What do you think of this coolant reroute idea?
#1
What do you think of this coolant reroute idea?
As seen on miata.net
What do you think of this idea I came up with? It seems clever to me and easy to implement, but would this break anything? I have attached an image, please check it out.
The idea is that since there is more than average amounts of pressure just after the water pump, why not take some of that extra pressure and use it to feed the heater? And instead of taking water out of the back of the head to feed the heater, why not use that hole to feed the back of the head from the radiator?
It seems this would
-cool the back of the head
-maintain more flow of coolant through the engine
-keep the thermostat at the hottest part of the engine
-retain stock heater functionality
-be easy to implement
Potential downsides?
-bottom of engine gets mostly hot coolant left over from the heater core
-engine temperature reads lower because coolest water is entering back of head near sensor
-not enough coolant reaches radiator because of T junction after pump
Solution to downsides
-bottom of engine not getting most of heat anyway, ignore problem because circulation will mix the warm water from the bottom with the cool stuff flowing through the top
-use small diameter hose to restrict flow to heater so most goes to radiator
-ignore engine temperature, use something like CHT or oil temp anyway
What do you think of this idea I came up with? It seems clever to me and easy to implement, but would this break anything? I have attached an image, please check it out.
The idea is that since there is more than average amounts of pressure just after the water pump, why not take some of that extra pressure and use it to feed the heater? And instead of taking water out of the back of the head to feed the heater, why not use that hole to feed the back of the head from the radiator?
It seems this would
-cool the back of the head
-maintain more flow of coolant through the engine
-keep the thermostat at the hottest part of the engine
-retain stock heater functionality
-be easy to implement
Potential downsides?
-bottom of engine gets mostly hot coolant left over from the heater core
-engine temperature reads lower because coolest water is entering back of head near sensor
-not enough coolant reaches radiator because of T junction after pump
Solution to downsides
-bottom of engine not getting most of heat anyway, ignore problem because circulation will mix the warm water from the bottom with the cool stuff flowing through the top
-use small diameter hose to restrict flow to heater so most goes to radiator
-ignore engine temperature, use something like CHT or oil temp anyway
Last edited by beerslurpy; 07-24-2007 at 05:32 PM.
#3
Wait, isn't the water pump on the front of the engine, pushing water forward to the top of the radiator?
My intent was to have the heater core dump into the mixing manifold as normal and have it fed from the tube between the water pump and the front of the radiator. I thought that was the outlet, not the inlet of the pump. Am I wrong?
The vast majority of water flow should be through the top radiator hose with only a little bled off to feed the heater core. The restriction of the heater core helps stop it from stealing all the water flow intended for the radiator.
My intent was to have the heater core dump into the mixing manifold as normal and have it fed from the tube between the water pump and the front of the radiator. I thought that was the outlet, not the inlet of the pump. Am I wrong?
The vast majority of water flow should be through the top radiator hose with only a little bled off to feed the heater core. The restriction of the heater core helps stop it from stealing all the water flow intended for the radiator.
#5
Oh wait, I see what you mean. I thought the pump sucked in from the whole engine and spat it into the radiator. If it sucks in from the mixing manifold and spits it into the block and radiator simultaneously, that complicates things.
I saw your car in CA like 5 years ago but I can't remember what you did to the cooling system.
I saw your car in CA like 5 years ago but I can't remember what you did to the cooling system.
#6
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I dont think that this setup would work, the inlet to the waterpump needs to be fed from the bottom of the radiator. I dunno how the normal coolant reroutes work, but I think it would work better to leave the routing from the bottom of the radiator stock. For the top of the radiator, you would pull the water from the back of the head, use a thermostat in line, and block the front thermostat outlet.
#9
I dont think that this setup would work, the inlet to the waterpump needs to be fed from the bottom of the radiator. I dunno how the normal coolant reroutes work, but I think it would work better to leave the routing from the bottom of the radiator stock. For the top of the radiator, you would pull the water from the back of the head, use a thermostat in line, and block the front thermostat outlet.
Also drill a 3/16" approx hole in the thermostat flange so that constant water temperature is seen by the thermostat and it can react correctly.
#11
When the thermostat in the stock position opens, a lot of the flow can bypass the engine. With this reroute, we force the full pump output through the engine to both the radiators when the thermostat is open.
#12
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If you're going to go ahead and do it, wouldn't it also be wise to route the coolant out of the heater core between the radiator and thermostat to ensure only "cooled" coolant goes back into the block?
#15
On my 1.6 I came out the back on the passenger side with a line even with the back outlet and kept it relatively level coming forward.
On a friends 1.8 we came out above the turbo(low MSM) and forward. The piping looks like **** right now, but can be dressed up shortly.
I understand that Turbo Tim went lower and hit problems.
#18
Don't thank me, I did it for selfish reasons. I want taxes to go down, the economy to improve, the Compound Interest Paradox understood, the lobbyists to lose influence, Habeas Corpus to be re-instated, the Constitution followed, and the government to shrink and keep its nose out of my daily life.
#19
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I understand that Turbo Tim went lower and hit problems.