Major bonus points for effort ...

 

^^^^^VERY interesting.

 

I'm in South Florida. It's hot always. I have my tray off and run the fan on high always.
Stays at 8 and zero problems.

 

I keep it on.

 

G.B. Deluxe - what is the downside?

 

^^ The tray does offer some protection for heater hoses, etc. I saw a series of posts not too long ago about folks that had "snagged" their heater hoses and damaged the flappers.

For the record, my tray is OFF.

However, it's for ease of jacking the car up, not cooling. I am looking to modify the tray with a hole in the center to allow me to jack up my car.

 

Which would be so easy to put an end to if someone would just install a cylinder head temperature sensor and record the temperatures in traffic and during highway cruising, with and without the engine tray in place. This would need to be done at a few ambient temperatures.

The other option would be to record the oil temperatures, although there would be some lag till it stabilized.

According to a web article, the 8 o'clock position corresponds to 194 deg. F; the 10 o'clock position corresponds to 248 deg. F. If linear, then the 9 o'clock position of the oil temperature needle should correspond to 221 deg. F.

220 deg. F is a perfectly acceptable oil temperature, especially if using a synthetic.

 

Ditto.

 

Yup, that's one of the big downsides.

If the flapper boxes are hanging, which they can do with the tray off (and cannot do with the tray on), you run the risk of snagging them on the road, especially if the car has been lowered.

That's what happened to me, and to repair it all ain't cheap. So, if you're running without a tray and your car is lowered, I highly recommend you go out and check to see if the flapper boxes are sagging at all.

 

Alex,
Sounds this is right up your alley... go for it!

 

But won't taking the undertray off ruin high speed stability?

 

I've already thought about using my DMM and Fluke 80TK thermocouple plug-in module to measure temperatures in the engine compartment and below. I'd sooner see my cylinder head temperatures though.

Mark, I thought I saw some probes screwed into the head...are those knock sensors or temperature warning probes?

I'll measure my A/C efficiency at different ambient temperatures as well, when I get around to it.

Time...someone screwed up and only put 24 hours in a day. I'm only here because I don't want to go out to my daily driver and work on it (rear struts and brakes).

BTW, how do you measure cylinder head temperatures on our cars. I really don't want to use the washer under the spark plug method...too hard to get to.

 

Tray off here too! But that applied metal mesh seems to be a pretty good idea!

 

I hear they changed the formula in Mobile 1. Do you think I can still use this oil in my car?

 

[QUOTE]I hear they changed the formula in Mobile 1. Do you think I can still use this oil in my car?[/QUOTE

only if you have removed the engine tray