Heat insulation. End of Summer 2022 edition.

[graearea]

same as everyone else. melted legs are no fun.

the car came with the shiny insulation on the outside, lagged primaries.

I've since replaced the heater matrix bypass with a new one (not really much difference, the matrix still gets hot even when the bypass is closed. yes I've double checked the adjustment is correct). I've used dynamat around my calves:

(on both sides now after I got burnt right leg during a very hot trackday

I've sealed around the leather transmission cover using strips of insulation foam (from frozen food deliveries) this is it being pushed into the gap. it makes a MASSIVE difference to the hot air coming through from the transmission tunnel. I can really tell on my thighs where it stops as you can feel the hot air being blown at you. I suspect it venting behind you would be the best bet.

I sealed the pedal box so no hot air can get in from the engine bay. there are quite large gaps when the screws are tightened down. now with left-over dynamat strips there is zero hot air coming from the engine bay

squarish insulation foam

jammed into the un-closable pedalbox vents to stop the permanantly hot air being blown in from the heater matrix. unfortunately the front of the matrix is shut using non-removable bolts (they aren't hex or anything. just knurled) so I can't do something cleverer, but it hangs out a bit so I can remove it if needed.

and finally, the nuclear option

next summer I'll likely remove the heater matrix using this widget by linking the two hoses from the engine. no more bypass. no more hot air from the heater at all.

by all accounts cutting holes in the pedal box is no bueno (not much of a firewall if fire can get in and I'm half thinking of a sealed vent from the heater matrix box to the pedal box cover, but I don't know how to make this fire-proof. I'm thinking of 3d-printing a small flat vent that sits down at the front of the lower end of the screen and scoops air over the sill and into the footwell. just need to measure it up.

if the heater matrix bypass didn't conduct so much heat into the heater, this wouldn't be so much of a problem. anyone got an idea how to solve this properly? I wonder if it's connected up correctly. to the garage!

anyhow. I hope that's helpful to some people.

J

 

[SM25T]

What a performance. Have you tried replacing the heater bypass valve .... Cheap enough on line from aTX2 taxi. Photo of how it is connected ?

[graearea]

Yep. Replaced a few weeks back  are the hoses the right way round?

[AdrianC]

#3 Its difficult to see from your picture, on my Duratec the bottom of the 2 hoses comes from the rear of the block, the top is the return

[ScottR400D]

What temperature is your engine running at?

I've never had this kind of issue, on the road or on track. 

I've got the insulation in the tunnel etc but nothing in the cockpits and though the sides of the tunnel get warm, they're never too hot. 

No exhaust wrapping, sealing of the pedal box etc. 

 

[graearea]

I'm not really sure what temps it runs at. I think the water gets up to 90 in traffic when it's hot but usually in the 80s. I'm not sure about the oil temp. much lower. 60s? I'd need to run it and write it down. I'll go check the hoses.

can someone point me at the documentation for the correct way it should be plumbed for a wet sumped 2l duratec

[SM25T]

It must be a fairly basic plumbing problem, as closing the valve should prevent hot coolant entering the matrix. Simple as that.

[graearea]

Seems correct according to the build manual I found

[Jonathan Kay]

From the Assembly Guide:

Jonathan

 

[John Vine]

This is what the Assembly Guide (2010) shows:

 

Your plumbing matches that ok.

In the early years, my R400D cockpit was hot enough to melt my pixie boots.  To make things more comfortable, I did the following:

Lagged the primaries
Fitted CC's tunnel insulation kit
Stuffed a cork in the redundant clutch cable orifice in the pedal box.

That improved things a lot, but I also found that the SBFS tunnel bag was very effective at keeping my left leg away from the hot tunnel side.

This is a view of the heater plumbing from the cylinder head end:

 

JV

[John Vine]

Re #9:  Must type faster!

JV

[graearea]

I got it from here. All checks out. 

[SM25T]

Well there has to be something wrong with the valve or the adjustment of the cable that operates it. With the valve closed, it can't get hot.

[SLR No.77]

In a Duratec install which way does the coolant flow?

[John Vine]

#14: If you mean at the heater, it's bottom hose in, top hose out.

JV

[SM25T]

Sure he means flow from engine to valve

[John Vine]

OK, here's a (very) rough flow diagram:

Note that newer cars have a Modine oil cooler in the run between heater (top) and T-piece.

JV

[Geoff Brown]

Forewarned about unacceptable heat in the cockpit of early R400s - skin being left behind on the transmission tunnel - I carpeted the tunnel, nice & cool to the touch.

The chassis came with the reflective insulation fitted which just left lagging the primaries.

Irrespective of all the precautions in ambient temperatures experienced lately the driver foot well reaches at least gas mark 6 if not 8 at times !  

No heater fitted. Why need it when a 2.0L Duratec is the best heater around ? Weight saving as well.

 

[John Vine]

Why need it when a 2.0L Duratec is the best heater around ?

In my case, because I'm a big softie.  I couldn't do without it on really chilly winter days.  Besides, I cut my motoring teeth when hardly any cars had heaters.  Certainly my first two didn't, and when I bought the third, motoring along with toasted feet was pure ecstasy.  I've never looked back.

JV

[SLR No.77]

#15  Yes john, as Ian says I was referring to engine to valve.  I asked because this is the opposite flow direction to my K-Series where the heater/bypass circuit flows in an anti-clockwise direction.

 

[John Vine]

#20:  Yes, you're absolutely right.  The EU2/EU3 AG shows:

 

JV