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speedjunkie · Postby **speedjunkie** » Tue Oct 09, 2012 9:14

I don't know but it needs to stop lol. Maybe Dan's radiator caught the clap from mine since they were sharing a garage lol.

Website · Postby **Shadowden** » Wed Oct 10, 2012 9:14

I can't see your pictures from work, but looked at them last night. I was somewhat doisoriented. Do you have your radiator mounted at an angle near the lower portion of the bumper? How is your intercooler oriented? Sorry, just couldn't quite figure out what I was looking at.

If the radiator is mounted at an angle, what is the advantage of that?

speedjunkie · Postby **speedjunkie** » Wed Oct 10, 2012 9:14

The radiator and IC are mounted in a V, with the opening of the V facing the front of the car and with them coming together at the back. The IC is on top and the radiator is on the bottom. I have a piece of aluminum going from the bottom of the opening in the bumper to the leading edge of the radiator that way the air flows smoothly to the radiator. I made a piece to flow smoothly from the rear edge of the radiator to the rear of the IC to completely block the air that was going between the two at the rear. I made a piece for the driver's side to block the air from going between the two, and I made a piece to go from the radiator to the frame (under the filter) on the passenger side since the filter is right there, that way the air wouldn't go between the radiator and the frame on that side. Is the description good enough or do you need better pics? I can take other pics but I was trying to get the pics to show as much as possible as it was. I can take one from the front that's a little further out so you can have a reference with the front bumper.

The advantage of a V mount setup is that you don't have a front mount IC preheating the air that would be going to the radiator. This way both the radiator and IC get the coldest air possible, and by ducting it, it makes it ridiculously efficient. It was already running pretty cold without ducting, but now it's crazy. When I'm moving, my temps don't get above about 168F, which is actually too cold I'm told haha. Also, with my oil coolers ducted, the oil doesn't get above about 125F while I'm moving, which is also probably too cold. But even without them ducted they were pretty cold. And being that oil temps and coolant temps work together, and with both of them as cold as they are, it's pretty darn efficient. If I ever drive it in the winter, I might need to block off part of the radiator and/or an oil cooler or parts of them.

I also wanted to cut a hole in the hood right above the IC and duct it. I'd still like to actually, but I really love how this hood looks as it is.

Honestly, I wish all cars had the room to run a V mount setup. It's the most efficient way I can think of. And S2000s have room to run them too I would think. I might have even seen one with a VMIC setup.

speedjunkie · Postby **speedjunkie** » Wed Oct 10, 2012 9:14

I talked to Jason at RX7store today. He was asking why it cost so much to fix the radiator, and that he could have sent me another one for that price. I told him about the damage but he said he hadn't gotten the pics so I just sent them again a few minutes ago. Anyway, he said he'd either pay me or send me a new radiator. I told him I'd prefer if he sent me a new one, but that it be pressure tested this time before they sent it. I'm also going to pressure test it on this end before I install it because I'm so fed up with this. I was going to just buy one from Koyo and have Tom modify it for VMount, but it would save me a lot of money to just have Jason send me one, as long as it doesn't leak at all. And it better not this time lol.

I also talked to Matt (Alpha) today and he helped me understand the cooling system a bit better. My fans are only coming on at 101C/206F or sometimes even 210F, and when I turn the AC on. They're supposed to come on a lot earlier, like 87C and 92C. I jumped TFA and GND in the diagnostic box and both fans came on, so the relays are good. So that leaves the thermal sensor, the Power FC, or a wiring problem. I'm really hoping it's just the sensor lol.

I think I'm going to drive up so we can hook up Frankenstein and see if the PFC is doing what it's supposed to. I'm pretty sure it is though. Matt said he was going to be helping Vierte this weekend, so I was thinking maybe we could do a mini-meet. Although I think before I come up I'm going to remove my sensor and check it somehow. I'm sure there's some way to check it lol.

I wonder if I didn't mess up some wire when I stripped the harness down for single turbo. Hmmmm

Website · Postby **Shadowden** » Thu Oct 11, 2012 9:14

Nope, that is an excellent description. Is that what you guys are all talking about when you talk about v mounts? I like the idea. I also like that you went through the extra effort of blocking off where air could escape. (Any interest in CF plates in place of the aluminum?). The only air getting by sounds like it is going to your intake. With the lower temps, I am not sure if you would have oil delivery problems anywhere or not, but it is not as if, the oil is less than room temp, so it still flows. I do worry about oil flow on my S. I found a thread a while back that tracks the oil path in my engine and there are several places where oil must go through very small ports...including into the vtec solenoid. I may go to a 5w oil instead of the recommneded 10 for the winter, though some were advocating 0w. It is hard for me to go against the manufacturers recommendation. The argument is that new synthetic 0w oils don't shear like the old ones do.

Where is the mini-meet contemplated for?

In other news, here is a recount of a S2000 meet at Deals Gap. I like the pictures. I have family in NC, so it would be a fun trip. I know you want to do the rotary meet, but perhaps some of us from Colorado can make a trip of it and fit it in our schedules better. http://www.s2ki.com/home/2012/10/11/a-new-beginning/#more-5180

speedjunkie wrote:The radiator and IC are mounted in a V, with the opening of the V facing the front of the car and with them coming together at the back. The IC is on top and the radiator is on the bottom. I have a piece of aluminum going from the bottom of the opening in the bumper to the leading edge of the radiator that way the air flows smoothly to the radiator. I made a piece to flow smoothly from the rear edge of the radiator to the rear of the IC to completely block the air that was going between the two at the rear. I made a piece for the driver's side to block the air from going between the two, and I made a piece to go from the radiator to the frame (under the filter) on the passenger side since the filter is right there, that way the air wouldn't go between the radiator and the frame on that side. Is the description good enough or do you need better pics? I can take other pics but I was trying to get the pics to show as much as possible as it was. I can take one from the front that's a little further out so you can have a reference with the front bumper.

The advantage of a V mount setup is that you don't have a front mount IC preheating the air that would be going to the radiator. This way both the radiator and IC get the coldest air possible, and by ducting it, it makes it ridiculously efficient. It was already running pretty cold without ducting, but now it's crazy. When I'm moving, my temps don't get above about 168F, which is actually too cold I'm told haha. Also, with my oil coolers ducted, the oil doesn't get above about 125F while I'm moving, which is also probably too cold. But even without them ducted they were pretty cold. And being that oil temps and coolant temps work together, and with both of them as cold as they are, it's pretty darn efficient. If I ever drive it in the winter, I might need to block off part of the radiator and/or an oil cooler or parts of them.

I also wanted to cut a hole in the hood right above the IC and duct it. I'd still like to actually, but I really love how this hood looks as it is.

Honestly, I wish all cars had the room to run a V mount setup. It's the most efficient way I can think of. And S2000s have room to run them too I would think. I might have even seen one with a VMIC setup.

chickenwafer · Postby **chickenwafer** » Thu Oct 11, 2012 9:14

The wire the PFC uses to kick on the fans at a preset temperature is in the chassis harness, not the engine harness I'm 99% sure on that. So unless you pulled wires from you chassis harness I would bet the wire is probably inadvertently cut (maybe in the front wheel well from tire rubbing?) so it should be just a matter of finding the wire and repairing it, hopefully.

speedjunkie · Postby **speedjunkie** » Fri Oct 12, 2012 9:14

OK well that's good I guess. I seriously doubt my chassis harness is damaged, not above the wheel anyway like we were talking about. It's just that I have the strong and beefy part of the liner still there to protect it and I can't see how it would have gotten through that.

Shadowden wrote:Nope, that is an excellent description. Is that what you guys are all talking about when you talk about v mounts? I like the idea. I also like that you went through the extra effort of blocking off where air could escape. (Any interest in CF plates in place of the aluminum?). The only air getting by sounds like it is going to your intake. With the lower temps, I am not sure if you would have oil delivery problems anywhere or not, but it is not as if, the oil is less than room temp, so it still flows. I do worry about oil flow on my S. I found a thread a while back that tracks the oil path in my engine and there are several places where oil must go through very small ports...including into the vtec solenoid. I may go to a 5w oil instead of the recommneded 10 for the winter, though some were advocating 0w. It is hard for me to go against the manufacturers recommendation. The argument is that new synthetic 0w oils don't shear like the old ones do.

Where is the mini-meet contemplated for?

In other news, here is a recount of a S2000 meet at Deals Gap. I like the pictures. I have family in NC, so it would be a fun trip. I know you want to do the rotary meet, but perhaps some of us from Colorado can make a trip of it and fit it in our schedules better. http://www.s2ki.com/home/2012/10/11/a-new-beginning/#more-5180

Yep, that is what Vmounts are. I might be interested in CF, not sure though. I don't mind the aluminum haha.

Yeah sounds like you might want to use a different oil. I understand though. The way I look at it is that the Honda engineers should know what they're doing. But I also see it as they are human and capable of making mistakes like the Mazda engineers did on plastic end tanks for our radiators and things like that lol.

I was thinking about meeting up in Ft Collins wherever Matt and Will(?) (Vierte) will be.

I doubt I'll try to make it to DGRR anymore since my run-in with the organizer, so I'd be down for a group of us to go out there together.

I wasted about 5 hours tonight trying to install that diff brace/cradle. I have pics but I'll post all that and more about the disaster tomorrow haha.

speedjunkie · Postby **speedjunkie** » Sat Oct 13, 2012 9:14

Alright, I'll finally put up the pics from the other night. The first pics are of the diff brace/cradle.

It's kinda hard to tell with the saran wrap on it what it's supposed to look like, but this is it (this is upside down from the way it is mounted on the car)...

This is the gap between the "wing" and the body, 1/2" and it's not supposed to be any more than about 1/8"...

You can see here that the hole on the bottom doesn't line up. It may look like it does, but the threaded part is at an angle that I can't get to because of the hole being off. I even used a pry bar to push it over more but it didn't budge.

And this is on the other side, the bottom hole on this one doesn't line up either, but I can still get the bolt in there.

And in these two pics you can see the bottom two diff cover bolt holes don't line up well either, but I was able to press up on the cover enough to get them in and tightened.

And in this pic you can see that I don't really have any threads left on the PPF studs. I think I'm going to get bolts to replace these and remove the studs completely, because they tell you to remove these studs to install the cover. I was able to put it on these studs first and hammer it onto the rear of the diff, but it gouged the cover pretty bad in the process, and took a lot of powder coat off the brace too.

In this pic you can see by the upper diff cover bolts where the brace was gouging the cover when I hammered it.

And the clips for the oil catch can, and a pic of one of them installed. I got a pack of 10 for about $2 from McMaster-Carr in case someone needs some.

I also washed the car today and put some tire shine on. I still have to do the interior and I think I'm going to clean up the engine bay too, and take the crank pulley off and clean it and the other pulleys (not taking those off).

I am driving it home on Monday and my Dad told me that there will be a car show in my home town the last Saturday this month and he wants me to enter my car. So I'll be doing that too. It's not so much aesthetically ready, but if people can see the work that I've put into it maybe that will say something.

chickenwafer · Postby **chickenwafer** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 9:14

So what are you going to do about the fitment of the diff brace/cradle?

speedjunkie · Postby **speedjunkie** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 9:14

They are sending me two spacers for each side. The other holes I'm just going to adjust with a dremel.

Website · Postby **Shadowden** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 9:14

How did the mini-meet work out? Did you get your issue resolved?

Update on the Simply Fresh meet?

speedjunkie · Postby **speedjunkie** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 9:14

I think the Simply Fresh meet WAS the mini-meet. It was cool, things went well that day.

On the way home to Missouri I started having problems with the car bucking when I'd reach higher boost levels. I talked to Dave and we thought it might be a fouled plug, because while my front rotor EGTs were pretty steady, my rear rotor EGTs would dive pretty low, around 700-900 degrees during boost, then get really hot after boost, like 1700-1900. We thought maybe the rear leading plug wasn't firing. I changed the plugs today and drove it again but it was the same. I also disconnected the Twin Power to see if maybe it had failed but it's still the same. After talking to Dave again tonight we think it's probably because my boost cut was set at 1.2 bar and since I'm at a lower elevation I'm hitting it faster. So I reset it to 1.45 and I'm going to try that once it clears up outside. I guess I'll reconnect my Twin Power as well in case the problem is fixed.

On the way home my water temps were around 165-170F the whole way, and my oil temps got down to 112F at one point and never went above around 130 I don't believe, and that was only that high during the day. So I'm pretty sure I don't have any cooling issues haha. I also noticed that I still only lost the same amount of coolant after 12 hours of driving that I lost just driving around C Springs. I'm guessing just because my thermostat never opened since it stayed below that temp the whole trip. But then, why is my temp not getting above 170F or so if it's just sitting in the engine the whole time? Maybe the oil temps being so cold were keeping it that cool. Not sure.

Whatever the current problem is, I really want to fix this so I can do another Virtual Dyno run down here and see what it really is near sea level.

speedjunkie · Postby **speedjunkie** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 9:14

Reconnected the Twin Power today and ran the car with the change in the fuel map. PROBLEM SOLVED! Ran like a monster today. So happy about that.

I must have gotten water in some headlight electrical again the other day when I washed it (not sure how though because I didn't even wash the engine bay this time) because the lights are popping up and down again. Has been doing it for three days now. I think I'm going sleek light when I get back to CO. I'm sick of dealing with this crap.

And I haven't looked into the fan problem anymore yet.

I did hear from Jason at RX7store and he said they pressure tested my radiator and then shipped it out, so I'll pressure test it myself when I get back and install it if it's good. Well, after getting the sides swapped yet again lol.

And the spacers were sent out for the diff cradle/brace so I'll install that too.

Postby **RX-7 Chris** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 9:14

Does the FD have a relay for the headlight motors?

Website · Postby **Shadowden** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 9:14

speedjunkie wrote:Reconnected the Twin Power today and ran the car with the change in the fuel map. PROBLEM SOLVED! Ran like a monster today. So happy about that.

I must have gotten water in some headlight electrical again the other day when I washed it (not sure how though because I didn't even wash the engine bay this time) because the lights are popping up and down again. Has been doing it for three days now. I think I'm going sleek light when I get back to CO. I'm sick of dealing with this crap.

And I haven't looked into the fan problem anymore yet.

I did hear from Jason at RX7store and he said they pressure tested my radiator and then shipped it out, so I'll pressure test it myself when I get back and install it if it's good. Well, after getting the sides swapped yet again lol.

And the spacers were sent out for the diff cradle/brace so I'll install that too.

Will you have to adjust the map again once you return to C. Springs? (Assuming so).

Good luck with the show and the dyno testing.

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