radiator plumbing

[mkoch1]

I was talking to meizer about electric water pumps and we got on the topic of the rad plumbing. After looking at the set up the sales man suggested I plumb it like the attached picture. He suggest this for 2 reasons 1) it would fill better because the pump would be pulling directly from the air separator tank 2) after it was full only a minimal amount of water would be going through the APT.

Any thoughts? Since I am running an LS1 I have to make all the plumbing in the engine bay anyway. Just curious if his suggestion would be beneficial or not.

Mark

picutre

[GreenV8S]

That looks spot on to me. The top tank in your picture has a blanking cap (rather than a pressure cap) so the second tank is also under pressure. The second tank has a normal pressure cap. Check if the overflow from the top tank is designed to hold pressure - not all are. If you can get the inlet to this tank about half way down, that would be good as it stops the 'waterfall' effect aerating the water. Make sure the pipe into this has a high restriction, you don't need much flow and the flow here bypasses the rad and is uncooled. Good basic design though. If you managed to get a one-way valve in the hose from the top tank to the water pump inlet you get an extra benefit, this means that when/if it boils you chuck out vapour from the rad not valuable cold water from the pump.

[L2Pilot]

I cannot see any problem with this set-up, MKOCH1. The Corvette which runs the LS1 that you are now using, has the Rad very near engine bay anyway (and thus most of the plumbing).

[L2Pilot]

I cannot see any problem with this set-up, MKOCH1. The Corvette which runs the LS1 that you are now using, has the Rad very near engine bay anyway (and thus most of the plumbing).

Question: Are you presently experiencing Cooling Problems with your LS1, too??? Or, are you setting it up for the first time?

If you are having cooling problems, what temps are you seeing for coolant and oil? Once my C5 engine temps got above 210-F, I always experienced "sluggish" pick-up and slow-to-redline performance. All of the LS1's that I am familiar with ran at optimal when engine temps stayed in the 195-205 range. A lot of people I know installed a 168-F T-stat. I ran the stock T-stat.

On cool days this was not a problem. However, during the summer months in traffic, I have seen 231-F on the oil! And, I was running a so-called "Cold Air Induction System", as well. Basically, I removed the stock air box and replaced it with a BlackWing air filter - open element.

Not sure, how the GTR engine cowling breaths, but if you get good circulation under the hood, then it should not be as severe as the very restrictive GM air box that shipped with the car as stock. Of course, GM has emissions issues to worry about for all 50 States.

L2

[mkoch1]

My car is far from done. I just wanted to ask some options before I start modifying the stock set up.

mark