930 Cooling

[ChaosRogue]

As the season changes to summer, I know that in DC, as well as a lot of the rest of the country, the heat has become ridiculous. With that, the heat rises in our 930s. What solutions work best for day-to-day driving? Track days? Bumper-to-bumper rush hour traffic when it can't be avoided?

My cooling system is currently bone stock, as is my intercooler. I've thought about a second oil cooler or a cooling fan on the one I've got, and a handful of other, more and more ridiculous options, but can't really figure out what I want. Thus this thread. What will give me the biggest bang for my cooling buck AND will put up with the 95 degree/95% humidity days we're prone to getting?

Thanks!

[OldSpool87]

Probably a lot depends on how you drive the car. Is it your daily? What makes you anticipate engine cooling deficiencies? I'd start with proper oil weight (do a search and enjoy the mayhem). You might want to verify that the stock system is operating properly (thermostat functional).

I live about 30 mins north of NYC with similar climate and lousy traffic. Stock set up has proven reliable and adequate.

Lots of folks will be will in to help solve any problems you uncover along the way.

Good luck and post a pic.

[vascott01]

Simply put... If you are not book'n you are cook'n.

Without knowing your year I am not sure if you have the trombone style. Most likely I am assuming. Which I did have.

With stop and go traffic your car's heat will rise sitting on 66, 495 395 etc. I started with the front air scoop, which once again does not help much in traffic, then decided to do a 72 row oil cooler in the front and got a new lower valance. I use 20w50 Valvoline and it has helped. My recommendation would be to toss the trombone into the back of the garage and get a front air cooler with a fan to assist with the stop and go traffic, ...I did do the local DE's at Summit and VIR and my current setup worked well...

Otherwise do early sprints around town to avoid traffic which seems to be never in this day and age...

Over the long haul I would recommend doing something to get more surface for the oil to cool. Your engine will love you for it...(keep your parts so that you can return to original)

Cheers fellow DC area 930....

[gsxrken]

Simple things first can have a big impact. Plug all the holes in your engine tin, make sure your engine bay weatherstripping seals are good, and make sure that your fan belt is tight. If you don't have heat, block off your shroud ducts that go down to the heat exchangers to send more air across the cylinders.
A good degreasing can help heat transfer too.

[Speedy Squirrel]

+1 on the engine compartment seals. The one over the muffler especially.

The later cars have the right front fender cooler with fan. That is really effective in stop and go traffic, because of the little fan that forces air over it, even when sitting still.

[icemann427]

If there isn't a fan sucking air through the right front fender oil cooler, you can easily add one. I'm not sure if our sponsor sells them, but Summit and Jegs does and you can easily add an electric thermostat, too. I made that addition and it helped, tremendously.

[shlobeck]

I would also recommend removing the catalytic converter from the exhaust system and add a by-pass pipe. The later cars and their catalytic converters add a lot of unnecessary heat to the engine compartment. My '86 runs noticeably cooler without it. Obviously if you have smog concerns you'll be swapping in and out. Good luck.

[svcetiquette]

I've had similar thoughts with my 930 since I plan on using my '86 as a DD in the DC area. Don't know what year you have but if you have an '86 or earlier, adding a fan and radiator style oil cooler (if you don't already have it) are a great idea. There are some pretty comprehensive threads on here if you search for adding an oil cooler fan. I'm adding a 7" fan to my oil cooler which I got off ebay, including wiring and a relay I'll be done for not much above $100.

[Bucketlist]

My '81 SC turbo came to me without an external cooler and ran hotter than I liked. I added a mocal 44 row with a fan powered with a manual switch in the right front. No more problems in the west Texass heat. Google BAT for info.

[Hams930T]

+1 on adding a fan to the front right oil cooler. My '86 could not tolerate the heat in Texas in stop n' go traffic once temps went +90 degrees. I added a fan to my cooler and it was sufficient to keep temps within range.

I honestly was skeptical that one fan would do so much, but it did.

Chris.

[ChaosRogue]

Thanks for the feedback. I've got an 85 ROW with the right front fender cooler (no fan). It's more of a weekend car than a DD, but with traffic in the DC area, there are no days where you're completely safe from traffic jams. The specific reason I asked was because I was driving it the weekend before last up to a LeMans viewing party, and the oil temp kept climbing up and up. The engine seals and tins were all just checked within the last month or two, and the tins powder coated and many seals replaced. The oil was also just changed (Valvoline 20W50, as it happens).

It sounds like the cooler fan with a thermostat is the best first step, so I'll go for one of them. What brand/setup would you guys recommend?

vascott, I'll hopefully run into you at an upcoming Dorki event. It's always nice to find other local 930 drivers.

[jwasbury]

I upgraded my '79 from the OE trombone to a Carrera/radiator style with a thermostat and electric fan. It was better, but I still found that it was unable to keep the oil temperature in a place that made me happy. In my opinion the radiator style cooler in the factory location is a poor solution because fully half of the cooling surface is tucked behind the headlight bucket and won't see optimal airflow.

I added a large front mount oil cooler (which requires a modified or aftermarket lower valence) and this works the best of anything in my experience. In truly stop and go traffic on a hot day the oil temps will still get high, but as soon as you get rolling about 25-30mph, you can watch the temp gauge drop down FAST. The front mount cooler gets huge amounts of airflow and sheds the heat quickly and efficiently.

[vascott01]

Originally Posted by ChaosRogue

vascott, I'll hopefully run into you at an upcoming Dorki event. It's always nice to find other local 930 drivers.

I am actually doing a full rebuild of my 930 and will ping you if you want. The next step is to do the Timing chains and rocker arm installation and if time permits Cam timing. Which I am going to ping the Dorks for additional support. Several have stopped by and have helped since I put the case back together.

Cheers

[gsxrken]

My 86 doesn't run hot enough during street use to do anything about, even in bumper-to-bumper metro NY traffic. Track days are a different story entirely, and I do pull in before too long on hot days.

Yes, a front valance cooler is the gold standard- but it's not a trivial job and there's plenty of suggestions posted here to chase down before you go that route (unless tracking the car is going to be routine). Not sure if the original poster is new to the car or just new to Pelican... I'd say drive it, see where you're at and go from there.

[ChaosRogue]

Originally Posted by gsxrken

My 86 doesn't run hot enough during street use to do anything about, even in bumper-to-bumper metro NY traffic. Track days are a different story entirely, and I do pull in before too long on hot days.

Yes, a front valance cooler is the gold standard- but it's not a trivial job and there's plenty of suggestions posted here to chase down before you go that route (unless tracking the car is going to be routine). Not sure if the original poster is new to the car or just new to Pelican... I'd say drive it, see where you're at and go from there.

I've had the car for a year, but have had other projects get in the way of doing much with it, so I'm a bit of a long-time-listener-first-time-caller. This season is really my first being able to drive it much, so these problems are just becoming apparent. I'll probably chase down a few options before I go full-on front valence cooler, but I appreciate the input.

[ChaosRogue]

Originally Posted by vascott01

I am actually doing a full rebuild of my 930 and will ping you if you want. The next step is to do the Timing chains and rocker arm installation and if time permits Cam timing. Which I am going to ping the Dorks for additional support. Several have stopped by and have helped since I put the case back together.

Cheers

Thanks. I've got the same SN over there. I'd be more than happy to help, even if it's just to hold things, observe, and figure out how to some of this stuff myself down the road.

Cheers!

[henrymfisher]

My '76 930 was retrofitted with an OEM right fender mounted cooler (non fan type) then routed to a B&B front mounted cooler and back to the thermostat.

The car never runs hotter than 190-200 even under full on track DE's




By far the best cooling setup that I have ever done on any of my previous 911's.

Henry
'76 930