An effective and efficient cooling system is extremely important to the operation and longevity of your engine. Importantly, this system becomes more important every time you try to improve performance. While modern engines are designed with a fair amount of “reserve,” that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t think about improving your cooling system. We look at the best ways to make your system more efficient after tuning.
Under normal conditions, during the combustion of the mixture, the cylinder is under high pressure and the temperature exceeds 1000 degrees Celsius. The piston itself can heat up to over 250°C! The temperature is absorbed by the engine block and its head, and by the diesel fuel. The main way to combat combustion heat is coolant, which circulates through the engine’s sealed cooling system, which consists of a radiator, coolant pump and ducts
The sole purpose of the cooling system is to ensure that the power unit is running at optimum conditions. The correct temperature oscillates between 90 and 100 degrees Celsius, not only determines the longevity of its components, but also affects the performance of the car and the level of combustion
There are two ways to cool the engine. The first is the so-called direct cooling, in which the engine is cooled by air flowing around the heating elements. This solution is characteristic for older models of cars and vans, does not work well in changing conditions and does not provide stable engine operating temperature. Engines of this type often overheat, leading to damage to the head gasket and costly repairs.
On the other hand, the second way is to enlist the cooling system to work. The coolant pump is used to circulate coolant through the system. As a result, higher temperature fluid is transported from the engine to the heat exchanger, or radiator and heater. In the heat exchanger, the temperature is released to the environment and the coolant is returned to the engine. When the engine is running, the pump provides a continuous flow of fluid because in most cases it is belt driven by the engine crankshaft.
Over the decades of automotive history, we have seen many innovative and more or less effective methods of cooling the power unit. However, it was only the use of a thermostat that made it possible to create an efficient coolant circulation. According to the principle of operation; until the engine reaches the desired operating temperature, water does not flow through the radiator, but returns via a shorter route back to the engine. The thermostat only opens the connection through the radiator when the desired operating temperature has been reached. This control method is still used in all systems today. The correct engine operating temperature is now not only important for performance and fuel economy. It also helps to reduce emissions.
Now we come to the most important issue – increasing the efficiency of the system after tuning. A word of introduction – there are many methods to improve the efficiency of this system and we do not claim that this is the absolute best solution.
Replacing a conventional belt-driven pump with an electric pump optimizes cooling and increases engine efficiency. This prevents damage caused by engine overheating at idle or in extreme ambient temperatures. This is especially important in tuned engines.
The radiator fan is another suggestion to prevent engine overheating when traditional coolant flow through the radiator fails to cool the engine to a low enough level. The fan activates when the temperature sensor contacts are shorted at a certain temperature. The fan blades accelerate air circulation and reduce the temperature of the fluid.
A final suggestion would be to use an oil cooler. The operation of this system is very similar to that of a regular radiator. In the place where the oil filter is screwed in, we use an additional base – filter adapter with two additional holes through which an additional oil circuit outside the engine can be connected. One hole leads the oil to the front oil cooler, through the other cooled oil returns to the oil filter and then back to the engine.
(Photo: pixabay.com)
