|
|
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
02-18-2021, 08:37 PM | #1 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 212389
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SE MI
Vehicle:2009 WRX 5-door DGM |
Bad Idea To Block Off My Hood Scoop In Cold Weather?
The backstory is that the shop found a bunch of something water-like in my engine oil at a recent change (2009 WRX GH, 55k, stage 2). I confirmed that it's not coolant, and after some searching, found reports of this happening with AOSs in cold weather. I'm having my Crawford AOS (v2) and it's lines cleaned out, and I figure that and a couple of oil changes should flush out the bulk of the water.
I'd like to prevent recurrence, and am wondering about blocking off the hood scoop (at least partially), to get underhood temps up. I track the car occasionally in the summer, but it's my DD the rest of the year and I mostly drive like an old lady on the street. In the winter it makes lots of short trips (10 min to work) with zero boost. I don't want to create other problems, and don't know what I don't know, so…
* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.
|
02-18-2021, 08:43 PM | #2 |
Scooby Guru
Member#: 50586
Join Date: Dec 2003
Chapter/Region:
BAIC
Location: Chiraq
Vehicle:64 Impala |
maybe try a different AOS that has better design for the coolant lines...the IAG V3 looks like a good design
|
02-18-2021, 08:46 PM | #3 |
Scooby Guru
Member#: 6971
Join Date: May 2001
Chapter/Region:
NWIC
Location: Edmonds, Washington, USA
Vehicle:2008 WRX STi SSM |
yes it's a bad idea. Water in your oil is from not getting it up to temp and boiling the water off; too much short distance driving in the cold. We saw this a lot where I lived in Alaska. Don't lower your intercooler efficiency/raise intake air temp, go for a nice long drive more often and stay off boost until get your oil temp up. Or change your oil more often during the winter.
|
02-18-2021, 08:46 PM | #4 |
Scooby Guru
Member#: 6971
Join Date: May 2001
Chapter/Region:
NWIC
Location: Edmonds, Washington, USA
Vehicle:2008 WRX STi SSM |
|
02-18-2021, 09:16 PM | #5 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 212389
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SE MI
Vehicle:2009 WRX 5-door DGM |
More frequent oil changes are doable, and the IAGv3 looks interesting; I like the idea that it retains PCV function. Will consider it for the spring.
Time is in short supply, so frequent "nice long drives" are not an option, though I can take the long way round to work. Although my commute is short, my oil does reach normal temp, but it's not there for all that long. I had the AOS installed in 2013 and this is the first time there's been an issue; guess I've been lucky. So, even as a short-term stopgap...reducing air into the scoop is a no-no? |
02-18-2021, 09:57 PM | #6 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 273868
Join Date: Feb 2011
Chapter/Region:
MAIC
|
If your drive to work is ten minutes there is no way in hell the oil comes up to temp
Not even in the summer Not even if you let your car idle in the driveway for 39 minutes before your ten minute drive It’s not happening |
02-18-2021, 10:11 PM | #7 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 508105
Join Date: Nov 2019
Chapter/Region:
NWIC
Location: Greater Seattle Area
Vehicle:Link G4X flex tuned 02' EJ205 20G 6MT wagon |
its because you are driving too short of a distance
|
02-19-2021, 12:03 AM | #8 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 212389
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SE MI
Vehicle:2009 WRX 5-door DGM |
Thanks for all the input people.
I was assuming my (stock) temp gauge moving to its usual position (about halfway) meant the oil was at temp. Sounds like that's wrong. |
02-19-2021, 12:43 AM | #9 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 508105
Join Date: Nov 2019
Chapter/Region:
NWIC
Location: Greater Seattle Area
Vehicle:Link G4X flex tuned 02' EJ205 20G 6MT wagon |
|
02-19-2021, 07:33 AM | #10 | |
Scooby Guru
Member#: 428511
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: philadelphia
Vehicle:2016 STI |
Quote:
All you are going to do is end up with ultra hot intake air and potential detonation issues, it will not translate into quicker warm ups, or hotter oil or anything that is good. If you want a real solution and you simply can't do good drives that get the engine hot then put a block heater in and/or an oil pan heater. A block heater is simple to install and an oil pan heater is even simpler yet, you literally clean the pan bottom and stick a pad on it with adhesive, done. Then at least you'll be starting from a better place with temps. |
|
02-19-2021, 09:19 AM | #11 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 193940
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Philly
Vehicle:2004 WRX STI Black RalliSpec Shortblock |
Like Mike and other said it is because of short trips. I had a Crawford AOS on my built 04 sti and never had a issue. Do some research and you will find lots of threads regarding hoses and piping gunked up due to this issue.
|
02-19-2021, 09:32 AM | #12 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 521777
Join Date: Jan 2021
Chapter/Region:
NESIC
Location: Vermont
Vehicle:2016 WRX Blue |
+1 On Block Heater
-1 On Blocking Hood Scoop |
02-19-2021, 11:28 AM | #13 | |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 212389
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SE MI
Vehicle:2009 WRX 5-door DGM |
Quote:
Based on searching before I posted, I guessed that the main problem was that the hoses to/from the AOS were getting cold. That would allow water vapor to freeze up on the way to, inside, or leaving the AOS. So if the goal is to keep that from happening, I thought reducing cold air flow over those hoses might help. No desire to cause knock or other problems, so blocking the hood scoop is off the table. The oil pan heater idea seems simple and without any downsides - will definitely look into that. If anyone is interested, the best threads I had found related to this issue were these: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show....php?t=2461224 and http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...ulating+my+aos |
|
02-19-2021, 11:46 PM | #14 | |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 459287
Join Date: Dec 2016
Chapter/Region:
VIC
Location: Vancouver BC Canada
Vehicle:1998 JDM Impreza STi V4 GF8 White |
Quote:
I have an oil temp sender/gauge in my STi, and I have to admit I'm surprised how long it takes for the oil to reach "operating" temperature. |
|
02-21-2021, 05:12 PM | #15 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 149347
Join Date: May 2007
Chapter/Region:
NESIC
Location: Tolland, CT
Vehicle:05 LGT ,09 SpecB Black/silver |
With all the bearing issues I've seen in these engines over the 16+ years with turbo ej's, I would remove your AOS, go back to stock.
I also learned years ago, these engine's don't do well when only driven for short distances. |
02-21-2021, 06:20 PM | #16 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 212389
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SE MI
Vehicle:2009 WRX 5-door DGM |
I dunno why, but I had the impression that block heaters are a big deal to install and can cause other problems. A quick peek at You Tube showed me how trivial it is to put one in.
So the current plan is block heater and maybe an oil temp gauge. I expect that would mostly take care of this, since this was the first occurrence in 7 years and it took the combination of a pandemic and jet-stream anomaly to produce it. If this combo becomes the norm, I may need to take additional measures. It's also made me wonder about switching to a cheap used EV (like a Nissan Leaf) for my winter commute and latest generation Miata for summer fun…. |
02-22-2021, 06:17 PM | #17 |
Big Ron
Super Moderator Member#: 18062
Join Date: Apr 2002
Chapter/Region:
MAIC
Location: I can save you a ton of cash
Vehicle:on car parts so PM me b4 j00 buy |
|
02-26-2021, 07:55 AM | #18 | |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 197520
Join Date: Dec 2008
Chapter/Region:
MWSOC
Location: Columbus, OH
Vehicle:2020 WRX STI Magnetite Gray Metallic |
Quote:
To the OP, you could just, ya know, drive it more too. I've been WFH for the last year, and just make a habit of taking all of my cars, including the wife's, on nice, warm-me-up drives during the winter. Get it up to temp, bang it through the rev limiter, actually get it driving and warmed up. Get the oil temp up to a nice 200+, etc etc. Plus, it's 'fun'. Battery issues aside, just getting the damn cars moving is huge. Warm it up. Instead of a 10 minute drive home, make it a 30 minute one, and rev the bitch out a bit. |
|
02-26-2021, 11:40 AM | #19 | |
Scooby Guru
Member#: 428511
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: philadelphia
Vehicle:2016 STI |
Quote:
My STI doesn't have oil temp, but I have a dry sump car that does and the oil NEVER budges above the minimum value on the gauge (100F) until the coolant is 180+ And then it takes another solid 10-15 minutes before getting over 160 |
|
02-26-2021, 04:07 PM | #20 | |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 212389
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SE MI
Vehicle:2009 WRX 5-door DGM |
Quote:
|
|
02-26-2021, 04:50 PM | #21 | |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 459287
Join Date: Dec 2016
Chapter/Region:
VIC
Location: Vancouver BC Canada
Vehicle:1998 JDM Impreza STi V4 GF8 White |
No idea if this is the "best" location...
Quote:
Here's a shot I took (after I installed a later model oil pan and pickup) which shows the oil temperature sender location. Last edited by Vancouver98STi; 02-26-2021 at 10:41 PM. |
|
02-28-2021, 07:02 AM | #22 | |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 197520
Join Date: Dec 2008
Chapter/Region:
MWSOC
Location: Columbus, OH
Vehicle:2020 WRX STI Magnetite Gray Metallic |
Quote:
|
|
02-28-2021, 02:30 PM | #23 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 519868
Join Date: Nov 2020
Location: Chicago
Vehicle:2010 Impreza WRX Satin White Pearl |
So what constitutes a 'long drive'? 30 minutes? I remember reading about short trips not being good for these engines and was concerned my 15 min drive wasn't enough. I guess so...
|
02-28-2021, 04:12 PM | #24 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 508105
Join Date: Nov 2019
Chapter/Region:
NWIC
Location: Greater Seattle Area
Vehicle:Link G4X flex tuned 02' EJ205 20G 6MT wagon |
|
03-01-2021, 02:12 AM | #25 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 519868
Join Date: Nov 2020
Location: Chicago
Vehicle:2010 Impreza WRX Satin White Pearl |
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|