I guess I should have clarified my suggestion so as not to sound
ignorant of the facts relating to airflow and pump and fluid dynamics.
Since you all were talking about reengineering the cooling system as
such, I figured that possibly creating a reverse flow through the block
to cool the heads first in a conventional internal combustion engine
would duplicate the idea behind the Corvette's system. With a system
that uses an electric fan, would there be a way to retrofit a water
pump, belt, and hoses so that the flow is reversed in the block? The
radiator flow would still be normal and the hoses would divert the flow
to the appropriate end of the radiator. I myself wouldn't bother with
all this mess.
Gary Lin
> Lin, Gary wrote:
> > Chris Meier said>>
> > > I would suspect a reverse cooling system is a better solution.
> > > Put the cool water where it's needed most at the head, use
> > > the removed heat to warm the block. <<
> >
> > That's actually how the current C5 and maybe C4 also? Corvette
> system
> > operates. The hot head is cooled first and the heat carried through
> the
> > block to the lower areas. Don't know which way the radiatior hoses
> go
> > though. More efficient than what they've used for the last 90
> years.
>
> I think we have a little problem here. Automotive engines are
> generally
> cooled (assuming that we are talking about water-cooled internal
> combustion engines) by the flow of hot coolant to the top of the
> radiator. As it is cooled by the the radiator, is becomes denser and
> falls down towards the bottom of the radiator, where it is drawn back
> into the engine. Reversing the flow (assuming that the pump would work
> in reverse, which is unlikely) would work against the process. Also,
> reversing the pump in a car with the fan attached to it, would be very
> inefficient at any speed above a walk, since the fan would be fighting
> the airflow coming through the radiator from the car's forward motion
> through the air. (Some farm tractors have "pusher" fans to keep chaff
> out of the radiator, but they are used at very slow ground speeds.)
> Also, the thermostat's job is to keep the temperature of the coolant
> in
> the engine as hot as possible up to the point just below the boiling
> point of the coolant. Gasoline and Diesel engines are the most
> efficient
> at the highest temperatures, but the limit is the boiling point of the
> coolant - once it boils, its ability to carry off excess heat drops
> off
> considerably. Messing around with the the manufacturer's design is not
> likely to improve the efficiency of the engine, and is, in fact, very
> likely to make things a lot worse.
>
> Mike
>
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