Piwoslaw's Peugeot 307sw modding thread

[nackerton]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

Unfortunately PSA doesn't make a hotter thermostat for my engine, and the one it does make is wrapped up with some sensors in a plastic housing, so no way to. I could make an openable upper grille block, but that would be overkill: the lower grille already has two independently openable blocks.

Any ideas? Maybe a partial block for the summer?

Add auxiliary thermostat, it's a proven trick.

Renault B14 engine uses radiator hose thermostat which opens at 89 C. Locals are installing these to commonrail mercedes diesels to get the temp up. You'll find a picture of it by searching with a word "letkutermostaatti"

edit. Found Wahler product codes, they'd be 3029.86 3029.89 and 3029.92 for different temps.

[AndrzejM]

Originally Posted by nackerton

Add auxiliary thermostat, it's a proven trick.

Renault B14 engine uses radiator hose thermostat which opens at 89 C. Locals are installing these to commonrail mercedes diesels to get the temp up. You'll find a picture of it by searching with a word "letkutermostaatti"

edit. Found Wahler product codes, they'd be 3029.86 3029.89 and 3029.92 for different temps.

Interesting. Thanks!

[Piwoslaw]

Since this winter doesn't want to go away (Spring officially started yesterday, but it's still snowing, 25cm expected tonight, and it'll be below freezing for at least another week), I have lots of time to think about engine insulation, cold starts, etc.

I really liked how Brucepick insulated his valve cover with (what I think is) a rubber foam. After reading through his thread I had a long look at my engine and had to frown: The valve cover has plastic on it, plus everything (injectors, glow plugs, cables) is so close together that it would be hard to squeeze any insulation in between. So I looked at the engine block itself, but I can't see it - there are so many things hanging on it, too close to put insulation under them. The only place that has some free surface area is the oil pan, which looks like this:

Over the summer I'll try to insulate the sides to keep more heat from the heating pad in. Also it should keep the oil warmer after killing the engine. I've found rubber foam in all sorts of thicknesses, from 3mm to 25mm, I'll probably settle for ~7mm. I'd like to cover the bottom as well, but the heating pad's instructions warned against that, though I wonder if a thin layer (3-5mm) would do any harm.

Maybe I could insulate the cat converter's housing also, to keep it warm? It is in front of the engine, so it gets hit with cold air coming in through the grille (when open).

Another thought: Since I normally have the intercooler unblocked, the air that goes through it cools the engine bay down. I guess that some fresh, cool air is good in the summer, but what about deflecting that air away from the engine itself - right now it hits the alternator, A/C compressor, and the timing belt cover. This is the end of the engine that needs insulation, I can see this is where most of the heat escapes when preheating.

[AndrzejM]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

Since this winter doesn't want to go away (Spring officially started yesterday, but it's still snowing, 25cm expected tonight, and it'll be below freezing for at least another week), I have lots of time to think about engine insulation, cold starts, etc.

I really liked how Brucepick insulated his valve cover with (what I think is) a rubber foam. After reading through his thread I had a long look at my engine and had to frown: The valve cover has plastic on it, plus everything (injectors, glow plugs, cables) is so close together that it would be hard to squeeze any insulation in between. So I looked at the engine block itself, but I can't see it - there are so many things hanging on it, too close to put insulation under them. The only place that has some free surface area is the oil pan, which looks like this:

Over the summer I'll try to insulate the sides to keep more heat from the heating pad in. Also it should keep the oil warmer after killing the engine. I've found rubber foam in all sorts of thicknesses, from 3mm to 25mm, I'll probably settle for ~7mm. I'd like to cover the bottom as well, but the heating pad's instructions warned against that, though I wonder if a thin layer (3-5mm) would do any harm.

Maybe I could insulate the cat converter's housing also, to keep it warm? It is in front of the engine, so it gets hit with cold air coming in through the grille (when open).

Another thought: Since I normally have the intercooler unblocked, the air that goes through it cools the engine bay down. I guess that some fresh, cool air is good in the summer, but what about deflecting that air away from the engine itself - right now it hits the alternator, A/C compressor, and the timing belt cover. This is the end of the engine that needs insulation, I can see this is where most of the heat escapes when preheating.

I've run away from Winter, now I'm in Budapest and going even more to the south on Saturday. But I've heard that there's lots of snow in our country... Anyway I think that oil pan insulation can be a good idea for a hypermiller like you. It's not wise to overheat the oil, but since you don't produce enough waste heat you don't have to worry about that. Or maybe you have an oil heat exchanger oil to coolant. So you'll be on a safe side anyway.

If you want to insulate cat converter you should think of something that can work in a very high temps. Something like this: JEGS Performance Products 32069 JEGS Ultra Hi-Temp Exhaust Wrap

Another thing is tuneling air from IC and radiator. As you may remember Berta has an oem tunnel for air going through IC ant it's very simple to fabricate with a piece of coro.

[seifrob]

How is your A/C compressor unit and alternator cooled? Neither of them likes too hot environment, do they? If you completely block acces to fresh cold air, you should worry.

(found this - only in czech - sorry Spalovací motory - Hromádko Jan a kolektiv - Google Books)

[AndrzejM]

Originally Posted by seifrob

How is your A/C compressor unit and alternator cooled? Neither of them likes too hot environment, do they? If you completely block acces to fresh cold air, you should worry.

(found this - only in czech - sorry Spalovací motory - Hromádko Jan a kolektiv - Google Books)

True, but Piwoslaw drives his Svetlana the way that the engine reaches normal working temps only in a hot summer Joking, but that's not so far from the true... I don't think that it can be a problem for this specific car (driver).

[Phantom]

I would probably only use the electric heater when warming up as I scrape the windows so I will get a little more heat in the cab and the extra load will make the engine warm up a little faster.

[Piwoslaw]

Andrzej, thanks for the link to the exhaust cover. My cat is inside an insulated housing, but it still probably gets hotter than the oil pan, for example on long uphills.

As for the oil it is air cooled An oil-coolant heat exchanger would allow the engine to warm up more evenly, but I don't think that the investment is worth while at the moment.

As for the alt and A/C I also think that they need some cooling. On the other hand, a car that is in a traffic jam in the summer will have very high temperatures under the hood, with no breeze to cool it down.

I'm thinking that maybe the post-IC duct could allow a bit of air through - not as much as now, but more than nothing. And of course it would be for colder months.

Originally Posted by seifrob

(found this - only in czech - sorry Spalovací motory - Hromádko Jan a kolektiv - Google Books)

Unfortunately I get the following message when I run it through Google Translate:

Restricted Page
With this book, you have reached your viewing limit.

[seifrob]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

...Unfortunately I get the following message when I run it through Google Translate: Restricted Page
With this book, you have reached your viewing limit.

seems like me too. sorry about that. There was nothing special - just statement that temperatures over 80°C are undesirable, as they may harm the circuitry in the alternator (i assume there must be some rectifier, feedback circuitry for powering the coils and so on.)

[AndrzejM]

I think it is possible to make a tunnel or just a piece of pipe that will provide fresh air to the alternator. But anyway I don't think that overheating will be a factor here. And after all alternators have a centrifugal fan that is cooling the unit.