Hot motors, tight spaces, any innovative engine bay airflow tweaks to power steering side?

[ccc]

I've been spending too much time in the engine bay of my 400E fussing.
I put in a new fan clutch, new hoses, but being a tad obsessive:
I fussed a lot, tweaked, shaped, the shrowd so it doesn't leak-in around the sides and I noted that there is very little space around the exhaust manifolds,
esp. the side of the power steering pump. I noted the heat shielding
on the power steering lines and recall the leak history of the power
steering systems. mmmh, Exhausts are hot, hot, hot.

Even if you have a good cooling system, with fans and radiator keeping the engine temperature in the normal range, hot air from the radiator and radiant heat from the Exhausts, I'm thinking, will create an oven on the sides of the engine. Looking, i note that airflow down the Coolant overflow side will be good due to the fan being located dominantly towards that side. But on the side of the power steering pump, there really cannot be much air flow around the exhaust manifold.

So, I took too long cleaning and arranging wires tidily so as not to obstruct airflow, I took apart and made sure the air duct to the engine mount was clean (it was fine). BTW, I doubt much air flows down that pipe. Then i loosened the engine mounts at the bottom, where they bolt to the frame, with the engine partially supported on the pan, and shifted the engine about 2 mm away from the power steering side. There is a little give and take in the bolt holes on the frame. 2mm may not sound like a lot, but
i figure 2mm of air might make a 5% increase in airflow space....it really is tight around there. I am about to go and see if the tranny mount needs a subtle adjustment as a result.

I also put a new gasket on the air mass plenum, under the air intake
and 1-2 mm rubber shims in the little space where the metal clips hold onto
the front of the air intake 'box' and new rubber intake box supports on the back. All this with the idea that the intake box will be held a fraction higher,
enabling a little more airflow beneath.

A lot of fiddling, but i just couldn't think of any really high impact solution to
increase airflow under the hood, specifically to increase airflow around the
exhaust manifold and power steering lines. I have been wondering about
installing an extra fan, specifically to always blow down this narrow tunnel
or should i say oven, but can't figure out any easy space, which is the issue in the first place.

btw, I'm not really open to the idea of taking out my main fan and running the electric fans as the only cooling fans with mods. I do see that removing the shroud would allow flow to both sides of the engine, but i also think that the main fan throws air well and am not convinced that the auxillary fans will airate the bay as well....

One day I'll have to get pics of Layla up, but I have never even waxed her yet, it's all been fixing up since i got her five months ago, with a few test drives here and there in between. Y'all are gonna swoon when you see how pretty she is.

Anyone?

 

[Jelmer]

I wouldn't worry too much. There are people on this board who run their 036 in the bloody desert, with 45C+ temps, and their car holds up fine.

You're wrong about the electric fan conversion, though: it really helps. The two fans are spread evenly over the radiator, with each blowing to their own side of the engine. I think it moves much more air around than the viscous fan does (at idle, anyway). So if you're really worried about parts needing more airflow, the only practical solution is to switch to electrical fans.

One thing that I still need to solve is that it seems the hot air can't escape the engine bay properly. It can't go up, so the sides, and only escape to tiny holes in the bottom plate. I think it would really help a lot if this car had some form of air outtake on the hood, or near the front window...

 

[500ESpain]

Why don't you just make a big hole in your bonnet like this guy? ;-)

 

[195910]

One thing that I still need to solve is that it seems the hot air can't escape the engine bay properly. It can't go up, so the sides, and only escape to tiny holes in the bottom plate. I think it would really help a lot if this car had some form of air outtake on the hood, or near the front window...

You are right jelmer, We did testing for years here in Q8 on the cooling system. In theory the factory system should handle even our +55C summer (BTW is just started to cool down, 35C now), as the R129 & the W140 both do fine in our summer especially the 1996< models; these cars run the same Visco clutch + 2 Aux fans and conventional thermostats, Radiator is similar surface area.

So the engine compartment design and air flow must be the culprit, just open the engine hood after running the car for some time and you'll see, newer cars are not like that. The 036 has no vents on the hood