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Skylarking

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^ very high EGT can melt the catalytic converters ceramic honeycomb, or even pistons o_O


@LS3_VE, has the cooling system been correctly bled so no air is within the system? No cooling system leaks?
 
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LS3_VE

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I’d drop by a dealer that has an HSV VF GTS LSA in stock, new or used doesn’t matter as you won’t be buying it. Then spend a little time looking at the cooling solution designed into the vehicle, paying particular attention to radiator size, fan size, radiator cowling, trans cooler size, etc as compared to your home grown beast. Then you’d get an idea of how it is correctly engineered.

I’d think there would be much more cooling capacity designed into the GTS LSA than a LS3. 130 odd kw extra power needs lots of fuel which creates lots of heat when burnt. And you need to be able to get rid of it some how :cool:

Once you understand the differences between the VF/GTS cooling solution, then have another discussion with Harrop. Ask them about the heat issue and whether they think it’s normal for your keys to get so hot when placed on the centre console and the car to flag an overheating issue...

Such heat problems are not normal in my view so Harrop stuffed up and they should fix it at their cost (it’s their liability).

thanks for the idea skylarking that’s solid advice, I’ve got a day off today so going to check it out, looking at HSV sounds like a good way to spend the morning to me
 

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how is the intercooler situated in front of the radiator ? i had to change mine and play around with it as it didnt allow good airflow thru to the radiator and engine fans were still coming on even upto 80kph driving, overheating was never an issue but the fans shouldnt have to come on if ur over 60kph if airflow has proper flow even with stock radiator, make sure u are actually getting hot as the ect sensors can play up also make sure u are using the L98 ect as some later ls3 may be different, i have seen ls3 heat up pretty quick but all fine once at operating temps, if cats are beside the trans they will be heating it up in that area more and heating up the floor either more insulation or get the headers and cat pipes ceramic coated to help, also if u have trans cooler u then have trans, intercooler, a/c before the radiator so flow at that point can be reduced alot

intercooler is definitely in front of radiator, at present is the stock radiator and the intercooler installed with built engine
After further looking into it the cats are playing a part in the excessive heat transfer to centre console and area but this is not a constant and until the car operating temp is shown above half on dash display it remains as you would expect which is with no noticeable heat coming from the area as soon as it is over half the heat transfer is extreme and noticeable very quickly, the ceramic coating to help in general is not something I had done or was offered as an idea but will now ask about, Will this be a big job and can you recommend somewhere that does this ?
 

07GTS

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intercooler is definitely in front of radiator, at present is the stock radiator and the intercooler installed with built engine
After further looking into it the cats are playing a part in the excessive heat transfer to centre console and area but this is not a constant and until the car operating temp is shown above half on dash display it remains as you would expect which is with no noticeable heat coming from the area as soon as it is over half the heat transfer is extreme and noticeable very quickly, the ceramic coating to help in general is not something I had done or was offered as an idea but will now ask about, Will this be a big job and can you recommend somewhere that does this ?
id recommend race coatings ive had a few items done and exhaust sections done and work is really good https://www.racecoatings.com.au u should be able to go to engineering mode and see what the actual engine temp is ? with the intercooler if its sitting in front with a decent gap and side gaps then it will disrupt flow, the cooling in these and very poor to begin with imo im doing some major changes to mine just to make it better
 

LS3_VE

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Do you have a wideband installed?

I would definitely have one installed with all those mods.

If the engine is running to lean , it could cause the EGT to increase heating up everything.

im not 100% on the answer to that Daniel.my knowledge of the workings of an engine a fairly limited I done a lot of research before starting the build but took advice along the way when was told certain things weren’t needed I was never told I needed additions at any stage or convinced to spend so figured when I was told I didn’t need something it was likely to be ok to leave it out
 

LS3_VE

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^ very high EGT can melt the catalytic converters ceramic honeycomb, or even pistons o_O


@LS3_VE, has the cooling system been correctly bled so no air is within the system? No cooling system leaks?

yes can confirm pressure test was done and no air present after a vacuum pump was done (I’m fairly sure that’s what was said)
 

LS3_VE

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I took the car into harrop yesterday and was told the thermostat was shot It was fairly new so should have been fine and was a tridon 86c hi flow but the fuse connection for fans was shotty so was causing fans to drop in an out so both were getting sorted today After doing some more research into things over last couple days and posting on here and feedback so far I asked about upgrading the cooling system completely not just replacing the thermostat and was told it wasn’t necessary as OEM system would be fine up to 1000hp but feel it’s best to be going ahead with upgrading any way

But seem to find conflicting opinion on what rad to use and what combination of pump,rad & thermostat in order to get the most effective cooling in both stop start city driving and if I wanted to open things up occasionally(definitely don’t thrash my car at all but i also don’t have the car I do to not enjoy it for what it is when appropriate)
 

_R_J_K_

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But seem to find conflicting opinion on what rad to use and what combination of pump,rad & thermostat)

Keep the thermostat at the stock temp (or whatever is in it now) as it's not a track car. IMO the water pump should be fine. From quickly searching it looks like the stock radiator core is 26mm thick, would probably be looking for something around about at least double that.

Did you end up finding out about the transmission cooler or is it just their transmission cooler relocation kit? Would be interesting to know the dimensions, doesn't hurt to look for a bigger core for that too. Surprised they didn't try to get you to buy one of their oil coolers too.

Look at air dams on the sides or at the bottom of the rad to direct air into the radiator. This can be a surprisingly big help, especially with intercoolers.
 
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Skylarking

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^ Yeah, seen that link, a good reference.

The VE series V8’s had a 40mm thick radiator so obviously @LS3_VE’s VE SSV would be such but not sure whether the HSV’s of that period made any cooling improvements to cater for LS2/LS3, or whether VF series made further cooling improvements.

That’s why i suggested he look at the VF GTS LSA as the engine/gearbox and diff cooling has been engineered for the supercharged V8’s power. He said he’d go and check one out so it would be interesting to hear what he has discovered or whether he was so impressed he just bought one :p

It would also be interesting to hear if the thermostat replacement fixed the overheating issue ;)
 
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