Hot Laps & Transmission Temperature

[Belle66]

Hey All,
I run street n strip class. We typically start hot lapping toward the end of racing events. I believe this is to allow the other classes some time to cool down. My 60' to 330' times take a hit. Is this because the torque converter is affected by the hot transmission fluid?

Have any of y'all considered or used a transmission cooler with a thermostat controlled fan?

Like most of us bracket racers, I'm just trying to keep my times within .01s.

BTW:I'm running a stock low stall converter with the a mild poly 318.

Thanks in Advance,
Joel

 

[69 GTX]

Could be combination of things. Heat sink in fuel system. Not enough cool down time for coolant. Are your elimination in evening or afternoon? Do you use a weather station to monitor corrected alt?

 

[69 GTX]

Is car driven to the track?

 

[Belle66]

Hi GTX,
Because we're hot lapping I keep the coolant between 160 & 170. I'd think the fuel system would be pretty steady too.
Eliminations occur in the evenings. My 330' to 660' intervals are repeatable. The variation is in the 60' to 330'.
Yes I drive the car 60 miles to the track...I have at least 1.5 hours of cool down before 1st time trial.

Our last time trial is usually 30 minutes before 1st round eliminations. So no weather station but a good reference point. Can weather affect the 60' to 330' interval & not affect the 330' to 660'?

Joel
Joel

 

[69 GTX]

When I raced way back I had a oil temp gauge for the oil & trans. I tried to figure out what those temps were during hot lapping, then tried to warm the car up to those temps all the time. It helped me be more consistent. Instead of worrying about trying to get it cooled down. Also ran a cool can on the fuel line.

 

[dvw]

Put a temp sender in the pan. You can always drill and tap the drain plug. Do the engine oil pan while your at it. Then use a toggle switch in the sender wire to go back and forth. My car trans temp is generally 150-180 after a run. Back to 100 with in 15 minutes. Cooler is under the floor behind the left header, no fan. 6200 flash on the converter.
Doug

 

[Greg Ducato]

Having a trans cooler is always a good idea but the temp is probably not affecting converter function, if anything you might experience a slight increase in stall speed which would help the short time I would imagine. I wonder if the extra heat introduced into the radiator from the stock trans cooler may be allowing the engine temp to creep up when hot lapping. Are you power braking the car when staging? That builds heat in a converter very quickly.

 

[Budnicks]

There's a few that are great from $140 or so to $300
depends on your needs, fitting & hose types etc. & likes
or the actual locations &/or room available

Derale, Perma-cool, B&M I've used all 3 with really good results

make sure to run/use a relay & off/on arming switch just because too

it'll help you trans/converters live longer too



we use to cool off the trans with compressed air
or a mostly empty N20 bottle, spraying the pan {cooler} & converter
in the staging lanes if you have help, can't make it back to the pits

good luck