cstreit

Had double races this weekend. Weather was 90+ and high humidity. Saw water temps climb to 220-223F on occasion, particularly if traffic in front was heavy. Had to keep moving off-line to get in clean 'cool' air. Pull behind another car and UP they'd go.

Spent a good hour cleaning fins and straightening them in the radiators but that only brought temps down about 5 degrees average.

Any recommendations to help cooling?

GuyIncognito

where were the oil temps?

cstreit

Well that's a good question... No oil temp display on the dash and it doesn't come through my ODBII interface. That's one i have to work on....

Derek@TRG

Water temps that high, in the given conditions, are not terrible. If you were seeing those temps on a mild day, in clean fresh air i would start to worry. You did the correct thing by pulling out into the fresh air when possible to help manage the situation.

We see similar temps during summer racing with the Rolex/ALMS cars. The bast way to keep temps under control are the things you did, blowing out and straightening the fins if needed. When ours get to a point we swap them for new parts. We also use the sobek and a water pik to fill the system.

Are you running water/water wetter or water/antifreeze?

cstreit

Running Water/Water Wetter. Not allowed to use antifreeze.

Open to better suggestions though.... Me and a REALLY good friend got out the pics and screwdrivers to straighten fins.. Tedious....

amso3

Those temps aren't bad. I usually set the water temp alarms on 996/997 Cups at 230. When we run on really hot days, I move the alarm up to 235.

flatsics

Chris,
You ought to check these out, better cooling and more durable than stock.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/6...tm?PID=4178175


http://store.gospecracing.com/allalu...1radiator.aspx


This might help with the fin straightening

jrgordonsenior

How old are they? You can also try a high pressure washer to blow them out after straightening the fins or you can remove them and let a radiator shop sonic dip them. That usually works pretty well but if they're 3+ years old it's probably just time to replace them. 230 is too hot for a high reving, all aluminum motor....

PedroNole

The 996 is just a hot car...no pun intended. Like others have said, those temps aren't crazy. I've been quite a bit higher in my old 996 (VIR PCA race a couple of years ago...). Just stay on top of the radiators but there's not a whole lot you can do...

Phokaioglaukos

Don't seem legal for GTC3, or are they in some way?

cstreit

Well for me PCA legality isn't really an issue, but if I ever sell it might be. I was shocked (SHOCKED I tell you!) at how much small gravel and little bits of rubber were impacted into those fins. I think a pressure washer will definitely help, they need a thorough cleaning back in the shop for sure.

I'm suprised Porsche didn't do more with ducting the back side of the radiators. Hell the side radiators just point to the wheel arches and the center one is 2-3 inches from the flat body panel... Not exactly efficient air-flow.

BTW anyone put in a street GT3 fan to help with cooling on the grid/paddock? Temps climb REAL fast once you get off track.

Phokaioglaukos

A buddy added a fan to his cup car. I don't have one--I just turn the motor off whilst on the grid when the temperature gets near 100° C.

smsarchitects

Mine too runs that hot quite often on a super hot days.....quite a few this summer

My Koni challenge car had radiator fans and a dash toggle switch but that I was told that was mostly for sitting in grid or when there was zero air flow. IMHO, not worth the weight gain.

My next investment is replacing the radiators. Thank you for the links!

Derek@TRG

Not sure if anyone remembers Daytona 24, 2008. Most of the Porsches had cooling issues during the second half of the race due to the fine FL sand clogging the rads, we actually emptied one of the pit lane fire fighters fighters extinguishers, filled with water, re pressurized and back blew the rads on our leading car. it helped a little bit but we had to limit our RPM'S quite a bit to keep temps from going ballistic, IIRC we were running around 245/250 sustained for a long time, cost us our shot a contending for the win.

When at the track i back blow the rads after every session.

Scott, you will hear from me this afternoon.

BGB Motorsports

The fins needs maintenance and the rad has a finite life that should reward you just under 10 degrees when replacing them with new radiators. The final step is to use water wetter AND distilled water. After that, you're at the mercy of the summer heat.

For replacement rads, I would buy some PWR ones that most all of the teams in our series are running. Good luck!