any screens block a certain amount of airflow. Think about it. It is material in front of other material.
very crude demostration--take a piece of screen ---place it between a regular fan(thats on) and a strip of paper you are holding in the airflow. watch what happens.
rotary symbol is attached to the thermostat --just like that 1981 Z-28 camaro automatic transmission that would not shift into high gear because the left turn signal light was burned out. Go figue.
Screens --are a judgement call---some people because of the enviroment they drive in really need them.
olddragger

 

Yeah..............as far as the oil cooler screens go..........I guess one could argue that if you didn't have them your cooler fins are gonna get bent and therefore loose cooling efficiency. So the screens protect against that but at the expensive of airflow. I haven't noticed my screens damaged in any way(so far), but when I put screens on, I did spend about 45min straightening out the cooler fins first.
Tough to say which is really better in the long run. Guess I believe that the screens are best or I wouldn't have put them in, but I do know it's not an install and forget item. So......................... I'll be looking at them to clean or straighten IF I need to do so.

 

How much screens decrease the effectiveness really depends on the geometry and void area of the screens. I have some homemade screens that have a much bigger void area than the Racing Beat screens and are positioned a bit in front of the oil coolers. The screen is a bit filmsy and its main purpose is to prevent bugs and pebbles from bending my fins; I don't think it'd stop a decent sized stone, but it might slow down the stone enough to prevent it from puncturing the cooler. Still, I feel comfortable in saying that the screens do not decrease the cooling to the fins by an appreciable amount as the cooler itself is a much bigger obstacle to airflow than whatever the screen will be. I feel the pressure drop across the coolers are magnitudes bigger than that through the screen. I suppose I can run some simulations to offer partial validation of my hypothesis, but I've done airflow design quite a few times and so am comfortable with my judgement.

 

Interesting that the RB screens are right up against the fins whereas the Hymee screen covers the opening in the bumber .....
Which is better ?

 

^^^id also like to know

 

Looks like we'd have to find somebody with the ability to run the temps(like Elf) and then provide hin both Hymee and RB screens and ask him to run them.
Would be interesting still to see how the Mazsport cooling fan mod does as well.
I put that in about two days ago and am going to write them and see if the damn thing is supposed to cycle about 4 seconds on and about the same amount off! Seems like an awful lot, although I haven't really gone on any drives yet. The above was just at idle!

 

Interesting stuff. Whenever I've collected data with my scan tool my max water temp has been 199-200. I'd also be interested to see a comparision with the racingbeat flash.

nice data and thanks for contributing!

 

Great work elf. Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to your winter data, although I don't expect you'll be able to get it down to -30C (-22F) where I drive sometimes.

Question: I assume the oil flows from the pan, through the filter, and through the oil coolers before being delivered to the engine components. Where is your oil temperature sensor located? What about the coolant temperature sensor. Is it reflective of an inlet, outlet, or some internal temperature?

 

I'd like to see how the oil cooler/AC screens affect the temps too , but as OD stated, it's a judgement call to install screens because of ones driving environment. Before I installed the RB screens, I remember having to pluck out about eight or nine pea-sized pebbles from each of the oil coolers, and then having to spend about forty-five minutes or so straightening out the fins. The AC condenser fins fared a little better because of the small OEM screen. Still, I may do a "with/without screens" comparison anyway.

 

If I had started this little project in February of this year, I'd have data down to 12F at 55 and 80 MPH. I think -30C (-22F) may require a dog sled team or something

I'm using the RacingBeat coolant and oil sender adaptors, located in the heater hose and under the oil filter, respectively. I was using a set of AutoMeter mechanical gauges previously, and the electronic digital gauges I'm using now agree with what I was getting with the AutoMeter gauges. I suppose it would be ideal to could get the temp readings from the rotor housing, but this was a simple and doable (and available) solution for me to do.

Hopefully, other rotorheads with different brand gauges and installations will chime in to compare temps. Mine may very well be way off

 

Zaino Master, you don't even want to know what temps I see in those driving conditions (well, mid-90s so far). Maybe that's why Mazda decided to use a coolant temp gauge that doesn't move much.

 

Yeah, the cooling fan mod is interesting. I may just put this on my to-do list.

 

Also, depending on the local police, remove your front license plate if you can. That frees up some airflow.

 

it is a big big plus..

beers

 

Updated the plots (more data) and added a new one comparing 5w-30 and 20w-50 oils at 80 MPH.

Finally, it's hitting 110F or so around here. Not as bad as what you Phoenix, AZ folks are seeing --- I hear you guys are going to be (if not already) in the 115+ F range or so. I suppose I can head into Death Valley, CA to get some 120+ F readings

 

This is great infomation... one question for those who has the water and oil temp gauge, what is the peak that you set? 100 C or 102 C for water and 110 C for oil ?

 

dont set a peak--dont have a peak type gauge.
i would recommend that peaks are going to be dependant on your situation. on track i do something when oil temps hit 235-240F coolant at 220 F.
my cruising temps are different than on the grafts here. Great info by the way!
i cruise at 80 same rpm and mid 90 weather--- coolant temps are around 190 and oil temps 195 or so. that is with 5W30 RP oil.
my car is set up like this
1- coolant at a 65/35 ratio
2- no screens
3- even have removed the rotary shaped thing from the air damn--not for flow --just for looks--but i believe it did help flow.
4-- agency pulley--so water pump is underdriven--therefor doesnt cavatate as much
5- rb flash which turns the fan on at 180F --HIGHLY recommend--even makes the a/c better!
I no longer have cooling concerns.
Hell ---I IDLED in a parking lot(blacktop) for 35mins --ambient temp was 97F coolant temp got to 195 and oil temp about the same. AND i was running the a/c! The fan was working well.
olddragger

 

Olddragger, what guages are you running or what method do you use for your measurements?

 

these temps were with autometer mechanical gauges and I am runniing the rb adaptors.
Good point in that temps will vary from the location it comes from. On the 8 with the rb oil plate adaptor i think the temps are pretty close to true, on the coolant and rb adaptor (heater hose)--it is probably a little off from true--but not by much--it will not "show" as quick though.
olddragger

 

Good instruments and locations.

I guess one of the only probs with the mechanical guages is not being able to datalog but if you have the time to check them that's great.

 

Updated the graphs in the first post to include data for 5W-20 viscosity oil. Wish it would've stayed hotter (+110F) here for just a few days more for me to get the higher ambient temp data --- oh well, maybe next year

See everyone at SSX!

 

Xcellent work, very professional! Nice to have some factual data rather than anecdotal info about temps.... esp as you cover such a wide range of ambient conditions. It doesn't really appear that anything is amiss under any of the conditions you have tested, which is reassuring. Again thanks for the graphs...I don't know how I missed this earlier

ps I use the red digital Cyberdyne gauges and get similar readings from what I can see but of course I'm not recording everything as you have done. I use 10-30 oil and very nice to see the effect you show of different weight oil.

 

Bump.

Great thread, interesting how the data differs with the ambient temps. Going to 0W-40 I really didn't see any diff in oil pressures or temperatures. Am I reading something wrong? The coolant temps and oil temps seem high for cruising speeds. But I will have to wait until May or June to see.

 

Major bump

Good topic thou

 

I have data for 10W40 oil but I haven't updated the graphs yet. Just a quick look at my data suggests that I will see little or no changes in oil temps through out the ambient temp range. Seems like the 20W50 oil has the most affect, especially at the lower ambient temps.

For me, the coolant and oil temps creep up at bit, then stabilizes after about 4-5 mins. of steading driving (at 80 MPH; never again will I drive at 55 MPH -- too slow LOL).