Raceline Zetec thermostat

[keith.rose1]

I have just bought a Seven with a 2.0 litre Raceline Zetec and it is running very cold (40-50C on gauge). Half blanking rad raises it to around 65C. The thermostat operates OK in a bowl of hot water, at around 82c . 

Any suggestions, and what is the actual thermostat (ie Serck part number or such like), and what temp setting do you suggest? 

 

Thanks Keith

[keith.rose1]

Should have said it has the Raceline water rail, with no header tank

Keith

[BlackSeven]

Keith, I have a Raceline water rail on a 2.0 Blacktop with no header and have experimented with lots of different temperature thermostat's, bypass hole sizes and radiator capacities in order to get an acceptable compromise between warm up time and temperature stability.

Thermostat temp had a relatively small effect. The size of the bypass hole (i.e. the hole drilled through the thermostat) had a very significant effect; even a 0.5mm change in diameter very noticeably changes warm up characteristics. From memory I think i ended up at 2.5mm (but I will check). Any bigger and getting up to temp took a very long time; any smaller and I got erratic fluctuations in temp (you can block up an oversize hole with a pop rivet if you need to drill a smaller one).

Originally I had a four core copper radiator which had massive coolant capacity and changing this for an R400 alloy rad reduced capacity (and weight) and also helped with warm up time whilst still providing plently of cooling on hot days.

I eventually got a set up that works well but must admit that i was disappointed with the way that the Raceline rail worked initially compared to the standard Ford thermostat arrangement. 

Hope this helps.

Rob

 

[Wrightpayne]

Keith

look forward to seeing it at Hathern !!

Ian

[Hodsonpe]

Hello Keith,

 

Like Rob I experimented a lot with this. I wanted to keep the engine hot as Zetecs do seem to like that and in their original use they were run hot.

So I ended up with a 2.5mm hole, a 92c thermostat and I put in a recycle loop T'd off the heater lines because I got fed up with the continual cycling fluctuations that the Raceline header induces. That arrangement works well for me but I don't do track days although I do tour France a lot in some very hot weather without problems. Oh and I have the original old copper radiator and flat heater.

I'm finally happy and she runs happily with a tiny fluctuation between 90 and 93c which suits me perfectly. The only mod I might make is a more of a restriction in the recycle loop to quicken warm up time but it is far from urgent or a problem.......just my OCD*rofl*

Paul.

[Duckpit]

I made my own water rail and kept the ford parts. No problems keeping temp up

[Drumster]

Never had a problem with over cooling but....

My 2.0l blacktop has the Raceline water rail fitted and an 82deg thermostat with 3mm hole.

Originally when it was running on Webers it had the standard Ford aluminium radiator as offered by Caterham with a 9" Pacet fan and it ran perfectly with no cooling/overheating issues. Fan was controlled by a 86-95deg thermo switch.

When I upgraded to TBs with the above set up I had terrible overheating issues which were resolved by fitting a Radtec radiator and 11" Spal fan and having the cooling fan controlled by the ECU using 87-91deg on/off settings.

Now it will sit all day long in extreme heat and stay at a steady 90deg. 

I tend not to drive it in very cold conditions but on the trip to Seven & Classics last week it showed no signs of overcooling ecev though outside temp never got above 6/7C

[keith.rose1]

Thanks for all your useful help! However which Ford do you tell the parts man that you need a stat for? First one I tried is (just) wrong diameter. 

On a breakfast run to Long Clawson this morning it got to about 80 at most. Breakfast at the deli was good! 

You will be seeing it at Hathern soon. 

 

Keith

[Drumster]

Reference is QTH100K for an 82deg thermostat. Measurements below are in mm.