Alternative radiator
Discussion
For a while I've been looking around for an alternative radiator for the 350i; firstly because the original Range Rover one has seen better days and secondly because I want to get a route for a cold air duct into the engine air intake. I can monitor the temperature of the air entering the engine on the megasquirt system and it's alarmingly high for most of the time.
I'm thinking that a modern aluminium radiator will be more efficient than the Range Rover one so can be narrower; and then allow me to put the air filter in front of the radiator and run a duct back to the plenum inlet.
I've homed in on the radiator for the Ford Mondeo diesel; which appears to be the same as the one for the ST220 Mondeo - if it's good enough for a 220 hp V6 towing a caravan up the Alps it should be good for a Rover V8. The inlet/outlet/vent connects are similar:
It fits in the nose cone:
And gives me a healthy gap at the side to run a cold air feed:
Dirt cheap too; and comes with a suitable fan and fan shroud.
The hose connections line up well however they are 'quick connects' not conventional hose spiggots so I'll have to be creative and use sections of the original Ford hoses.
Next step is to make up some support brackets; that shouldn't be too difficult as there's two vertical bits of plywood in the nose that allow me to put brackets wherever I need to.
I'm thinking that a modern aluminium radiator will be more efficient than the Range Rover one so can be narrower; and then allow me to put the air filter in front of the radiator and run a duct back to the plenum inlet.
I've homed in on the radiator for the Ford Mondeo diesel; which appears to be the same as the one for the ST220 Mondeo - if it's good enough for a 220 hp V6 towing a caravan up the Alps it should be good for a Rover V8. The inlet/outlet/vent connects are similar:
It fits in the nose cone:
And gives me a healthy gap at the side to run a cold air feed:
Dirt cheap too; and comes with a suitable fan and fan shroud.
The hose connections line up well however they are 'quick connects' not conventional hose spiggots so I'll have to be creative and use sections of the original Ford hoses.
Next step is to make up some support brackets; that shouldn't be too difficult as there's two vertical bits of plywood in the nose that allow me to put brackets wherever I need to.
Yep, That's the idea behind going into the nosecone. A possible option to get cold air is to go straight down from the AFM inlet and pick up air from near the crossmember, but that's almost certain to pull in water.
I'm not going for a ram air effect as firstly it'll ingest rain/dust and secondly the actual ram air effect at normal road speeds isn't significant when compared to the velocity of the air being sucked in by the engine and the pressure losses elsewhere in the system. I'm trying to get the inlet ahead of the radiator, high up in the nosecone, offset from the scoop formed by the spoiler.
I'm not going for a ram air effect as firstly it'll ingest rain/dust and secondly the actual ram air effect at normal road speeds isn't significant when compared to the velocity of the air being sucked in by the engine and the pressure losses elsewhere in the system. I'm trying to get the inlet ahead of the radiator, high up in the nosecone, offset from the scoop formed by the spoiler.
Sounds like a plan... and £200 cheaper than having the old one recored!
Looking at the installation of the Rangey rad and the way mine had all the fins blasted off the lower half I'm not convinced that it gets optimum airflow through it anyway... maybe what it needs is more of a shaped duct leading up from the airdam/spoiler intake, rather than just having the air circulating randomly around under the nosecone.
Looking at the installation of the Rangey rad and the way mine had all the fins blasted off the lower half I'm not convinced that it gets optimum airflow through it anyway... maybe what it needs is more of a shaped duct leading up from the airdam/spoiler intake, rather than just having the air circulating randomly around under the nosecone.
Making progress... made a frame to mount the radiator:
I've had issues making the diesel fan work as it's a variable speed fan controlled by the Ford ECU, so I bought a Mondeo petrol fan/rad assy for £20; that has a conventional fan that I can connect straight to a temp sensor and relay. It's actually a two speed fan so I might connect the low speed to the sensor and the high speed to a dash switch if/when I start to panic about engine temp! I will beef up the TVR wiring though, as it seems to be a powerful fan judging by the Ford wiring cross sectional area. The petrol fan is slightly smaller as well so it will give me more space in the nosecone:
I did consider using the petrol radiator as well, as it has conventional hose spigots; until I realised it's about 5mm less 'deep' than the diesel version.
I've had issues making the diesel fan work as it's a variable speed fan controlled by the Ford ECU, so I bought a Mondeo petrol fan/rad assy for £20; that has a conventional fan that I can connect straight to a temp sensor and relay. It's actually a two speed fan so I might connect the low speed to the sensor and the high speed to a dash switch if/when I start to panic about engine temp! I will beef up the TVR wiring though, as it seems to be a powerful fan judging by the Ford wiring cross sectional area. The petrol fan is slightly smaller as well so it will give me more space in the nosecone:
I did consider using the petrol radiator as well, as it has conventional hose spigots; until I realised it's about 5mm less 'deep' than the diesel version.
The first frame I built was too bulky, so I had to rethink and make it fit much more tightly around the radiator:
It's a pretty tight fit but looks like it will do the job. I wanted to keep the original Ford mounting rubbers to allow heat expansion so the mounting points are large holes.
I've been lucky with the Ford quick connections, they're moulded onto the hoses but I cut the hoses off and found nice barbed connections underneath so I can mount a conventional hose quite easily.
It even looks like I'll be able to use the original swan neck. Looks promising now, I just need to connect it all up...
It's a pretty tight fit but looks like it will do the job. I wanted to keep the original Ford mounting rubbers to allow heat expansion so the mounting points are large holes.
I've been lucky with the Ford quick connections, they're moulded onto the hoses but I cut the hoses off and found nice barbed connections underneath so I can mount a conventional hose quite easily.
It even looks like I'll be able to use the original swan neck. Looks promising now, I just need to connect it all up...
Got the top and bottom hoses connected now, they went on surprisingly well, anyone would think it was designed that way!
Fan wiring next; it appears that the Ford fan can draw more than 30A on start up so I need to put some heavy duty wiring in there. There isn't a sensor in the rad so I have several choices; I'll probably trigger the low speed from Megasquirt based on the ECU engine temp sensor, then have a manual over-ride to put the fan on high speed from a dash mounted switch - I'm thinking I'll wire the dash mounted switch via a permanent live so that I can run the fan with the engine switched off to prevent hot starting problems.
Fan wiring next; it appears that the Ford fan can draw more than 30A on start up so I need to put some heavy duty wiring in there. There isn't a sensor in the rad so I have several choices; I'll probably trigger the low speed from Megasquirt based on the ECU engine temp sensor, then have a manual over-ride to put the fan on high speed from a dash mounted switch - I'm thinking I'll wire the dash mounted switch via a permanent live so that I can run the fan with the engine switched off to prevent hot starting problems.
I've got the air intake in place now and it's looking pretty good; although the duct I bought was 1m long and is still a little short, I could do with having the air filter further forward and also a more gentle curve onto the plenum.
It'll do for now while I sort the rest out. I need to refit the front spoiler; I'm expecting to have to shave some material off the air intake to accomodate the new radiator.
I still need to sort out the fan wiring, it blows a 25A fuse when switched on to high speed (low speed is OK) so I'm pondering a need for high current relays, standard ones are 30A but it's possible to buy 70A ones. I also appear to have damaged the alternator as I'm seeing 20 Volt spikes on the power supply to the ECU - unsurprisingly the ECU is not happy! I suspect I have something going on with the fans, perhaps when they switch off... ho hum.
It'll do for now while I sort the rest out. I need to refit the front spoiler; I'm expecting to have to shave some material off the air intake to accomodate the new radiator.
I still need to sort out the fan wiring, it blows a 25A fuse when switched on to high speed (low speed is OK) so I'm pondering a need for high current relays, standard ones are 30A but it's possible to buy 70A ones. I also appear to have damaged the alternator as I'm seeing 20 Volt spikes on the power supply to the ECU - unsurprisingly the ECU is not happy! I suspect I have something going on with the fans, perhaps when they switch off... ho hum.
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