Newish Volvo V50 AWD T5 -6 speed - time to modify

veefifty · 2017-07-11T00:30:43+00:00

Bcs are not really worth it if they are the base model ones. You do get what you pay for there.

veefifty

With all of this hot weather around in Sydney (and elsewhere in OZ!) I've really noticed the high under bonnet temps. Just wondering if any of you guys have done anything to combat heat in the engine bay and how successful you felt it was?

I'm considering various options at the moment....

Heat wrapping various componentsceramic coating the DPLetting a vent into the bonnetI also found an uber expensive vented carbon fibre bonnet which I won't be buying but I'll list it here as it was on my shortlist...

Have you guys done any of the above?

240

Are you running the stock airbox or an aftermarket one eg pod filter?

veefifty

Enclosed aftermarket pod filter. It’s drawing air from outside the engine bay (through the stock snorkel).

timbo

Have you got the Hilton tune yet? As you can imagine the issue only gets worse with more boost.

I've just added the elevate turbo blanket and heatwrapped the downpipe to try to help keep temps down. I'm also planning a bonnet vent with cooling duct , external oil cooler and water meth.

veefifty

timbo
Have you got the Hilton tune yet? As you can imagine the issue only gets worse with more boost.
I've just added the elevate turbo blanket and heatwrapped the downpipe to try to help keep temps down. I'm also planning a bonnet vent with cooling duct , external oil cooler and water meth.

Dang Tim! You’re going all out!

I haven’t loaded the tube up yet but yes I’m expecting the heat problems to compound then.

how did you find the turbo blanket and heat wrap? Had it helped?

Im also seriously considering getting a bonnet vent cut in. I’m thinking about the Mustang GT500 vent which I’d get painted body colour so it blends in a bit more.

timbo

I haven't driven the car much but it's such a nice kit and covers the entire exhaust manifold so would have to be an improvement. I was planning to take a more scientific approach to measuring intake/under bonnet temps as I modified stuff but kinda got carried away with AWD swap.

I'm thinking something along the lines of this AJ hartman universal hood vent.

https://ajhartmanaero.com/hood-vent/

veefifty

timbo
I haven't driven the car much but it's such a nice kit and covers the entire exhaust manifold so would have to be an improvement. I was planning to take a more scientific approach to measuring intake/under bonnet temps as I modified stuff but kinda got carried away with AWD swap.
I'm thinking something along the lines of this AJ hartman universal hood vent.
https://ajhartmanaero.com/hood-vent/

Interesting. You’d certainly get more air moving through there!

I’m trying to keep it relatively factory looking. Here’s an example of the GT500 vent I’m thinking of but I’d paint it body colour.

Ex850R

Look into pressure areas and how air will flow before cutting it in. Having this and vents to the wheel well area may be the way it's a weird science.

Have you considered air to water intercooler. Requires a small radiator but less bulk than a big air/air one. And more control over temperatures as it's a constant not variable with climate.

veefifty

Ex850R
Look into pressure areas and how air will flow before cutting it in. Having this and vents to the wheel well area may be the way it's a weird science.
Have you considered air to water intercooler. Requires a small radiator but less bulk than a big air/air one. And more control over temperatures as it's a constant not variable with climate.

Yeah I’ll do a bit of reading on airflow before I decide on a course of action.

I’ll leave the intercooler for now as I just put in a Do88 cooler recently. I haven’t seen much on water to air coolers for our cars though. Would this be a custom job?

jamesinc

The lowest-effort improvement you can make is probably to add water wetter to the coolant which should slightly improve the overall cooling efficiency of the engine.

It shouldn't really be necessary to add a vent to the bonnet. On a 45 degree day your enemy is the fact that your OT and the ambient air temp are only like 40 degrees apart, so airflow through the rad is I think the main concern. It's worth checking that you have good seals around the rad and fan and so on so that the fan is pulling air through the rad and not around the sides. You can also add a larger pusher fan or add a switch to the A/C pusher fan to make it run when you want as it'll push a bit more air through.

If you want to be homebrew about it, mount some windscreen washer jets in front of the rad and have them spray water from the washer bottle onto the rad, that'll help suck heat out too.

Wrapping the downpipe will of course help to move a bit more heat out through the exhaust system. You can also get a turbo blanket to do similar for the hot side housing.

Ex850R

Custom fit of one of many water coolers out there. Way more efficient than air to air as you can imagine.

The car isn't going to overheat ,only lose power gain from high atmosphere temp.

Sure, underbonnet is like an oven but that's how it's made.

As James says, be sure it's all in perfect condition.

timbo

Lower temp thermostat is worth doing

https://j-w-racing.co.uk/product.php/8254/3580/low_temperature_thermostat_focus_rs_mk2

AshDVS

In the Focus, I have bonnet vents which helped a little on the really hot days and I also have an external oil cooler (rather than the sump mounted oem unit).

In fact, the oil cooler I've used is from a Volvo 740T.

Oil cooler mounted but not plumbed -

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Sump adaptor and lines -

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And finished, mounted in front of the intercooler behind the grille -

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veefifty

AshDVS
In the Focus, I have bonnet vents which helped a little on the really hot days and I also have an external oil cooler (rather than the sump mounted oem unit).
In fact, the oil cooler I've used is from a Volvo 740T.
Oil cooler mounted but not plumbed -
https://i.imgur.com/9Mxh9gm.jpg
Sump adaptor and lines -
https://i.imgur.com/2M2i7Bn.jpg
And finished, mounted in front of the intercooler behind the grille -
https://imgur.com/ThlCmJV

Not bad at all Ash. Looks like a tidy set up!

veefifty

So it's been a couple of months and I've had nothing but dramas lol.

I hadn't been driving the car much (due to COVID) but noticed it had dropped a lot of oil on the driveway. I took it out for a drive and I got the check engine light but not the oil light and another weird check El system warning. Long story short I booked it in to go back to Lupica.

Lupica sorted out the oil issue. It seemed that the dip stick tube had come loose from the sump so it was getting oil everywhere underneath. They checked my codes on the computer and got a whole lot of stuff about electricity over supply and one other code about the cat which I'll talk about later. They cleared the codes and suggested that it was hard to tell but perhaps the alternator was on the way out.

I drove home and later that night got another nasty warning and a weird electrical beep from the stereo...(screen shot below). I had a chat to a few people on facebook who had had similar issues and that they changed their alternator and the problem was fixed.

I booked in with a local auto-electrician who checked it all out. Seems Id had a few uncontrolled voltage spikes causing these issues but it was an intermittant problem so hard to say it was defiantley the alternator but it was the likely culprit. I decided to get it changed over in order to eliminate that as the issue and hopefully fix the problem. I also got the sparky to hardwire the bluetooth controller for the exhaust system instead of running off the cigarette lighter since they're in a really awkward place in the V50 and just get in the way.

I got the car back last night and have done quite a bit of driving. No codes or issues so far so I hope it's fixed but will have to wait and see.

The final thing that's outstanding is a code relating to the cat. Lupica didn't seem worried about it but I thought I'd throw it up here in case anyone has had any expereince with it:

400D ECM-400D Three-way catalytic converter (TWC) efficiency, bank 1. Signal too low.

I wasn't sure if this was related to the electrical issues I was having or might be due to get the cat replaced with a highflow unit before Christmas ? Any thoughts would be appreciated fellas!

In the meantime I'll keep driving it for a couple of weeks and see if it throws a code again or if it seems alright. I'm dying to upload the Hilton tune but I want to make sure it's running right before I do.

Recent shot of my car - absolutely filthy but I love it!

Cheers all,

Philia_Bear

The cat code Generaly just means that the o2 sensor behind the cat has failed

It's a non wideband Bosch unit (4 wire)

veefifty

Philia_Bear
The cat code Generaly just means that the o2 sensor behind the cat has failed
It's a non wideband Bosch unit (4 wire)

Actually now that I think about it, I recall a few people previously saying that they needed an 02sensor spacer after they replaced the downpipe....that might be my problem....

https://www.elevatecars.com/store/volvo-v50/elevate-rear-o2-sensor-spacer-for-downpipe.html

timbo

You will just need to fit a spacer to the rear 02 sensor. You changed to an aftermarket cat when you did the exhaust right?

veefifty

timbo
You will just need to fit a spacer to the rear 02 sensor. You changed to an aftermarket cat when you did the exhaust right?

Somehow I missed your message before I replied to Philla - at least I was on the right track! lol

timbo

I use these ones for the P1 cars

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/274396987432

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