Experimenting with Intake Air Temp. Request for comments.

luigi90210

what about swapping radiator fans? if there are stronger fans pulling in more cooler air from outside of the car, wouldnt that cool the radiator down a bit more, thus making cooler intake temps? i dont think it would lower it by much but it should help in theory

SouthArk370Z

Great idea. Thanks!

It's one of the things on my list of things to investigate someday. But I was thinking of fans as primarily a water and oil temp solution.
It certainly sounds like a good theory. Maybe I need to change my thinking.

For now, I'm trying to keep any permanent mods to a minimum and as cheap as possible, so new fans may have to wait for phase three. I'm shooting for lower air temps on general principles, not any HP/MPG gains.

I was going to track down some insulation today, but Real Life intruded. I've been posting between chores. I have new front brake rotors now - got some mud in the grooves in one of the pads and it was starting to eat up one of the rotors. Replaced the other rotor "just because".

__________________
Steering Lock Links - Search The370Z Bookmarklet - FSM @ NICOclub
Mankind has progressed past the need for war but we haven't evolved that far. - NachoMahma

luigi90210

that sucks but i like the way you think, did you go to slotted rotors or stick with stock?

aside from that maybe even an oil cooler might help cut down radiator temps as well, cooler oil means cooler coolant in radiator which means cooler temps, again that is just a theory based off logic

also you might be able to modify the air box itself and relocate it to behind the wheel wells or something, that should allow the box itself to suck in cool air at all times even when not moving but im not sure how temps would be at the MAF or even the pipes before the MAF, heck you might be able to do that with some flexible plumbing hoses from home depot or something and a few hose clamps and scrap metal to use as brackets

SouthArk370Z

Stock, but not Nissan. My "suspension guy" said he would get as good or better than OEM and I trust him. I do some occasional spirited driving, but seldom hard on the brakes. Defensive driving FTW.

Maybe. But the heat from the oil cooler is right in front of the radiator. When stopped, I don't think there would be any improvement without relocating the filter box inlet location (eg, using tubing as above). Something to look at during phase two.

Great idea, but waayyyy beyond the scope of this project. I'm hoping to limit heat gain from the engine compartment and then I'll probably do one of the CAI DIYs above (depending on how well insulation works). An oil cooler is a possibility much later on.


Wow! Lots of great input. Thanks. Now I need to get some insulation, find a thermocouple, and figure out the best place to locate the t/c. No rest for the wicked.

__________________
Steering Lock Links - Search The370Z Bookmarklet - FSM @ NICOclub
Mankind has progressed past the need for war but we haven't evolved that far. - NachoMahma

gomer_110

For the insulation, you might look into HVAC duct insulation since I think you could probably a foil backed insulation.

Not sure what thermocouple "type" (I'd recommend type J based on the temp range) you plan on using but just twisting the two leads tightly together to form the junction is more than sufficient.

__________________
'11 370Z Nismo #528 Fast Intentions | Stillen | Motordyne | Uprev | CSF | Zspeed | Z1 Motorsports | AST | Swift | SPC | SPL | Whiteline | Hotchkis | Bride | Schroth | Robispec | Cusco | Nismo | Volk | Forgestar | Hoosier | RJM
'17 Titan Bone Stock

SouthArk370Z

There is an industrial insulating company about three miles from me. I don't have high hopes that they will have what I need, but, if they do, I might be able to get some free scraps. Then I'll try the HVAC place about 5 blocks away. If neither of them can help, the only other place I can think of is auto parts stores and see if they have some kind of thin, foiled exhaust blanket or header wrap with foil.

My panel meter will take J, K, & T; any of which should do the job (plus R and S, but those aren't a good choice). For what I'm doing, twisting some extension wire together would probably do the job; relative readings will be more important than absolute accuracy. I have a J or K that I use to measure temp in the garage, but it is in an industrial sheath and has a lot of lag. Will try to find a real t/c, but could strip the sheath if need be.

__________________
Steering Lock Links - Search The370Z Bookmarklet - FSM @ NICOclub
Mankind has progressed past the need for war but we haven't evolved that far. - NachoMahma

SouthArk370Z

Got the intake air spare parts today. Everything from the radiator support to the throttle bodies.

Bought some insulation yesterday.

Took some preliminary temperature measurements last night. Six degrees difference between the VID and IAT readings! First guess is that VID is wrong.

Code:

Time   T/C  VID  IAT  Water
00:00  74   71   76   x
02:00  67   64   71   85
03:00  67   63   69   80
04:00  65   61   67   78
11:00  62   58   64   62

Stock setup. No mods made.
Had several fans blowing on radiator, air intake opening (removed filler plate between radiator support and bumper cover), and MAF area.
Unmounted ambient temp sensor and placed it and T/C together.
Car had to be started to get IAT and water temps.
T/C display was calibrated about 10 years ago, so absolute value may be off, but relative readings should be good. Will calibrate when I can find a standard.

__________________
Steering Lock Links - Search The370Z Bookmarklet - FSM @ NICOclub
Mankind has progressed past the need for war but we haven't evolved that far. - NachoMahma

gomer_110

Just curious, but what kind of insulation did you end up going with?

__________________
'11 370Z Nismo #528 Fast Intentions | Stillen | Motordyne | Uprev | CSF | Zspeed | Z1 Motorsports | AST | Swift | SPC | SPL | Whiteline | Hotchkis | Bride | Schroth | Robispec | Cusco | Nismo | Volk | Forgestar | Hoosier | RJM
'17 Titan Bone Stock

SouthArk370Z

I checked with 3 HVAC shops and they didn't have anything. The industrial insulator didn't have time to talk. So off to the auto parts stores. All I could find was Thermo-Tech Thermo-Shield Tape and DEI Reflect-A-Cool. I have no idea how well they may insulate, but didn't have any choice. Neither seems to be particularly rugged, but should hold up long enough for my tests.

If you are looking for a recommendation, I don't know enough about either product, other than a perception of feeling "cheap" to the touch, to have an opinion. I'll post my findings as I go along.

__________________
Steering Lock Links - Search The370Z Bookmarklet - FSM @ NICOclub
Mankind has progressed past the need for war but we haven't evolved that far. - NachoMahma