Electric Water Pumps

[shaunwil]

Cool

Shaun

[FD3UK]

I have Davis Craig pump running via the digital controller, same as Kev Gordon\'s. I have found it works well and defaults to running at full power under any fault situations unlike the old controller. I have installed the temp sensor in the rear plate where heater hose exits, as this is the hot spot in the engine.

[AdrianE]

Hi,

I also have a Davies-Craig electric water pump (110L/min), and the newer digital controller. At the moment I haven\'t got a radiator bypass or a thermostat, so it takes a few miles to get to normal operating temps. The controller does step in to late giving a \'spike\' of up to 220-230F, but once this is over (30secs or so) it operates as normal and the temp stays around 180-200F if I\'m using boost, and 160-170F (too cold!) when I\'m cruising.

I\'m interested in MikeLMR\'s setup, with the inline thermostat housing from a Lotus Exige(!). Mike, please could you give me some details on what you\'re using?

Cheers,

Adrian

PS Yup, I guess it\'s time for me to join MRC as a member...

[MikeLMR]

well it doesn\'t exist in metal yet ... just a pile of parts and a drawing the rest of the car is being pretty much built from the ground up so I will get round to the cooling system, radiator ducting etc. at some point

I do have all the bits now though ... also found somewhere that does a stat housing for £27-odd (i paid more than that )

[FD3UK]

If you\'re using the digital controller you don\'t need the thermostat. The pump does not run at all until 20 deg below preset temp. You may need to adjust the preset a bit to find a happy medium. Where do you have the sensor placed?

[AdrianE]

I have the temp sensor for the controller tapped into the thermostat housing I got with my radiator from horsepowerinabox. This housing only provides 1 outlet, so I have no bypass to the radiator. The trouble is when I\'m not using boost the coolant temp drops to about 70C (too low!).

I didn\'t want the water flow restricted by a standard thermostat, seeing as I bought the CG 110L/min pump. This is why I wanted a separate thermostat housing that will not retrict flow when the thermostat itself is open, and also provide a radiator bypass outlet when below stat\'s rated temperature. Is this possible? Mike, where did you find your stat housing parts? £27 is probably cheaper than if i had to buy a standard FD stat housing.

I\'m also overhauling my FD\'s cooling system and I/C, by making my own v-mount. Hopefully I should have it working in a couple of months!

Cheers,

Adrian

[MikeLMR]

http://www.nfauto.co.uk/thermostat_bypass.htm

[FD3UK]

I have removed water pump/stat housing completely. I also see temps of 70 deg, but have adjusted warm up compensation in the ECU. I have installed the sensor where feed used to go to heater matrix.

I didn\'t want the water flow restricted by a standard thermostat, seeing as I bought the CG 110L/min pump. This is why I wanted a separate thermostat housing that will not retrict flow when the thermostat itself is open, and also provide a radiator bypass outlet when below stat\'s rated temperature. Is this possible? Mike, where did you find your stat housing parts? £27 is probably cheaper than if i had to buy a standard FD stat housing.

Even with this type of housing you will be restricting flow to rad through the thermostat.

[AdrianE]

Thanks for the link Mike. Nice photo FD3UK, I see you have a Dragon v-mount (same as me). Is that your radiator bypass pipe under the BOV? Is it always open, or does it close somehow when the engine is up to running temp?

Maybe there\'s a way to open/close a water channel indirectly by a valve or simple mechanism. This way water flow to the radiator would not be restricted.

[FD3UK]

As I said before the controller adjusts flow of water so no need for radiator bypass.

I am very pleased with dragon V mount, allows for good flow through rad, intercooler and cold air feed to intake.


Coolant system working very well, also using Evans NPGR. The swirl pot allows for expansion without seperate overflow and cap is zero pressure rated. Will have to wait and see how it all fairs through the warmer summer months.

[AdrianE]

OK FD3UK I can see what you mean about the water pump housing removal in your photo. Do you have any other photos of that area in more detail? I might be tempted to do the same thing. Did you get the pipes (to the housing) made up somewhere, or did you them yourself?

I wish there was a way to keep the water temp at 80+C when just cruising.
The Digital Pump Controller can\'t seem to do this no matter what temp I set it to. I think running at 70C or lower is not ideal, and the engine needs more fuel to compensate (as you said before). Rotaries love to drink fuel (even when tuned right!) so this could be a pain on longer journeys.

I would to still like to try running a system with no thermostat to restrict flow, but a radiator bypass which would work until say 80C, and then close at higher temps.

[banned advertiser]

Advise please, we are looking at a mechnical pump, runs off pulley, fors and againsts?

[MikeLMR]

only way to keep temps up at light load is with a stat, even with the pump off you get the water syphoning round the system due to thermal effects. A thermostat and running the pump during warm up also allows water to circulate around the engine during warm up making the water temp more even through the block. If you don\'t need a stat on a road car ... name one car manufacturer that runs without one? I can think of at least one (BMW) that runs an EWP too.