10W30 - Auto Repair Answers and Archive

Dirtydog · 06-17-2007 01:36 PM

ok, for all u outside the box thinkers. been workin on this little ride for a while now.it belongs to a friend of mine. he more or less wants to restore it since plastic isn't worth scrap weight. some one removed the cool air intake tubes that were between the trunk & eng. compartment, as well as a lot of the heat shields. after i replace the clutch slave cyl. some other parts, incl. the heat shields, i'm considering installing elec. fans on the louver vents to promote better underhood/trunk airflow, & cooling. do i blow air into the eng. compartment, or draw it out? all opinions/ideas welcomed. Thanks much. Dirtydog.

**re-tired** · 06-17-2007 05:20 PM

The car was a firetrap WITH the factory shielding and airflow. You would need all the air in AND out that you can . Iwould wrap the exhaust system as well.would not hurt to have an on board halon system. might have trouble insureing the beast.IMO

**way2old** · 06-17-2007 05:22 PM

I would want to draw the hot air out of the compartment. Since it is fairly well closed off, adding air to the area probably will not help a lot. Just my .02

**re-tired** · 06-17-2007 06:18 PM

THe air intake grates are on the top of eng comp . So W2O would be correct in drawing air out the bottom . Fresh air would be drawn down into compartment.

Dirtydog · 06-17-2007 06:45 PM

i'm familiar with the fire issues of these things. my thinking was to mount a 12" cooling fan to the outside of each louver, run through a relay, & on with the ign. no switch to forget to turn on. I can reverse the fan rotation on the model i'm looking at. i even considered pushing air in one side, & pulling it out the other. mounting a fan under the eng. compartment i hadn't considered.( not a bad idea ) I think the louvers are designed to pull air up & out as the car moves. how serious were you about the halon fire suppressant? i'd not thought of that either. :? keep kicking around ideas till you're bored. thanks much Dirty

**way2old** · 06-17-2007 08:40 PM

Retired NEVER runs out of ideas. [smilie=pdt_au.gif] [smilie=pdt_ban.gif]

driver540 · 06-18-2007 12:22 AM

The pushing air out is best. The Toyota MR-2 is set up with side louvers and exhaust fans to help keep engine compartment cooler. Of course this goes along with running your cooling fans too.

***tac*** · 06-18-2007 02:32 AM

IF there's a natural air flow in the design, could fans actual impede the airflow? That's why we have the fan clutch or freewheel mechanism on radiator fans, so when going 30+ MPH the air pressure against the radiator means the fan is only in the way and needs to freewheel or else it slows down the air. If there are ducts designed to catch and direct air from the sides into the engine compartment, fans could actual reduce their effect.

As to supplemental air cooling of the engine compartment itself and which way to go, I would think that there would be a natural negative pressure zone under the car, so the natural movement would be in from top / sides and out through bottom - while moving. And the opposite direction (heat rises) while stationary.

I had a Fiat X 1/9, a very similar design. The air flow there was as I described above. The air coming off the roof panel swirled down onto the rear hatch, just like it does in a pickup (which is why beer cans in the bed always migrate to the front and stay there instead of flying out). That pushed air down through vents in the engine lid. The car also had a spoiler and side skirts making a low pressure area under the car to pull air out from under the engine. Great while driving on the highway, but could get kinda warm when sitting in traffic.

**re-tired** · 06-18-2007 03:41 AM

There is one small flaw in your thoughts about the fans impeading the flow of air to the eng compt as it pertains to this masterpiece of engineering . The radiator & cooling fans are in the nose of the car.The eng is transverse mounted rear midship.There is no ductwork or side scoops for aux airflow. HOWEVER , there is as you said a natural airflow up from the bottom and out the access panels in the top. The problem with these cars is that there is NO airflow when stopped . Get stuck in traffic on a august day , idleing for hours w/ac on , and its time to break out the marshmellows. :shock: Thus Dogs desire for supplemental cooling.

MarisaLla · 11-30-2010 09:12 PM

Howdy, I've got a brief query. Does anybody else notice a slight lag using this site as soon as they get access? It usually requires a minimum five seconds or so for me to view the index web page.

Best wishes
Marisa
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Clarissa · 03-20-2011 03:24 AM

Trim parts and specialty parts like cross members are not so easy...considering the bodies look like brand new until the steel underneath rots out to the pavement. Had a couple of em! But those Fiero sites want your first two born children for some parts...be prepared to lighten your wallet.

fstf2v · 03-22-2011 05:53 PM

Hello, I was thinking if you have alot of fan pressure blowing down wouldnt this cause handling problems or stability issue's? I have been in a MR 2 ,but never been in a fiero. You might also try to make the louvers have flaps(actually a flat panel that slides, making it possible to open and close the louvers) maximum movment of the panel maybe 3/4th" to 1" or less. you can use R/C servos and or parts. maybe this will trigger your solution. Good Luck, fstf2v