Is there anything negitive about an LT1 running at 170 degrees constantly?

 

Nothing negative, but i've always been under the impression you get more power when the engine is warmer.

 

Not that I know of. Ed Wright said in GM High Tech that in every iron block Chevy he ever raced ran quickest with a coolant temp of about 140. Mine stays about 170 most of the time. Sometimes I see as low as 165.

 

ya thats where im at 170 and if im cruising for a while and its cold i see 165...so running this cold is fine and isint hurting anything. i read somewhere that running this cold is fine but it costs HP...how is this?

 

Too cold can cause a loss of combustion efficiency.

 

i understand that u are the guru shoebox and by no means am i challenging your knowlege

but why would Ed wright at GM High Tech state that the quickest LT1's were ran at 140?

 

From what I saw posted, he did not say LT1. (third party quotes can be a little fuzzy) If your gas mileage goes down from running cool, you know you have lost some thermal efficiency in combustion. There is such a thing as too cool and it is harmful to the engine over the long term. IMO, 140 is way too cool and is at the threshold of your engine not even making it into closed loop.

I would imagine Ed was referring to pure race cars. BTW, Ed is not at GMHTP.

 

The quote was taken from the Nov. 2004 issue in the Tech section. (Where people write or email in and they have "experts" in the area of the question answer them.) I am not saying this is 100% true, just stating what I have read.The exact quote was "every iron block Chevy I ever raced ran quickest leaving the line with the coolant about 140 degrees, once the oil was good and warm." He goes on to say "When I ran my 96 TA with a stock engine, I modified the thermostat so the engine would run 135/140 deg. Here on the dyno it is not unuasal to see 5 or 6 rwhp more with the engine cooler."
In my own experience my car has always been quicker with the engine cooler. (That was when I had the stock engine with bolt-ons. I have yet to run the car with the new stroker.)

 

so if running the engine that cold would be a loss of combustion effeciency as shoebox stated then how can it produce more HP? (140)(taken into consideration that the car has been running for 20 or so mins and the oil is at operating temp as well as all other internals/components)


I quess im just confused

I drove 30 miles on the highway tonight and it is dead cold out and i saw a temp of 165 the entire way...so would i be losing HP b/c of uncomplete combustion or gaining HP?

thanks guys, all of this is very insightful

 

If you can get your engine to run all the time at 135-140 with a stock cooling system, I would be very surprised. Of course Ed would probably not have a problem with open or closed loop, because he could tune it to run however he wanted it. I don't know what the dividing line is for too cold or not too cold. There must be enough heat for combustion to be efficient.

 

Yes he is talking about race cars......and big pulls on the dyno. He has told me several times that SBC's like 140 degree water and hot oil (200). In case no one has heard he has run a best of 10.26 @ 131 on a 1.31/60ft. in his NA 96 Firebird. Not bad for an old guy. On the part about GMHTP, he writes articles for them once in while.