Engine Heat with AC On Options

[HardHead93]

That or time for a SMIC setup, but can always try a fan that comes on with the A/C first.

I really hope a fan works, I do no want to go side mount if all possible. The way the temps are behaving it almost looks like the intercooler is acting more like a solid panel at high speeds. Fluid will take the path of least resistance so at high speeds, the air can move faster going under or over the car instead of through the intercooler. The fan should create enough negative pressure to pull the air through the intercooler so it can get to the middle part of the radiator. I read a couple other car forums with this problem and this seemed to fix it.

This post has been edited by HardHead93: Jun 10, 2017 - 9:36 PM

[richee3]

It may be worthwhile to set up a W2A intercooler in the engine bay with an ST205 intercooler heat exchanger. But my thinking is, no other FMIC Celica seems to be having issues like you are. I wonder if your a/c fan just isn't working properly, although I've never seen a 6th gen only run one fan.

[HardHead93]

It may be worthwhile to set up a W2A intercooler in the engine bay with an ST205 intercooler heat exchanger. But my thinking is, no other FMIC Celica seems to be having issues like you are. I wonder if your a/c fan just isn't working properly, although I've never seen a 6th gen only run one fan.

I am running the 2 stock fans on the radiator. I do not know why I am having these issues. That is why I a trying a fan on the back of the intercooler.

I just thought of this. I have an AutoZone Duralast thermostat instead of OEM. Does the OEM flow better than others when it opens?

This post has been edited by HardHead93: Jun 11, 2017 - 12:26 AM

[Box]

O.E. thermostat is always best, I think I'd try that first now that you mention it. I personally wouldn't trust Duralast for much of anything, much less something that keeps my engine from overheating.

[Bitter]

Yes, maybe even a lower temp TRD T-stat. Put thue Autozone and OEM side by side, you may see some minor differences

[HardHead93]

I am getting ready to put a fan on the intercooler and change out the thermostat. Since I am wiring it in with the radiator fans it brings up a question. Do the radiator fans kick on and stay on while the car is moving or only at idle?

[Bitter]

They come on at temp, moving or not, as far as I know. I'd put that fan to come on when the AC system commands fan, not just whenever the radiator fans come on, since your problem is only with AC?

[Box]

I can't remember how it is with the Celica but A/C will either turn one fan on full speed or both on low speed so long as the A/C is on.

[HardHead93]

So I got the AutoZone thermostat out of the car and I sat it next to the OEM one. The OEM one is on the right and the aftermarket one in on the left.


Yeahhhhh. . . . . I can already tell the OEM one opens further than the aftermarket one. The bracket that holds the spring is bigger and longer which should allow more travel when the thermostat opens at high temperatures. I hope this will fix the problem and that it is just a water flow through the radiator issue. If not then the bumper comes off and on goes the fan on the intercooler.

This post has been edited by HardHead93: Jun 14, 2017 - 5:10 PM

[Box]

Well fingers crossed that does it for you. It never ceases to amuse me the difference between OEM and aftermarket thermostats.

[Bitter]

I didn't even need to read the description to know which was which dude. I hope this fixes it.

[HardHead93]

I didn't even need to read the description to know which was which dude. I hope this fixes it.

I know, it is almost embarrassing what AutoZone passes off as a thermostat compared to the OEM.

[Box]

It's most any aftermarket. Depending on the car ones like the Stant SuperStat are ok and I think some of the MotoRad? ones as well. It seems especially on Asian makes the O.E. is always far superior.

[HardHead93]

Sorry I have not posted in a while but with what happened with Photobucket, I did not want to post anything until I had a new way of adding pictures. It sucks that Photobucket pulled the mess they did but that will not stop my build thread. I understand they need to make money and I would have been happy to pay a couple dollars a month but $39 a month or $400 a year, that is ridiculous! I am using PostImage now and will be spending the next few weeks rebuilding the pictures on this thread as well as the others I started. I will not let greedy companies destroy what I have added to this great online resource. With that out of the way, let's continue.

So I was still struggling with the engine getting hot with the AC on when I was at a constant speed on the freeway. Every time it was the same thing, the temps would rise while going 65 mph or higher on the freeway on a hot day and then when I would come to a stop or turn the AC off, the temps would immediately drop. The next step was to put a puller fan on the intercooler to hopefully get more air flow through there.




I also got rid of this weird aftermarket condenser I had and went back to an OEM one. The aftermarket one was thicker than OEM and looked like if flowed less air. Here is a pick of the aftermarket one off the car.

Look at those beastly tubes, it is WAY to much.


I added more ducts and put the car back together.


After all that work I took the car for a drive on a 105 degree day and guess what. . .

The problem did not go away! I had the intercooler fan set to turn out at 190 degree and turn off at 175 degrees. The fan proceeded to turn on like it should and then it NEVER turned off and the temps still rose to 215 degrees and was still going up until I cut the AC. Then like before, the temps dropped back down to normal levels. By this point I was getting furious because this problem was only occurring in 100+ degree days at high speed on the freeway. I track the car but never run the AC when I do and the car is fine. I did dyno pulls on the car and it was fine so something was up.

After a lot of surfing the web I ran into a Honda Civic and a Lancer Evo forum (please don't judge ), some of them were having the same problem. One person chimed in on the thread and said he fixed his problem by going to a water to air intercooler. That got me thinking, the ST205 was water cooled from the factory and they do not have these problems. So I did some research on water to air intercoolers and found the following:
PROS
1. They are very efficient at cooling intake air temps
2. The heat exchanger does not need to be as big or thick as a air to air intercooler for the same cooling capacity
3. The heat exchanger does not heat the air passing through it as much as an air to air intercooler
4. Less under under the hood space is required because of the lack of air tubing
5. The efficiency can be increased by adding ice to a water tank in the system

CONS
1. Systems tend to heat soak faster at idle
2. Needs to be driven by an electric pump
3. More components need to run the system so there are more points of failure
4. Since it is a water system it adds extra weight to the vehicle (8 pounds per gallon of water in the system)

At this point I was willing to try anything so what the hell. I installed a water to air intercooler system on my car. I went with the following components:
Frozen Boost 12x12x2 heat exchanger
Frozen Boost Remote Radiator Inline Filler Cap -3/4"
CX Racing intercooler pump
CX Racing Aluminum 13.75x4.75x4 inch charger cooler
3/4" Water Lines
9 inch Radiator fan mounted to heat exchanger
Relay wired to give the pump power with ignition on
Generic Radiator overflow reservoir

I found that once I got all the parts, installing the system was not that hard and I was happy to gain some space back under the hood and behind the bumper. No more having to worry about an intercooler pipe popping off in a hard to reach location. I also switched the heat exchanger fan switch out so that it would turn on at 210 degrees and off at 195 degrees so hopefully the fan would not run the whole time.






Then I took it for a drive and was pleasantly surprised. The water temps never rose past 204 degrees on the freeway on a 100 degree day and the intercooler fan never came on because it was never needed. I was so happy!

I am reaping the benefits from the pros on my list now I need to prepare for the cons because going water to air has its trade offs. Here is how I plan to deal with the cons I have listed:
1. I have a fan on the heat exhanger and plan to have it wired into my standalone ECU so it will cut on when intake air temps reach a certain level as well as when engine coolant level temps rise.
2. I plan to install a water temp sensor on the system to alert me to issues if the water pump or other components are not working properly.
3. Nothing I can do about the added weight but at least I can drive with the AC on.

This post has been edited by HardHead93: Jul 26, 2017 - 1:45 PM

[Box]

A/C is life, so worth it.

[slavie]

You reduced the area of the radiator that was getting blocked by the IC piping quite a bit. Engine bay is also looking much better, if I were to judge.

Interested in how you plumbed in the overflow tank, and where you put it. That's one thing I haven't figured out yet for my system (whenever i finally get to it...)

[HardHead93]

Interested in how you plumbed in the overflow tank, and where you put it. That's one thing I haven't figured out yet for my system (whenever i finally get to it...)

The overflow tank I plumbed like you would a radiator so that when pressure builds up the radiator cap opens to let coolant in or out. As for an ice tank, that needs to be plumbed inline with the system after the charge cooler but before the heat exchanger. I bought an ice tank but I have not installed it yet because it will require me to run lines to the trunk where I plan to put the tank. I plan to do that down the road. For right now I have about 1 1/2 gallon circulating through the system. The intercooler fan and airflow keep it cool enough. Like I said before I plan to get the intercooler fan wired into the standalone ECU so it will run to keep a target air intake temperature. I like the system so far.

[Bitter]

I can't remember if it was you or someone else but I feel like I suggested this a while back?

[HardHead93]

It was you Bitter.

Wire it to an IAT with a fan controller kit so it comes on at your target IAT.

It is a great idea for me do get that set up as soon as possible so I can keep my IATs in check and the engine does not start retarding timing to stop from knocking.

Right not I took the car out for a drive and did some pretty decent pulls to make sure I have worked out all the kinks. When I got home and popped to hood, the charge cooler was cool to the touch, even with all the other heated up engine components near by. That is pretty cool, That is giving me peace of mind that the system is working as it should. Another bonus to this water to air intercooler is that I am getting the same amount of boost with less waste gate duty cycle. I am guessing it is the low pressure loss from the charge cooler and the shorter amount of intercooler piping.

[Bitter]

That's great it's working so well. IAT controlled fan shouldn't be too hard, can probably do that with a simple radiator fan controller kit if you want it sooner than later I suppose.