I am also on a Corvette high-performance list, such as
this. The question on that list was "should I use an
electric water pump on my street car?" Well we have
beat that subject around on RACE cars so I posted the
opinion that it was a bad idea, for several reasons.
THEN, the topic turned to water flow, where I put
forth the proposition that matching the flow through
the engine to optimize cooling was essential, even if
it ment slowing it down. I suggested that a thermostat
should always be used in a street application. Well,
the flames immediately started from the engineers on
the list that maintain that the FASTEST flow of water
thru the engine produces the best cooling. Here are a
few quotes:
"the speed of the coolant flowing through the radiator
increases heat energy transfer to the air for a given
input coolant temperature, not decreases it. The same
is true of the speed of the coolant flow through the
engine. Increasing the speed will make the engine
block cooler,not hotter."
"And the faster the coolant flow, the less chance of
developing a "hot spot" because the coolant is
cooler."
"Jim is absolutely right. The idea that slowing down
coolant flow through a radiator gives it "time to do
its job" is a common myth."
"While each molecule of coolant traveling through the
radiator may get less cool due to its higher
speed/shorter transit time, it's more than made up for
by the increased massflow of molecules passing through
the radiator in a given time, which, in the end,
improves heat transfer. "
Now here is my question: In theory, I would agree that
moving the water thru an engine rapidly WOULD provide
a cooler running engine, BUT, that moving the coolant
too fast to "exchange" the heat has always resulted in
a hotter running engine. Not so according to the
quotes cited above. Now, I don't have letters after my
name - they do- but I have spent many years bent over
a greasy motor, and this flys in the face of what I
have learned the hard way. OR.... Are they right??????
Ed (never too old to learn)
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