back and forth to it. Thus the pressure would be lower in it????????
IF you run the steam vents to the top of the expansion tank and connect the ~5/8" return from the expansion tank to the water pump at the same point as the heater return then the pump tends to lower the pressure in the recovery tank, so the only time the cap should vent or expel any coolant overboard into the catch/recovery tank is when head gasket leaks slightly or you get some 'nucleate boiling' taking place that causes some coolant loss into the tank, and obviously if you fill the expansion tank to the brim it will tend to find its own operating level.... this is quite normal, Early systems with NON-RECOVERY type caps all older style radiators were never meant to be filled to the brim, the top tank on a vertical core was meant to be ~1/2 full & early X-Flow radiators were only filled to ~ 3" down from top.
Maybe the pressures are different throughout the system, That's my guess. Do you know of any real data on this question?
Yes different all over the place quite common to get 30/40 lb in some parts of blocks/heads, although I would like to think things have improved in cooling system setups since back in the 70's
Others?
Eric. You HAVE to take ALL the air out of the system and deliver it to the only place that it should be. That is the head of air at the top of the expansion tank. This is the function of all the bleed lines. The other end of the bleed lines should be placed at the points that are most likely to trap air such as the back of the heads.
I run my expansion tank about 1/3 full of water and let the process force out any extra into the overflow tank.
After a full day at the track I usually find just a bit in the over flow tank and the cooled down expansion tank level about where it started out.
One last idea. drill a 1/8 " diameter hole in the flange area of the thermostat if you run one. Orientate the hole at the top. This will prevent any air from being trapped behind it when it is closed regardless if you are using the bypass hose or not.
That used to be good advice, but with these 'new' systems such as the LS engines with thermostat at bottom having the correct thermostat to make the by-pass function correctly is more important...a lot of aftermart thermostats dont fit the housing correctly allowing the by-pass to circulate at an amount larger than desired.
All this little stuff is the reason cars that don't have cooling problems don't. It is just a matter of trial and error and some copying other successful designs.Agree, Ive seen far too many otherwise good race cars let down by a poor cooling system.
ASK ASK ASK the people who's stuff works and COPY COPY COPY their designs!!!!!
That would only serve to reintroduce any steam/air into the coolant flow and with the low position of radiators on the SLC likely to create another air lock situation. Take the steam vents to the top of the expansion tank. I would suggest that your friends are thinking of non- SLC type applications.
Thanks Jac! oh and I agree, copying with attribution is flattery, standing on the shoulders of those who came before us and all that, stealing is just stealing. I'll look for the Smokey stuff, and I don't really know much about the new generation stuff like the LS series, and coyote motors, so I 'll leave it to the young'ins to figure it out.
As a matter of fact, all of these people who run this setup are non-SLC people... Would seem that just by law of exclusivity that most of my friends are non-SLC people :laugh: LOL
These guys are mostly turbo LSX folks, drag racer/weekend warrior types... street cars, but fast none the less.
Here 'ya go Eric:
Dorman coolant tank Dorman PN 20600200
to mount tank, go as high as you can with the spyder in place so you can access the tank cap and close the rear clip. Two brackets needed.
trim off any protrusions on the tank that get in the way.
connections:
the bottom of the main drivers side coolant tube requires a straight one-inch spud (long enough to get a hose on) that goes to the one-inch connection on the bottom of the Dorman tank. they use a straight piece of one-inch ID hose.
there are two 3/8" connections on the tank. the front one goes to the drivers side radiator bleed fitting. use a 90 degree fitting on the radiator.
the rear 3/8" fitting on the Dorman tank goes to the steam vent line on the engine.
Heater connections on the waterpump will go through the fuel tank access hole to the heater core (planned to be in the passenger side footbox for the Vintage Air system.