Wondering if anyone knows if u can alter the water pump to make the car run cooler under racing condition, i already have dual cooling fans and thicker radiator, ive heard there is a way to alter the impellers in the water pump but not for sure how, any ideas?

How much cooler do you want it to run?

You can cause issues making it run cooler.



FU Tuning

I would be happy if it stayed under 220, car runs about 240 at the end of a race now

dallas chandler wrote:I would be happy if it stayed under 220, car runs about 240 at the end of a race now

You do not have your registry filled out so we do not know what you have done. what kind of racing?



FU Tuning

im not gonna change the motor setup im running, its an ecotec, and im running circle track dirt racing, is there a way to alter the water pump to make it more efficient at keeping things cool

dallas chandler wrote:im not gonna change the motor setup im running, its an ecotec, and im running circle track dirt racing, is there a way to alter the water pump to make it more efficient at keeping things cool

No one said anything about changing your setup. We do not know what the setup is. This could lead to ideas to why the temps get that high. They should not.

Stock the cooling fans turn on at 223 degree's, so your fan should come on and cool the motor down.



FU Tuning

Sounds like you're missing the front air dam. What coolant mixture are you running, I'm going to guess all water since you are racing circle track (because we all know how slippery anti-freeze is and how much it sucks to driver over well racing... well I do). Add water wetter. How are the fins on the radiator? All bent up and @!#$? New thermostat?


1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
1995 Mazda Miata R-package Class=STR
Sponsored by: Kronos Performance

WPI Class of '12 Mechanical Engineering
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the fans are wired to come on when the ignition is on, the center of the thermostat is gutted so theres no restriction there, running about 20% antifreeze and one container of water wetter, radiator is new

Put a restrictor in the thermostat the same size as a fully open thermostat. Thats your problem right there.


1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
1995 Mazda Miata R-package Class=STR
Sponsored by: Kronos Performance

WPI Class of '12 Mechanical Engineering
WPI SAE Risk and Sustainability Management Officer

thats basically what i have, i took the thermostat, and cut out the spring and the the brass center thing, the opening isnt very big

dallas chandler wrote:the fans are wired to come on when the ignition is on, the center of the thermostat is gutted so theres no restriction there, running about 20% antifreeze and one container of water wetter, radiator is new

I think this is your issue. Because the water is always flowing, it does not get enough time to cool off. You are not letting the system do it's job. Put a normal T-stat in. I would bet it works right.



FU Tuning

Its not slowing down the flow of the water its making a pressure build up in the engine.


1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
1995 Mazda Miata R-package Class=STR
Sponsored by: Kronos Performance

WPI Class of '12 Mechanical Engineering
WPI SAE Risk and Sustainability Management Officer

if anything put int a 180 and drill 2 1/8th holes in the side portion this will give u some flow throught but allow it to function right



JBO since July 30, 2001

Why drill the holes? Irrc the restrictor for this car should be ~1/2". I'd honestly rather just run a thermo though.


1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
1995 Mazda Miata R-package Class=STR
Sponsored by: Kronos Performance

WPI Class of '12 Mechanical Engineering
WPI SAE Risk and Sustainability Management Officer

my manual 05 sunfire temps runs right before the 195 mark it does move up if im in the middle of the day temps of 99F and feels like 105F. im running prestone 50/50 already mix dexcool

stock is 195 most people switch to a 180 and run a 50/50 mixture
drilling the 1/8th inch holes not in the core of the thermostat


this allows coolant system to operate properly but the engine will take a little longer to reach operating temp if you use this in a cold climate such as here in ontario your car wont reach temp in cold months such as on a cold day i only hit 100F i put cardboard on the lower part of my rad a couple time to force it to heat up for racing i would run this setup or a stock stat not a complete guted stat



JBO since July 30, 2001

I believe stock is a 180 degree stat.



FU Tuning

Stock for the eco's is 195, which is why our temps always sit at 195.


1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
1995 Mazda Miata R-package Class=STR
Sponsored by: Kronos Performance

WPI Class of '12 Mechanical Engineering
WPI SAE Risk and Sustainability Management Officer

Leafy (Club Jeffie FEA man) wrote:Stock for the eco's is 195, which is why our temps always sit at 195.

I bet if you put a 180 in it will still run at 195



FU Tuning

I bet it would run 180 on cooler days and get up to 195 when it was hotter out, like 90's.


1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
1995 Mazda Miata R-package Class=STR
Sponsored by: Kronos Performance

WPI Class of '12 Mechanical Engineering
WPI SAE Risk and Sustainability Management Officer

Okay, well first a modification to impeller in the water pump can affect the way the fluid flows. Unfortunatnately this is more likely a custom job and would need advice from a specialist in impeller design and flow.

But even if you did increase flow you would still have to take into consideration the function of the cooling system. It needs to build up pressure and it needs to be restricted to allow time for the fluid to absorb heat from the engine AND for the radiator to dissipate heat from the fluid. I must agree, if you switch out that gutted thermostat for a regular one. you'd be doing a hell of a lot better.

Oh and another note: When I replaced my thermostat, both the warehouse model and the dealer model said it was 180 or 185 (can't exactly remember, but it was 180 something).

And also when I replaced the water pump I noticed that the original water pump had a plastic impeller with smaller, closed openings while the new OEM pump had a metal open end impeller. The revised version looks nice ad durable, but I don't know if it makes a difference.