[stilwrks]

As some are aware I road race the clipse! Also know that I'm one of the few on here that does so but needed to ask!
With that said I'd like to impart a couple of on going issues I have been having!

First, my water temp doesn't go over 130, ya I know not good, ( car seems to run fine) but as I'm told it probably is running richer than need be because of the cool running. What I'm thinking of doing is pulling the thermostat & run it that way just for grins & giggles. If it still runs cool then I may pull the radiator & fans & install a much smaller radiator without fans.

By the way I do have a gauge installed & also have moved the pickup to two diff. locations with the same result. Even though I have low mileage the thermostat may be stuck or just plain no good! Anyother ideas?

Next issue, depending on turn taken, mostly carrousel right or quick left/ right turns I invariable have trouble, (not all the time but enough to where I have to pull off course to settle the car down to find gears).

Now with that said, I have Prothane mount insets, the Ingalls stiffy, & brass bushings on the shift pickups! Any possible ideas on this would be greatly appreciated, don't know what else I can do? Was going to disassemble & atleast coat the posts with anti-seize but don't know if this is the answer.

Any help would be appreciated & will reply to all! Thanks in advance! :twothumb:

 

[Clipse3GT]

First check the theromostat. Take it out and drop into some hot water and wait for it to boil. H2O boils at 212F or 100C. The theromostat works on this principal. It has wax inside, when the wax starts to melt it opens up. Do not remove your thermostat it will cause more problems then good. Especially with the ECU.

Anyway, just be sure its the thermostat. If anything its a cheap replacement. Now I would be sure that your gauge actually is showing the correct temp. It maybe possible its not working properly. The best way to check would be use some software program and get a reading from the the main temp sensor. The 3/8" one not the 1/8th inch one that goes to the gauge.

In all honesty you don't want to lower your cooling capacity, you want that the most efficent as possible for your car. I would check also that you are running the right mixture of coolant to water or maybe flush the system and fill it with 50/50. Running a ratio that has more water will lower your temperature. 50/50 is generally recommended for a car. However with racing you can probably get away with 60/40 or 70/30. But you have a higher risk of killing your water pump and rust forming quicker.


As for the tranny, I never really had problems with them finding the gears. I would recommend changing your fluid to something like the Scott Grey mix, which seems to help alot of tranny problems in many DSM's.

Also check your distributor (cap & rotor) for wear and oxidization. As well as check your spark plugs for any abnormalities, might be causing some misfiring.

 

[stilwrks]

First check the theromostat. Take it out and drop into some hot water and wait for it to boil. H2O boils at 212F or 100C. The theromostat works on this principal. It has wax inside, when the wax starts to melt it opens up. Do not remove your thermostat it will cause more problems then good. Especially with the ECU.

Anyway, just be sure its the thermostat. If anything its a cheap replacement. Now I would be sure that your gauge actually is showing the correct temp. It maybe possible its not working properly. The best way to check would be use some software program and get a reading from the the main temp sensor. The 3/8" one not the 1/8th inch one that goes to the gauge.

In all honesty you don't want to lower your cooling capacity, you want that the most efficent as possible for your car. I would check also that you are running the right mixture of coolant to water or maybe flush the system and fill it with 50/50. Running a ratio that has more water will lower your temperature. 50/50 is generally recommended for a car. However with racing you can probably get away with 60/40 or 70/30. But you have a higher risk of killing your water pump and rust forming quicker.


As for the tranny, I never really had problems with them finding the gears. I would recommend changing your fluid to something like the Scott Grey mix, which seems to help alot of tranny problems in many DSM's.

Also check your distributor (cap & rotor) for wear and oxidization. As well as check your spark plugs for any abnormalities, might be causing some misfiring.

[BThanks for input!

Not sure what my % is regards the radiator but could check, do know that I do have anti freeze in there along with water wetter!
Will give your suggestion a try regards pulling & testing!
My cooling capacity is almost a third more due to the alum. rad. double wide!
What would the thermostat have to do with the ECU, if there hasn't been any probs as cool as it is a little hotter shouldn't bother the ECU. Have also checked with a pyrometer at & around the thermostat housing & the temp is not much diff.
Regards the shifting, am using Road Race Eng. recommendation for our tranny with a Quiafe, which is Redline MTL & MT90.
What would plugs/dist/rotor have to do with shifting? Car runs strong am sure there is no misfire!
Seems like I may be taking these corners with a little more gusto then most!LOL ( Of course I could always slow down).

Talked to Prothane & Energy Suspension, along with Road Race Eng. today & the only thing that I got out of all the conversation was to fill the front & back Prothane inserts with Window Weld to make them stiffer, from RRE.
Found out they are made to flex & primarily for the street!
Shows to go ya, its always something! LOL Thanks again......[/B]

 

[Clipse3GT]

I was refering the misfiring to the cooling issue. As far the ECU, there is a certain warm up procedure for the car which the issue recognizes as you remove the thermostat you remove that warm up period since you will be circulating all of that. Take the car longer to warm up. I run the CSF double row, but I get no were near the cooling you get. I get about 190F average.

 

[Bitter]

for the finding gears it sounds like the car is twisting and pulling at the shift cable some, changing how its tensioned/slacked which would make the gears feel like they were in a different location on the shift pattern. try bacing under the chassis some, around the enginebay from side to side and back under the rails of the unibody as well. some tie bars across should stiffen it alot and may help that out. i've heard of someone with a similar problem who autocrosses a corolla and he said that cross braces under and 2 braces under his engine bay (one infront and one behind the engine on either side of the oil pan for him) really helped out with the chassis flex.

 

[stilwrks]

Clipse & Bitter, appreciate your input!

Both ideas are worth checking into!
Will first pull the thermostat & test it & then depending on outcome move onto pulling both motor mounts & filling them with window weld! I have an idea regards the holes in the mounts other than the Window Weld & that is to cut steel doweling to match the holes to stiffen them even more if the Weld doesn't do the trick, then use a very large washer on either side to insure stability.
I like the idea of the under bracing, poss. as a last resort!
Also will buy & use a product available at bike shops to lub the inside of the cables & also use anti-seize on the posts.
Problem is i have to wait until i get back to the track doing the same thing to atleast check out the shifting!
Cooling i can do at home!
Again thanks for your comments & ideas!

 

[MattS00]

I have the brass shifter cable busings. After about two weeks I ended up taking out the big one and put the stock one back. The big one causes the shifter cable to bind. That shift lever not only moves back and forth, it moves in and out. The big brass bushing is really not appropiate for that joint. They should have used a sperical bushing to make something like a rod end.

 

[MattS00]

It also sounds like you need a new thermostat or bleed air out of the system. There is a coolant trim written into the computer similar to a fuel trim. If the car is not up to operating temp, it could really run sub par (not enter closed loop, timing off, a/f ratio off, accell enrichment off). An old trick with Buick Grand Nationals was to mess with the coolant temp sensor output to make the car run richer. The size of the radiator should not make a difference. If you look at the flow of coolant most of the coolant is circulated right back into the block instead of going through the radiator. The coolant really only flows through the radiator if the thermostat is open.

 

[stilwrks]

Fast, appreciate your input!
One thing I'm going to try is reinstalling the front crush tube, must be getting to much flex up front & that should (?) help! I had a similar prob. before I installed the brass bushings, thats why I went with them thinking they would help eliminate the prob.
If the tube doesn't do it then I will take Bitter's idea and start doing under body bracing!
As mentioned will pull thermostat & check for operation, if not, new thermo..
Agree size doesn't matter, (Ha), regards the radiator, just allows more fluid to be available if needed. ( I'm sure its a faulty thermostat).
Thanks again.................

 

[stilwrks]

Forgot to add, I do have D3 under body bracing but of course it doesn't extend under the engine other than attaching to the suspension.

Hopefully the crush tube will do the trick!

I'm going to the track again on the 26th so I can do some testing!

 

[DAve3GEclipse]

lol hey stil retarded question but does your gauge read C or F, lol nto reaching 130 on C is a good thing, not reaching 130F, well ur pretty much on open loop the Whole time and ur idle won't drop down cuz ur motot still thinks it trying to warm up right

 

[ahspimp023]

Ill go ahead and say ill be the first one to take that Radiator Off of your hands! Seriously lol.

 

[stilwrks]

lol hey stil retarded question but does your gauge read C or F, lol nto reaching 130 on C is a good thing, not reaching 130F, well ur pretty much on open loop the Whole time and ur idle won't drop down cuz ur motot still thinks it trying to warm up right

It reads "F"! Idle does drop!

Appreciate the try! Will just replace the thermostat this weekend!Warm it up & see what we gots!

 

[stilwrks]

Ill go ahead and say ill be the first one to take that Radiator Off of your hands! Seriously lol.

Gee, I appreciate the eagerness with which you lay claim to my as of yet working parts! LOL

 

[Hardline]

130 C would be way too hot, and he would definitely notice that!

Do not remove the thermostat. It keeps the water pump from cavitating at higher rpms. That will ruin your day just as fast as a bad head gasket will.

Replace your thermostat with either a factory one, or maybe 10 degrees cooler than factory.

 

[stilwrks]

130 C would be way too hot, and he would definitely notice that!

Do not remove the thermostat. It keeps the water pump from cavitating at higher rpms. That will ruin your day just as fast as a bad head gasket will.

Replace your thermostat with either a factory one, or maybe 10 degrees cooler than factory.

Thanks hardline, am ready to replace the thermostat with another 180 this weekend!

 

[stilwrks]

Tomarrow will be all telling regards everything I did to the car, such as replaced thermostat, pulled & filled Prothane front & rear motor mounts with Window Weld, added back the front crush tube, loosened the Stiffy a bit!

Will post results!

 

[stilwrks]

Here's the followup to this Saturday's event!

Between reinstalling the crush tube & filling the prothane, I'm happy to report basically no probs. shifting!
Regards the temp, well no diff. in temp at all, so the thought is going back to Accel & double checking on the sending unit!

 

[Clipse3GT]

Here's the followup to this Saturday's event!

Between reinstalling the crush tube & filling the prothane, I'm happy to report basically no probs. shifting!
Regards the temp, well no diff. in temp at all, so the thought is going back to Accel & double checking on the sending unit!

I bet you its the gauge giving you the trouble. upgrade to a autometer, used their products for years and I never had problems.

 

[HIJACKER]

I agree, it may be the gauge. Datalog and record your temps and compare with what is displayed on the gauge. If you log the same information, its POSSIBLE you may have a bad sensor. I'd log it prior to replacing gauge, sensor, or anything else.