Overheating on track only

[shimmy]

Yes, but what were the ambient temperatures Alex? Generally the issue only happens with 25 degree+ ambients.

i think Alexs problem were slightly different but i agree, this only happens as my original thread about 23-24 degrees upwards

[alexk]

shimmy I did a trackday this friday with 38C... With up to 30C I didn't have this problem.
So, I had at times the engine water temp rising a bit, but it's a bit strange.
It would initially get a bit hotter, I would back off for 30 secs.
Then one more time the same thing would happen, I would back off for 30 secs and then throttle to the floor non-stop without issues.
I did a session of 40+ mins, I had the water temp rising twice in the beginning and then no issues.
It seems to me that the thermostat is misbehaving, I will check with my father to confirm.

The oil temperature was at 110-115 all the time.
I plan to install the Motorsport thermostat.

[adem.csl]

shimmy I did a trackday this friday with 38C... With up to 30C I didn't have this problem.
So, I had at times the engine water temp rising a bit, but it's a bit strange.
It would initially get a bit hotter, I would back off for 30 secs.
Then one more time the same thing would happen, I would back off for 30 secs and then throttle to the floor non-stop without issues.
I did a session of 40+ mins, I had the water temp rising twice in the beginning and then no issues.
It seems to me that the thermostat is misbehaving, I will check with my father to confirm.

The oil temperature was at 110-115 all the time.
I plan to install the Motorsport thermostat.

Alex were you driving close behind another car picking up their heat from running in their hot air?sounds a bit like sticky thermostat that has freed off.could also be the fin in the water pump if you have plastic fin water pump the fin gets hot expands and loosens from the shaft then catches again.
I've only done 2 trackdays soo far and last one was last week.ambient temps of 28-25c give or take(was a hot day)and i got 125c oil temps and water temp perfect half way used track and sport mode all evening.run like a dream!

[Graham]

110-115 on a 38c day!? Is that standard oil cooler? Mine hits 124 on a cold day!

[adem.csl]

110-115 on a 38c day!? Is that standard oil cooler? Mine hits 124 on a cold day!

That's cool i was gonna question if mine was too hot but im going brands monday so i will run and record my temps again

[alexk]

Alex were you driving close behind another car picking up their heat from running in their hot air?sounds a bit like sticky thermostat that has freed off.could also be the fin in the water pump if you have plastic fin water pump the fin gets hot expands and loosens from the shaft then catches again.
I've only done 2 trackdays soo far and last one was last week.ambient temps of 28-25c give or take(was a hot day)and i got 125c oil temps and water temp perfect half way used track and sport mode all evening.run like a dream!

Well, it was busy in general. I need to check my videos to see when I was behind other cars.
If you see a post of mine with some thermostat tests, I think the S54 thermostat design is a bit clunky and I start to believe that it develops issues over time, especially on cars that are not being driven oftenly.
If the thermostat does not open my 1-2mm, the water flow will be reduced.
The water pump could also be problematic, I am going to replace it soon.

110-115 on a 38c day!? Is that standard oil cooler? Mine hits 124 on a cold day!

Standard oil cooler yes.
I didn't see 120 at all.
PS : I changed my oil one day before the trackday and in general I change oil + oil filter every 3k km.

[shane@mbtech]

What oil do you run Alex?

Well, it was busy in general. I need to check my videos to see when I was behind other cars.
If you see a post of mine with some thermostat tests, I think the S54 thermostat design is a bit clunky and I start to believe that it develops issues over time, especially on cars that are not being driven oftenly.
If the thermostat does not open my 1-2mm, the water flow will be reduced.
The water pump could also be problematic, I am going to replace it soon.



Standard oil cooler yes.
I didn't see 120 at all.
PS : I changed my oil one day before the trackday and in general I change oil + oil filter every 3k km.

[adem.csl]

Cool has the thermostat got the wax stat switch on the top?i cant remember off top my head!but if soo it may be thats not softening up enough to allow opening!!
Im gonna change my oil after my next session as i don't drive mine hard enough to warrant it!

[alexk]

What oil do you run Alex?

Castrol TWS 10W-60 (as you know the new name is Edge TWS 10W-60).
I think almost everybody run this oil.

[CraigMillwardCroft]

Alex were you driving close behind another car picking up their heat from running in their hot air?sounds a bit like sticky thermostat that has freed off.could also be the fin in the water pump if you have plastic fin water pump the fin gets hot expands and loosens from the shaft then catches again.
I've only done 2 trackdays soo far and last one was last week.ambient temps of 28-25c give or take(was a hot day)and i got 125c oil temps and water temp perfect half way used track and sport mode all evening.run like a dream!

I ran mine hard at SPA the other week water temp never moved but oil temp was always near 125, outside temp was about 32 degrees. :thumbs:

[Mike RT4]

Alex, I've researched the high temp issues in depth, as the M3 boys across the water (where they have good weather all year round in some States) have the same issues. From what I can determine the switch to the hotter climes thermostat made no difference to cars that suffered with high temps, even switching to motorsport style radiators gave little or no improvement, but what did cure the issues was junking the OE viscous fan and fitting a pair of SPAL electric fans.

Make of that what you will .

[karbonkid]

The oil temperature was at 110-115 all the time.
I plan to install the Motorsport thermostat.

Prepare for much longer warm ups Alex

[Ali M_csl]

Hi, I don't post on here but having a browse and thought worth mentioning that most of the CSL's & E46 M3's were seeing very high water temps at the recent DN9 trackday at the ring.

Oil stayed at 125 degrees but water was very high with ambient heat at around 30 degrees max.

My E46M3 is stock exhaust/engine/cooling system etc. I turned the AC off and heaters on which allowed it to shed enough heat from the system to have the needle in the middle.

I think just about everyone there with an S54 had issues and this was the first time that I have had any cooling issues.

[shimmy]

The current solution seems to be to delete the oem clutch fan and maybe shroud and install a Spal electric fan and controls.

In US they believe that the clutch fan at high speeds block the air flow to and through the radiator which at high throttle loads just tip the balance on the cooling.

[Graham]

Yeah mine creeped off the middle of the gauge for the first time ever.

Also worth mentioning that Ali looked like he'd been in a wet t-shirt competition through the sweat from having heaters on :hahaha: