fan delete and the track

[ak555]

So I have a 96 M3 with fan delete. New coolant temp sender, radiator, hoses, thermostat, thermostat housing, updated waterpump.

At Thunderhill yesterday the temp gauge started to creep a little from center and I had to run the heater to keep the temps down. There didn't seem to be any air in the system (cracking the bleed screw only let out coolant). The car has never done this before although I haven't taken it to the track in 95 degree weather either.

Anyone with fan delete have this problem?

[B.Watts]

If it happened at speed on the track, there's nothing that your fan would do to help. If anything, the fan serves to block air from flowing through the radiator when the car is moving. The fan is only useful to keep air moving through the radiator when your car is stopped, like in traffic.

Race cars don't run fans at all...or if they do, it's only a small electric fan that can be turned on while in the pits or on the starting grid.

[RyanC]

Bryan, how does a fan between the radiator and the engine block airflow that comes from the other side?

[B.Watts]

Originally posted by RyanC
Bryan, how does a fan between the radiator and the engine block airflow that comes from the other side?

If you have a 4 foot tube and you place a restriction on the leading edge, it blocks the airflow. Does it not still block the air flow if you place a restriction on the other side? Air flows through the radiator, not just onto the front.

[Def]

What mix of water/antifreeze are you running? Any waterwetter?

Sounds like you've got a small amount of air in the system. I've heard you have to rev the engine up while cracking the bleeder screw on S50/S52 type inline 6's to get all the air out. Just a fast idle will do(2-3k I think).

[ak555]

I'm running 60/40 water/coolant along with NEO supercool. Maybe I need more water? I'll try your suggestion for the air bleeding.

[jayhudson]

Andy-

Will you be there on 6/20? I'm signed up and paid.

Jay

[ak555]

Hi Jay,

It's actually Adam, not Andy

I'm planning on being there on 6/20 but it depends on the m3. As long as I don't have cooling issues and a clutch, I'll be there! My clutch is starting to slip but it seems to be ok if I shift slowly.

[jayhudson]

Sorry, I'm old and I can't remember anything :-)

If you go, where will you stay. I've stayed at the Golden Pheasant the last couple of times. But, they stopped having the full breakfast.

Jay

[vehdyn]

Bryan,

Does your dad's CMod car run with an electric fan for the pits or does he do without that as well?

[badmonkey]

At T'hill last June, 105F ambient, fan delete I had no problems. In the last afternoon session the temp needle moved off the "normal" mark for a couple of laps, then started short shifting around 6k rpm and needle moved back to "normal."

Unfortunately the stock coolant temp gauge is useless. Since installing a VDO coolant temp gauge I've been able to compare stock v. VDO. So far the stock gauge will read "normal" for anything between ~150F and ~210F on the VDO. Haven't had the VDO read higher than 210F yet, but the stock gauge doesn't budge.

[Nillaice]

i believe bmw made it that way to illustrate normal operating temperatures, it stays in the middle so that every time it did in fact get hotter and the needle moved people didnt run to the dealer thinking something was wrong when in fact it was at the high end of normal.

Ben

[ArcticFox]

I was at Thill as well on 5/22. I have the stock fan.

My water temps on the last run (run #4) was above the middle, to the line above center. My oil temps ran 260 also.

Fresh coolant a few months ago, no water wetter. Mobil1 15-50 in the motor, and fresh.

Just an FYI, Tim

[ak555]

What kind of water/coolant mixtures do you guys suggest? I will probably run 80/20 water/coolant plus water wetter.

I was also wondering if a fan would really help on the track since much of the time is spent at higher speeds where it seems like the fan wouldn't be do much good. I will probably order a spal fan sometime down the road anyways.

Jay- I will probably be staying at a friend's house in sacramento instead of staying in Willows. It's only like an 1.25hr drive

Badmonkey- Do you have pictures of the gauges inside the car? I would love to see!

[B.Watts]

Originally posted by vehdyn
Does your dad's CMod car run with an electric fan for the pits or does he do without that as well?

We run a small electric mostly for use on the starting grid. On my Formula Car, you just crank it up and hope that the time indications that the officials are giving are accurate.

[Erik@EDGE]

Water Wetter actually works best with little to no anti-freeze. In fact many racing classes prohibit the use of traditional coolant and specifiy that ONLY WaterWetter and water be used. I run the stuff in my car and my BigAss Jeep Grand Wagoneer. I use maybe half a bottle of coolant (mostly for corrosion protection) and 1-2 bottles of WaterWetter with water.

[badmonkey]

Originally posted by ak555


Badmonkey- Do you have pictures of the gauges inside the car? I would love to see!

Link:

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...394#post992394

[Def]

Originally posted by 95 MPWR
Water Wetter actually works best with little to no anti-freeze. In fact many racing classes prohibit the use of traditional coolant and specifiy that ONLY WaterWetter and water be used. I run the stuff in my car and my BigAss Jeep Grand Wagoneer. I use maybe half a bottle of coolant (mostly for corrosion protection) and 1-2 bottles of WaterWetter with water.

That's probably too much WaterWetter given the coolant capacity. Too much surfacant can cause foaming when the water pump cavitates. Needless to say, this is a BAD thing.


A little WaterWetter = Good
Too much = Worse than none at all