Hi All,
so i've went to a track day with my car, since im still running on my stock radiator, stock greddy turbo. My car almost got overheated and i had to leave the track after a few laps. the Water temp got up to 230 the highest, and both times when I exited from the track and got back to my parking spot, the turbo is smoking (smokes coming in from under the dash, mainly on passenger side).
After overheating my turbo, every time when i start my car i hear the turbo leaking sound when it starts spooling, and it'll go away when i drive my car for a few mins.

So here are my questions,
1.) so is really wrong with my turbo? its boosting fine and everything even when it has the leaking sound.
2.) I am going to fix the my engine overheating problem by changing the radiator, but since the turbo is oil cooled, what can i do to prevent it from overheading? Or since im getting a new radiator, i'll also cools down the engine oil from doing it?

I really want to track my car, any input would be great!
thanks,

Carson

 

hmmm sounds like a few issues here ...

smoking - could be oil leak onto the turbo

noise - could be a blown coupler

overheating suggest the following :
Mazmart pump
lower your rpm gear change point to about 7500-8000
additional small radiator - like the Pettit setup ...

 

so i should add another radiator instead of replacing the OEM one?
for blown coupler, would the noise be gone once i drive it for a few seconds?
and where could the oil coming from if it is leak onto the turbo?

 

Yes - way more effective - not to mention cheaper .


no - you would get the noise with any boosting at all . Maybe a bit more description of when you hear the noise etc ....


Where the oil feed connects to the turbo is prone to leakage . Also the drain under the turbo is hard to tighten - if you have std bolts on there replace them with allen head capscrews .

any signs of an oil leak ?

 

Agree 100%

 

ducting and sealing the engine compartment should help for track use too...btw brettus any pictures and pricing of the pettit second radiator? i tried to look at their site and couldnt find it

 

I'm putting in a (Ron Davis) Mazda Motorsports rad...the thing is a monster...2.75" thick core...and it's a cross flow, double pass unit

It it won't keep it cool.....I'm giving up

 

Ron Davis sells amazing radiators! I have one in my 69 Camaro. I didnt know they had ones for the 8. Is yours special order?

 

Mazmart has one that is an OEM fitment..bit thicker core than stock and flows more. Nice unit, and likely great for a street car

There is one Made By Ron Davis for the Mazda Motorsports program....fits on the stock mounts...but will need custom work to fit fans....or A/C condenser.
Not really designed for a street car.....

Went with the monster

 

Cool, thanks man! Will have too look into those. That'd be awesome to say I had a Ron Davis radiator in 2 of my cars!

Edit: Just checked pricing on Mazmart. $535 for a Ron Davis radiator?? Thats stupid cheap. I paid $1300 for the one on my Camaro. I see my next mod!

 

ever tried fitting a 2nd rad. ? - seems to have worked for me.

 

That's for the baby one...The Motorsports one is $670 from Motorsports...that requires an account

Still cheap compared to a lot of alum performance rads though

 

so should i replace the radiator or add an additional one.
where should i mount the additional one?
if i replace the radiator, i'll just get the koyo one.

for the leaking noise, it sound just like any exhaust leak, but only leak when i first start my car and when i rev it to the point the turbo starts spooling.

 

i dont think a koyo is going to help you...i think the koyo may be a worse design than oem (oem is pretty good)

 

i know Koyo is bigger and full aluminum.
i know you guy have been saying bhr is better, but how much better? cause it is good $300 more

 

Think I just figured out your issues :

Leak is probably a cracked manifold (you didn't say it was an exhaust leak earlier)
Smoke is probably your carpets burning up from lack of heat shielding on the firewall .

Radiator : - see the Pettit SC thread . You may be able to buy that setup direct from Pettit .
The Koyo has been proven to not be effective BTW.

 

so where can i put the additional radiator?
im pretty sure its no an exhaust manifold crack, because it cracked before and it sounds different, and wouldn't go away after a min or 2

 

you will most likely get higher temps with a koyo compared to oem with track use
brettus that pettit thread is super long can you post a link for the additional radiator?

 

acturaly manifold fractures will do that, me and my friend have two manifolds both cracked in diffrent ways.

his had cracked and only leaked till it warmed up and the metal expanded, same with mine but mine was a small fracture under the first runner.


i dont remember seeing smoke related to that, he had a oil leak here and there that would smoke some

 

Are you running a turbo blanket? It is not recommended to run a blanket if you are tracking the car for turbo life. If your water temps are going high, you need better water and/or oil cooling. Also, make sure your fueling is correct. If your running lean, you will also heat up faster due to higher EGT's.

Why would you say that? The koyo is a great improvement over OEM in water cooling, especially for track use.

thewird

 

my A/R ratio is around 11.2, so it is not running too lean.
i'll be all bad if it is my turbo manifold that cracks!!
still deciding which radiator i should get, let me know if you guys have one extra.

 

Might want to check your thermostat....

And alter your fan on temperatures......Easy if you are running an AP...

 

im running an AP, how does it check?
but i was going high speed, so fan is no longer an issue.
im also pretty sure my thermostat is working fine, cause once i get off the track the temp will go down right away! So i do think its my radiator that is not big enough to cool down the engine.

 

Fans do matter even at the track. Ducting is also important but if your still running OEM, look into an upgrade before worrying about ducting.

thewird

 

There are lots of High HP cars with the stock Rad...and given the time of year the ambient temps likely were not really high.....

I would go looking for something wrong with what you have....rather than necessarily figure you need an upgrade

Is your lower Rad hose OK...often they get old, collapse and slow return to the engine..check the water pump and thermostat as well.

You may be surprised how much your fans will help on a slow cornering type track

We had fan failure on a track day this spring..and the car overheated on the slower parts of the track...and really bad when we brought it into the pits....I could barely keep it cool on the straight where the speeds were up near 100mph