Boosted Clio engine bay

[d11nyd]

Morning
I’ve recently purchased a high boosted clio
I did my first track day at Oulton on Tuesday and it went really well, obviously due to the turbo conversion it ran very hot engine bay temperatures

What’s the best way of keeping temperatures down? It appears my brake fluid was getting very warm as it’s only 8 or so inches away from the turbo.
Plus my power steering fluid got very warm also.
It’s got some kind of uprated corrugated heat shield attached to the bulk head but was thinking about getting the manifold/down pipe and turbo ceramic coated.
Has anyone had any experience with ceramic coating?
Basically I’m after any advise on turbo clios on cooling there engine bay.
Thanks in Advance

 

[mattf4r]

I popped up to spectate on Tuesday, some nice cars there. Didn't see yours on track I don't think.

As for power steering fluid, they have a tendency to get hot and chuck it everywhere, pretty common after a track thrashing. The only real way to combat this is an EPAS conversion, which also frees up room in the bay.

Ceramic coating won't hurt temperatures but an air gap is already going to be doing some cooling between the reservoir and the turbo. Things run hot in a boosted bay.

What brake fluid are you running? Did you get much brake fade?

 

[Matt555]

I removed the rear rubber strip on the scuttle to allow airflow out, had a couple of focus RS style bonnet vents and made the front grills removable for track use

 

[d11nyd]

I popped up to spectate on Tuesday, some nice cars there. Didn't see yours on track I don't think.

As for power steering fluid, they have a tendency to get hot and chuck it everywhere, pretty common after a track thrashing. The only real way to combat this is an EPAS conversion, which also frees up room in the bay.

Ceramic coating won't hurt temperatures but an air gap is already going to be doing some cooling between the reservoir and the turbo. Things run hot in a boosted bay.

What brake fluid are you running? Did you get much brake fade?

Ah right did you?
Well when I say it went well I had to sit out the afternoon session due to a failing fuel pump. It seemed to come and go all day, after a mornings pounding round the track I didn’t want to kill it being my first track day. It was sat in garage 22 for the afternoon
My mates Alfa and an old silver Porsche. You may of seen these as they were out all day.
No brake fade atall, think it was solely the turbo heat affecting the fluid temp.
Im running carbon Lorraine pads which performed great all morning
Hopefully booking the same in July just need to make some tweaks

 

[d11nyd]

I removed the rear rubber strip on the scuttle to allow airflow out, had a couple of focus RS style bonnet vents and made the front grills removable for track useView attachment 1367641

Yeah was thinking of vents but wanted to try and keep it sleeper looking ideally as a lot of people came upto me once it had been out, I had a lot of “what the f***s in that?!” ??
Was thinking about some bonnet raisers to help the temp escape? Don’t know how effective they’d be?

 

[mattf4r]

Ah right did you?
Well when I say it went well I had to sit out the afternoon session due to a failing fuel pump. It seemed to come and go all day, after a mornings pounding round the track I didn’t want to kill it being my first track day. It was sat in garage 22 for the afternoon
My mates Alfa and an old silver Porsche. You may of seen these as they were out all day.
No brake fade atall, think it was solely the turbo heat affecting the fluid temp.
Im running carbon Lorraine pads which performed great all morning
Hopefully booking the same in July just need to make some tweaks

Does yours have a white cage? Seen one sat near the entrance as I pulled in during the afternoon.

You have to bear in mind that Tuesday was 24c which is uncommon for over here, on an average day you might not have as much heatsoak but it was bloody hot on Tuesday.

Probably not a bad idea to refresh the brake fluid but I would look at going electric steering just for reliability, I had it done on a cup a few years back and it was a great modification. One less fluid to worry about and frees up room in the bay to fix things.

Does your aircon work out of curiosity?

 

[d11nyd]

Does yours have a white cage? Seen one sat near the entrance as I pulled in during the afternoon.

You have to bear in mind that Tuesday was 24c which is uncommon for over here, on an average day you might not have as much heatsoak but it was bloody hot on Tuesday.

Probably not a bad idea to refresh the brake fluid but I would look at going electric steering just for reliability, I had it done on a cup a few years back and it was a great modification. One less fluid to worry about and frees up room in the bay to fix things.

Does your aircon work out of curiosity?

No my air con doesn’t work as pretty sure the resistor is shot as the fan doesn’t do anything from the inside.
It was a rush to get it up and running as I only bought it a few weeks ago and it didn’t even run when I got it.
Had to pick what jobs do and heater fan was way down the list!

No white cage in mine, here’s a few pics of mine in the morning session

Sorry for the s**t pics, only got a memory stick so just screen shoted them of my computer

 

[mattf4r]

Ah was going to say rip the bugger out if it doesn't work! Give yourself much more room in the bay

 

[d11nyd]

Ah was going to say rip the bugger out if it doesn't work! Give yourself much more room in the bay

Yeah it’s definately very busy under there, it may get junked then
What’s the rough cost in ditching the power steering

 

[mattf4r]

Are you local to oulton? @bloke fitted mine for me in half a day, you need an electronic column and ECU which is about £90, then you can either loop the existing rack or swap to a manual DCI rack which bolts directly to the subframe doing away with the bushes again about £50 and then you need the EPAS controller from ebay which is about £45. Can't remember exactly what I paid all in but it was probably about £300 - 350 but it ensures you'll never have an issue with a pump dying, line splitting or overflowing fluid etc.

You can then also dial in the assistance, I found on the road max assistance was fine and then on track dialling it back gave a little bit more control.

 

[d11nyd]

Are you local to oulton? @bloke fitted mine for me in half a day, you need an electronic column and ECU which is about £90, then you can either loop the existing rack or swap to a manual DCI rack which bolts directly to the subframe doing away with the bushes again about £50 and then you need the EPAS controller from ebay which is about £45. Can't remember exactly what I paid all in but it was probably about £300 - 350 but it ensures you'll never have an issue with a pump dying, line splitting or overflowing fluid etc.

You can then also dial in the assistance, I found on the road max assistance was fine and then on track dialling it back gave a little bit more control.

Yeah about an hour away
I’m in Hazel grove, stockport
That sounds good to me. I’ve got my own garage so fitting etc isn’t a problem, would just need a wiring diagram to wire it.
Can’t imagine it would be to hard
Definately like the idea of one less thing in the cluttered engine bay
Are you local?

 

[mattf4r]

Ah happy days, if you're handy with the spanners it's not too bad of a job. The controller comes with some wiring info: (don't be alarmed that it's from portugal, comes very quick and it's perfect)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Renault-...350168?hash=item212b7a3598:g:d08AAOSwqOtZgPdf

Yeah, bin off the standard power steering and you're air con and there's masses of room and less to worry about. Makes an aux belt change really easy and cheap too.

I'm in Runcorn so not too far from you. Quite a few people in the north west to be fair.

 

[Kev@KAM]

Yeah was thinking of vents but wanted to try and keep it sleeper looking ideally as a lot of people came upto me once it had been out, I had a lot of “what the f***s in that?!” ??
Was thinking about some bonnet raisers to help the temp escape? Don’t know how effective they’d be?

Due to the high pressure at the base of the windscreen its not a great idea.
Have you tried a turbo jacket?

 

[d11nyd]

Due to the high pressure at the base of the windscreen its not a great idea.
Have you tried a turbo jacket?

I honestly don’t think I’d get one on due to the serious lack of space
Maybe ceramic option would help

 

[youngarthur]

Sound daft,BUT, make sure the Rad fan is blowing the right way, mine was wrong!. As already stated, remove rubber strip from scuttle, vents in bonnet,(In normal use I keep vents covered). I have also drilled holes in bumper, covered by number plate, remove plate for track use. I also have a switch, to manually turn fan on, if needed.Since these mods, I have not had any overheating, even on track/in traffic.

 

[White16valver]

You could just de-power the current PAS setup - once moving it's not that different to PAS, with parking in tight spaces the only real effort.

 

[d11nyd]

Ah happy days, if you're handy with the spanners it's not too bad of a job. The controller comes with some wiring info: (don't be alarmed that it's from portugal, comes very quick and it's perfect)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Renault-...350168?hash=item212b7a3598:g:d08AAOSwqOtZgPdf

Yeah, bin off the standard power steering and you're air con and there's masses of room and less to worry about. Makes an aux belt change really easy and cheap too.

I'm in Runcorn so not too far from you. Quite a few people in the north west to be fair.

Cheers for this pal will definately look into getting this sorted. I’m hoping to get to Oulton again soon!

 

[mattf4r]

Cheers for this pal will definately look into getting this sorted. I’m hoping to get to Oulton again soon!

No problem, should be a few threads about it but it's a worthwhile mod in my eyes. Probably see you around if you frequent oulton. I'm there with the camera a lot.

 

[d11nyd]

No problem, should be a few threads about it but it's a worthwhile mod in my eyes. Probably see you around if you frequent oulton. I'm there with the camera a lot.

Don’t suppose anyones got a list of part numbers of what I need to delete the aircon and powersteering?
Seen a few Coloums on eBay but another sure on part numbers

 

[bloke]

Jacket for the turbo. Underbay temps will be a bit on the hot side but as long as it's not overheating and your bay's are ok don't worry about it.

Curly carbon I think it was did wind tunnel testing years ago with bonnet raisers etc...no difference and as with adding vents just looks silly ?

 

[npt]

Temps might be due to all the air coming through the lower mesh in the bumper going into the intercooler, when this was initially designed to cool the radiator, i guess very limited amount of air, and likely warm air at that is actually getting to the radiator.

I'd fit a larger radiator, switch to a chargecooler, so all air actually gets to the radiator coming through the bumper, ceramic coat the downpipe and maybe even look at a turbo jacket, vents at the rear of the bonnet would also help if not using a jacket, then you should have no cooling issues at all

 

[d11nyd]

Temps might be due to all the air coming through the lower mesh in the bumper going into the intercooler, when this was initially designed to cool the radiator, i guess very limited amount of air, and likely warm air at that is actually getting to the radiator.

I'd fit a larger radiator, switch to a chargecooler, so all air actually gets to the radiator coming through the bumper, ceramic coat the downpipe and maybe even look at a turbo jacket, vents at the rear of the bonnet would also help if not using a jacket, then you should have no cooling issues at all

Coolant temp stayed halfway on the gauge all morning, it was just the massive temperatures giving off by the turbo I was concerned about.
Need to think of doing something with my air filter as that’s just sucking in warm air.
Think I’m going to free up some room in the engine bay to aid a bit more flow of air around the engine.
First I may remove the runner seal across the skutle to aid a bit of air escape and relocate the battery and get the filter in more of a cold air position.
Next I think the power steering and air con need to go.
Finally I’m goimg to get the manifold ceramic coated and try and squeeze a turbo jacket it on.
Will report my findings in July after my next track day
Cheers for the advice lads
?

 

[Brigsy]

Providing nothings melting would not worry. Turbo cars do get hot under the bonnet - if the coolant temps and oil temps are ok then it will be fine. Probably worth converting to epas though as extra heat on the hpas aint going to help it.

 

[d11nyd]

Providing nothings melting would not worry. Turbo cars do get hot under the bonnet - if the coolant temps and oil temps are ok then it will be fine. Probably worth converting to epas though as extra heat on the hpas aint going to help it.

Yeah definitely
Was looking into getting the bits last night but couldn’t find a post on where someone actually used part numbers or a definitive list of what’s actually needed to do the conversion.
Had a look on eBay and there’s loads of different coloums so unsure of which one to get
If anyone sees any bits on the selling page please let me know as I’m away on holiday next week and don’t want to miss them
Cheers

 

[dann2707]

I add water wetter to my. Coolant which helps.
Also an oil cooler helps too.
I've also made a secondary heat shield just for the turbo which sits on top. Seems to work very well

 

[dann2707]

 

[d11nyd]

I add water wetter to my. Coolant which helps.
Also an oil cooler helps too.
I've also made a secondary heat shield just for the turbo which sits on top. Seems to work very well

Sounds good mate
Any pics of your heat shield?

 

[d11nyd]

Sounds good mate
Any pics of your heat shield?

Ha read my mind

 

[dann2707]

It's just nimbus heatshield which you already have but cut to size. Easy to do as you can imagine.

 

[d11nyd]

It's just nimbus heatshield which you already have but cut to size. Easy to do as you can imagine.

Yeah mine seems a bit short and only just covers the brake fluid bottle
Will buy some more and have a redesign it

 

[bloke]

Filter will be fine where it is, my lads twingo has got a td04 on it and the filter is about 3" away from the compressor housing and bat's are fine on that.

If you go epas though you can move the filter to where the reservoir used to be.