Looking for input from members with boosted cars...

I have a fully built bseries motor that is boosted. The only time the car overheats is under hard acceleration. When im just cruising the temperature is around 195-200f. When i do a hard pull/fast acceleration(to about 130mph) the temperature jumps up to about 224f, but when I stop accelerating the car cools down immediately to about 205-208f. Takes less than a minute to cool down. At this point im scared to make a second hard pull because the risk of the motor getting hotter than what it is already.

My first question is what is maximum temperature for a built and boosted bseries motor before I risk warping the head or block?

Second, is it normal for the ECT temperature to spike up and drop back down for boosted cars like what mines is doing?

Is the short overheat period a big risk on the motor?


Its 90f outside. Car puts out about 500hp.


Update: 7.12.2013
I had a cheap 2 row radiator with most of the pipes turbo wrapped. The only part I didn't have wrap and still dont is the turbo manifold and the turbo. I plan to take care of these two things and see if it helps.

Can any recommend me a place get good quality turbo blanket that wont break the bank? If ebay, which one or who should i order from?

Updated results with radiator...
I replaced my radiator to the half size mishimoto 3 row. It seems to helped out the temperature a bit. At idle its about 183-185F. Cruising its about 188-192F. After a pull the hottest I seen it get was 205F. It didnt reach 224F as seen before the radiator swap.

Not sure if the recent lower temperature readings was because of the rain earlier that day leaving the outside air temperature 80F compared to the first readings(last week and before the radiator swap) where the outside air temp was around 88F.

I will have to try it again when its similar temperature. If these new temperature numbers stay the same I will be able to say that the radiator upgrade has help my car run 5-20 degrees cooler(depending on idle, cruise and heavy load conditions)


My temperature is still fluctuating quite a bit and not staying under 200F under all conditions. Still hoping to rule out a headlift.

Based on the fluctuation, do you guys think i can rule out a headlift or do you think my car is running normal like any other turbo b18? This is my first turbo car so I dont really know whats normal. This temp fluctuation has got me worried still.


Update: 7.20.2013
-The coolant doesn't back up to the overflow reservoir.
-When warming up the car, about 5 minutes in, I notice the car blowing white smoke out of the exhaust. The amount of white smoke has increased since I first noticed this two weeks ago. When I drive off it blows smoke for a few minutes, but after there isn't anymore smoke blowing out the exhaust
-There seems to be oil leaking from the valve cover gasket around the vtec solenoid and near the exhaust manifold.
-I just refilled the radiator with about 2-3 cups of coolant mix(water/water wetter ) into the newly replaced radiator. This is only after putting about 300 miles on car in the past 2 weeks i driven it.

 

it might be leaning out

 

maybe invest in some better cooling upgrades.

it's quite normal for boosted cars making alot of power / a lot of boost to make a lot of heat under hard accel.

that little half rad might not be goog enough.

Maybe upgraded water pump?
Try some distilled water + water wetter?

Try to make some better Ducting to the radiator, It could also be possible your head is already warped. I know in my eclipse when the head warped the temps would raise and fall quickly under boost, like 200* cruise, boost shot up to like 220, and back down to 200 within 20-30 seconds after letting off.. I watched the coolant needle literally move.

 

does not sound normal....what does your cooling system setup consist of? how big of an intercooler do you have blocking the radiator? is it pushing coolant into the overflow bottle when this is happening?

 

I tried 25coolant/70distill/5water wetter. Still happens. My hot/cold gauge is doing exactly what you described. I read around where that(headlift) is one possible reasons.

 

I have a civic aluminum 2 row radiator. Im planning to upgrade it to a 3 row radiator next. Stock hoses. Yes it did push coolant into the overflow bottle and it stayed there but this was before the coolant flush I did. Ill have to check again if its still backed up.

 

Do you have ARP bolts? was the head checked for Flatness when it was built?

was the head and block deck surfaces cleaned?

has it always done that or just recently?

Probably head lift / warped head

 

I purchased the car like it was.

To my knowledge...

-It has arp head bolts

-Not sure if the surface was ever checked for cleanliness or flatnes

-Yes it always done this.

-I hope it doesnt have a warpped head. I plan to upgrade the radiator next followed by a timing check.

I dont see any mmixture in the oil or the coolant when I drained them. Is there any other signs to look for headlift or warpage?

 

I would say it was a botched build or the head is warped.

if it has always done that... eeek.

 

Hoping for the best for now. Really dont want to disassemble this build and get it surface checked.

For my knowledge, if my car is built right, what should be my maximum temperature be after one or two hard pulls? Is it even suppose to spike the way it does?

 

I would say no it isn't suppose to spike like that, unless possibly the thermostat is stuck wide open.. maybe.

It shouldn't do more then 10 degrees moderatly climbing while doing a hard accel for prolonged periods..
imo

 

Change in radiator is the best start. Using a good Koyo or Fluidyne will assist in the situation, even if you have to remove the head.

Don't let that happen with "pulls" anymore. You're going to lose that head.

 

Pretty hard to determine what can be wrong when you don't know the set-up.

 

True, though coolant issues are coolant issues. I think its more than even "the setup", its the description as to the history of the use of the engine before these symptoms occurred. But you're right, without that information, its almost impossible to properly diagnose.

 

I understand what you are saying especially about the history of the problem.

OP, you've got to lay out a lot details about the car/setup/ and history of the problem to given everyone as clear a picture as possible.

 

my popped gasket ran hot all the time, would never cool back down.

sounds like you have a weak cooling system.

I had a stock civic radiator with no fan on it. If i kept moving it would be fine. 400whp

 

Sounds like a multitude of small problems. 500hp is going to create extra heat so gotta be sure cooling system is up to par for the job. What engine is this? What rpm are you revving to? Who built motor? Good tuner? Give more info

 

I had a cheap 2 row radiator with most of the pipes turbo wrapped. The only part I didn't have wrap and still dont is the turbo manifold and the turbo. I plan to take care of these two things and see if it helps.

Can any recommend me a place get good quality turbo blanket that wont break the bank? If ebay, which one or who should i order from?

Updated results with radiator...
I replaced my radiator to the half size mishimoto 3 row. It seems to helped out the temperature a bit. At idle its about 183-185F. Cruising its about 188-192F. After a pull the hottest I seen it get was 205F. It didnt reach 224F as seen before the radiator swap.

Not sure if the recent lower temperature readings was because of the rain earlier that day leaving the outside air temperature 80F compared to the first readings(last week and before the radiator swap) where the outside air temp was around 88F.

I will have to try it again when its similar temperature. If these new temperature numbers stay the same I will be able to say that the radiator upgrade has help my car run 5-20 degrees cooler(depending on idle, cruise and heavy load conditions)


My temperature is still fluctuating quite a bit and not staying under 200F under all conditions. Still hoping to rule out a headlift.

Based on the fluctuation, do you guys think i can rule out a headlift or do you think my car is running normal like any other turbo b18? This is my first turbo car so I dont really know whats normal. This temp fluctuation has got me worried still.

 

Bump for insight

 

What's the content of the radiator again? (% of distilled water, water wetter, coolant)?

Its actually seeming much more normal. you're going to have some fluctuations of these temperatures in these climates right now, because of the opening of the thermostat to cycle the hot coolant/water with cooler coolant/water. As long as its not getting into dangerous territory over 212F, you're looking much better here.

So far, its not looking too bad. That radiator really helped.

 

25coolant/70distilled/5 water wetter

I ran it today with the outside temperature averaging 92f. Its got as hot as 215f, but it dropped down to 205f. Not sure what this means. Car cruises fine at 195f or less

 

215 isn't that bad, especially if it's only intermittent under load. Some cooling systems just can't bleed off all of the heat

The problem with a half core that thick is ultimately it heat soaks, the air passing through 3 cores will heat up quickly before it makes it all the way through the radiator, making that 3rd core essentially pointless.

It might be wise to look into the scirocco radiator a few people run. It's technically a full core but fits under the core support of almost every Honda/Acura chassis and will still clear dual backdoor setups and offers more cooling capacity

I don't know if I missed this but what temp thermostat and fan switch do you have? If your tuning solutionallows it, I would rrecommend lowering the on/off temp of the fan. This will significantly help control coolant temps.

Even though it's not a Honda, my sr20 s13 coupe runs a koyo rad with a ducted spal 14" fan that's hardwired to run full time, I never had any issue with coolant temps no matter how hard I beat on the car

The fan was the single best thing I ever did for my car. I can't really find were you listed what fan you're using (on my phone) but if it's oem or knockoff cheap then it won't work that well.. fan selection is just as crucial if not more so than radiator selection. No point in a bigger radiator if the fan can't move enough air

 

mine does the same and CEL code 11 turns on( overheating) ive bypassed the fan switch so it stays on until i get my Mishimoto 80degree fan switch!!

 

Does it blow water out the overflow?

 

I will check that tomorrow. I just run it until it gets hot and then I check the overflow correct?