I got this installed and tried it out. It is connected to one of ECU knock sensor wires (I used the gray #2 wire just because it was easier for me to get to than the black #1 wire) and the ECU RPM signal. There is some setup to do with it, first you calabrate it to your engine noise by holding the rpms at idle, mid redline and near redline and pushing the button at each point. Once that is set, the sensitivity level can be set from 1-10 with 10 being the lowest sensitivity (Kind of wierd that 10 is the lowest ).

First thing I noticed is the light comes on a lot, even though I'm not hearing any audible knocking. But it does seem to light up in the areas that pinging would normally be a problem, like low RPMs around 0 boost and under WOT. (And yes I'm running premium gas).

So, I set the sensitivity level to the lowest possible and I test drove it. That caused the light to stay off a little more, but it still shows quite an alarming amount of pinging. So I guess (if I can believe this thing), I must have a lot of knocking I need to tune out. I have yet to mess with the FTC map B that URD sent me because I hadn't heard much knocking at all, just a few times.

 

Goat,if you can hear it ;it's really bad!

 

Mmmmm, that's interesting because on Summitracing's web site, when pull up that part number(which is correct for the 3.0 truck and 4Runner), they says it's a copper and brass. ???



Fred

 

That is true but hot hot coolant does come down from the heads onto the stat as well.

 

Yeah, the sales guy called Proliance for me to see if the current production was aluminum or copper/brass. I guess they just started making them in Al and haven't updated their site.

 

I just found their website.
The wesite list it as a plastic tank and aluminum core.
Is that how yours was/is ??


Thanks,
Fred

 

Yeah plastic tank and Al core.

 

Well finally got a long test drive in with the new Al rad and waterless coolant. It was about a 92 degree day, and it was about the same as before. The temp got as high as 225 degress at 75mph, but cools down quickly as soon as the speeds come down. It stayed around 190 at slower speeds (less than 50mph) including long drive around the lake at about 25mph.

Of course the factory temp gauge showed smack dab in the middle through all of this test I wonder at what temp the Toyota engineers think it would be a good idea to let the driver know it's starting to over-heat?

So bottom line, slow speeds are cool, high speeds are hot. I'm thinking the air is getting packed up under the hood at high speeds.

Today I'm going to test drive without the lift lips I made to cover the wheel wells (see pic) and see if that will improve the air flow out of the engine bay. If that doesn't help I'll remove the hood for a test drive.



BTW I also removed one of the trans oil coolers and bypassed the factory rad ATF cooler. So this is all that's cooling the ATF:

The highest trans temp I've seen so far was 192 degrees F

 

Waterless coolant? I assume thats good for high temps, but in a normal coolant the higher the coolant %age the slower the cooling, since the coolant holds the heat better than water. Is this the same way?

225 is HOT for just cruising, something still isnt right. It must be airflow since your low speed temps are good.

 

Yeah John, here's a thread about the waterless coolant:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f123/evans-npg-waterless-coolant-114994/

 

good deal!!!

 

Yeah it seems to be a trade-off, yes the thermal capacity of water is better but the thermal capacity of water goes to zero if it boils. To get a picture of what's happening at the head surface when the coolant starts to boil have a look at this pic:


Where the bubbles form at the hot spots the heat transfer from the metal to the coolant goes way down. And it appears that the bubbles can form well below the actual boiling pt of the liquid. In my pic obove you can see the bubble formation well under way at about 185 deg and at my elevation the boiling pt of water is about 210 deg.

 

okay, the air being "packed up" under the hood is a pretty good theory I guess, except for the fact that you haven't changed any of the body parts in the front clip; at least as far as I know. What I am getting at is that if this scenario is the problem, it would also have been a problem before your swap. also; many others think that the bumper is the culprit. was that on the truck before you swapped the 3.4? The 3.4 shouldn't be significantly harder to cool than the 3.0... So if it was not overheating before the swap, either something was changed to cause this problem (addition of massive bumper, some change to the front clip, whatever), or your motor has a problem. was the detonation issue solved? what do the plugs look like?

 

Well I'm not sure if it was a problem with my 3.slo or not because all I had to go on before with it was the factory temp gauge, which is still showing dead nuts in the middle, not even a hint of overheating. In other words, all looks fine and dandy going by the factory temp gauge. It's just now I have the ablility to monitor many different things very accurately, I never had that before. Ignorance truely is bliss. The bumper/winch has been on for years.

I haven't worked on the timing map yet, but I need to very soon. I haven't pulled the plugs, but they were new about 1200 miles ago.

The test run today with removing the lift lips didn't seem to make any difference. Next test run will be with no hood.

Thanks for the input.

 

Well I finally got around to working on the timing map, here's what I worked up to try. There is an option on webshots for "full size" that you'll need to use to see all the numbers.






I haven't run it with this map yet, it's just one of those trial and error tests, that I'm trying because it's so hard to tune by myself. Basicly I started with Gadget's map B which had a maximum cell value of 3.6. I retarded the timing to 6 everywhere Gadget had 3.6 and then smoothed the map out from there. trying not to decrease the cell values much more than 1 up and down and .5 side to side. Gadget's map did have a few areas where the cell values changed more than 1 going up & down columns so I did too in a few places.

 

Sorry double post

 

Cooling update: Removing the hood made no difference at all, the temps were running as high as 225 deg F just like with the hood. It was interesting being about to look at the engine while going down the highway. Funny how much the engine bounces around when you hit bumps on the road.

My main concern with running those kind of temps now is the oil temp since it gets cooled by the factory oil cooler by the coolant. So I ordered an oil temp gauge to monitor the oil temps and probably will be putting on an oil cooler and thermostat similar to this setup but without the filter relocation.
http://www.xse.com/leres/ss/oilcooler.html
I found a sandwich adaper that has a built in thermostat that may fit.

I'm thinking about trying the stock fan next, unless someone has a better idea.

That timing map posted above helped some but it wasn't enough. The next map I tried I got more aggressive in the preboost areas and it had cell values as high as 7 but I got several mis-fire CELs with it. So I went back to the less aggressive map for the test run and didn't have any CEL with it. I need to re-work that aggressive map and smooth it out some I guess. Has anyone else gotten mis-fire CELs from a timing map?

 

Wow thats odd.... I am beginning to wonder if there is blockage somewhere in the block... Is there a way to flow test h20 pumps and the block?

If your going down a hill and coasting in gear how long does it take to cool back to 170(thats your t-stat temp right)?? That could tell you if its just a hot engine or if the entire cooling system is 225*.

 

It cools down pretty fast as soon as the speeds come down. I really wouldn't go by the t-stat temp (160 BTW) the fan doesn't even really kick on until the temp is up to about 185. Just driving around town it stays about 190. It's just the highway driving that it climbs up there.

 

I hope this isn't Off-Topic...

Thanks for the updates, especially with the Evan's coolant, I havn't seen any major issues, aside from a slight increase in operating temp at highway speeds, for long distances. It cools off fine, and I'm not sure if I'll bypass the ATF/Rad route or not, when I get my aftermarket B&M, if you hook it all back in, let me know how things go as far as temps.

FYI: I drove it over 1000 miles, 500 each way for a break-in, no problems aside from the auto trans seal, which for all instances, should be fixed soon enough. I'm really happy with the tech support I got, and am way happier with the Alu/Brass Radiator, Rust Inhibitor, everything else we did so far. I honestly think anyone who's gonna put their rig through the wringer, as in not just a grocery getter, outta do what we've done. Strength of the radiator, and protection from rotting out/thermal breakdown of the plastic, and reduction of electrolysis being the foremost.