Lambo Run, Overheating, Electric Fan?

Just ordered the 200 amp PORSCHE Altenator. I will let you know how it works once installed. Thanks for the EBAY search GRNGRY!

 

Let me know how it works for you as well. I'll jump on one too if you give it the seal of approval!!

 

Mike

 

Let me know how it works for you as well. I'll jump on one too if you give it the seal of approval!!

 

Mike

 

If you see a mushroom cloud from the east coast.......oh well

Just got done installing altenator. Exact replacement except pulley which is easily changed over. Output however was 65 @ idle and 95 @3K RPM. Tests were done with a carbon pile and test equiptment connected to the wire exiting altenator. They claim I may have been sent a stock replacement unit. They will have to build one up and test it before they ship it out. So far they sound like stand up people ie. they actually called me back like they said they would. On a positive note it does perform slightly better than the original 25 year old unit. Stay tuned

I knew I should of ordered the lambo unit

Hey did those running temps i sent you do any good? your custom radiators are installed right?

Hey did those running temps i sent you do any good? your custom radiators are installed right?

 

Thanks again for your test numbers Ken. The radiators and 4 upgraded fans installed. I learned airflow on the Countach sucks. Even while driving at 60mph the fans cycle. This is the 1st car I have ever worked on that needs additional help with airflow when driving that fast. I even fabricated black foam gaskets to totally seal the radiator so air can only go thru the radiator or into the air intake. I am waiting for a hotter day to really put it to the test. For the most part it runs 80C on a 65F day and around 82-83c on a 80F day. All and all I am happy with the results. I think the next step would be to re-engineer the air boxes to allow air to get out. I dont think the gain would be worth the benifit considering the amount of work it would take.

I will have to pay attention to if mine are cycling off and on at speed...

 

Did you see what Raymond did to improve airflow through his radiators ?

 

http://www.countach.ch/bmc.html

I will have to pay attention to if mine are cycling off and on at speed...

 

Did you see what Raymond did to improve airflow through his radiators ?

 

http://www.countach.ch/bmc.html

 

Another thing that gives the DD cars an edge up on the FI cars is simplicity of the engine bay. Both my fuel distributers are in the way. They have so much crap in the way, no wonder air cant get out

sorry, i forgot about all that "stuff"

Glad the alt was right at least, hopefully that can help others in the future. Easy fix for the filters blown, just sell yours and buy a DD

I am to cheap

I would be the happiest man alive to have even a Jas converted 2v injected, or whatever becomes least desireable by the time I can afford anything. All you guys are very lucky... and have good taste to boot lol

I would be the happiest man alive to have even a Jas converted 2v injected, or whatever becomes least desireable by the time I can afford anything. All you guys are very lucky... and have good taste to boot lol

 

 

Well i should be the LAST person to have ever gotten one of these cars so if I can own one, I dare say, you can too. Just don't loose sight of it and eventually it will happen if you make it a priority.

Well i should be the LAST person to have ever gotten one of these cars so if I can own one, I dare say, you can too. Just don't loose sight of it and eventually it will happen if you make it a priority.

I'm all in, but this is a long term goal for sure, no way around that. If prices don't go crazy I see no reason why I can't make it happen in time. My only issue is if prices go where I think they will, I have have to settle for a consolation prize Seems like a race against time for me, who knows though.

I'm all in, but this is a long term goal for sure, no way around that. If prices don't go crazy I see no reason why I can't make it happen in time. My only issue is if prices go where I think they will, I have have to settle for a consolation prize Seems like a race against time for me, who knows though.

 

 

That is why I jumped in last year. I felt that if I waited to long, I would not be willing to pay crazy $$$. I hope for your sake the people asking stupid money for their cars get a reality check and the asking prices will get back to normal

CANT determine if my fans are running or not.... drove the other night on the highway at 60 and 70mph (ok maybe a little faster at one point). I heard my fans at low speeds before getting on the highway but while on the highway i couldn't hear them anymore... not sure if my car is too loud or if they were off......?

That is why I jumped in last year. I felt that if I waited to long, I would not be willing to pay crazy $$$. I hope for your sake the people asking stupid money for their cars get a reality check and the asking prices will get back to normal

 

No kidding!!! I jumped in at the tail end of 2009. So glad I did!!!!

 

Mike

 

CANT determine if my fans are running or not.... drove the other night on the highway at 60 and 70mph (ok maybe a little faster at one point). I heard my fans at low speeds before getting on the highway but while on the highway i couldn't hear them anymore... not sure if my car is too loud or if they were off......?

 

I thought about rigging a test lamp to the fan switch and putting the test light in the rear window. I cant hear mine either but based on the temp gauge I know when the fans turn off (below 80C on gauge) car runs 82-83 for the most part. The pushers I can see the blade in my rear view mirror. At one point I wired all four fans to the second stage of the switch to check highway speed airflow. The temp then rose to 92c on the gauge at highway speeds. Fans came on and pulled it down to below 85c in 1 -2 minutes. That confirmed the poor airflow to the radiators. I then fabricated black foam seals to ensure air could only go thru radiators or air intake. Although this did help (fans cycled less) I still need the fans I though about making some sheet metal deflectors to steal air from the air intakes and deflect more air to the radiators, but hey it is driving season now.......maybe next year

What year Countach?

86' update. Install SPAL fans, the car runs cool thanks

 

 

Spal fans are perfect.......

I got my new alternator hooked up and was able to try it out heading to and from our weekly car gathering last Saturday. Once I got my unit out of the car, I finally found the part number. Turns out that it is a Delco-Remy 17si unit. The 17si has the mounting ears at the correct distance so it can fit the Countach brackets. The 17si is approx. 7 1/4" mounting holes, whereas the 12si is 6 3/4" (too small to fit without some mounting mod's, which I was not in the mood to do! LOL!!!).

 

The 17SI is a BIG unit. So big in fact, it will not come out of the car in any way, without either draining your cooling system so you can remove the pipe that sits over top the unit. I disconnected the air hoses, distributor cap, rotor, vacuum lines and even the O2 sensor and still could not turn the unit in such a way to get it out. So, how did I do it? I took the alternator apart. And took it out in 2 pieces. VERY EASY!!!!!

 

I ended up taking my old 17SI unit (which is marked on the case as a 70 amp unit!) to a local alternator shop and had it rebuilt to 120 Amp spec. They said the 17SI came new "back in the day" as either a 70 amp or a 94 amp unit. They can rebuild it to a 108 amp spec or 120 amp. He really steered me away from going up to 140 amps. He said the problem is the amount of heat that is generated by the 140 amp unit at idle. The unit has a tough time coping with the heat and tends to fry itself. He said the best suggestion to to fit a Delco CS-144 unit which will actually put out almost as many amps at idle as it does at 2500 rpm. But again, I would have to do some mounting mod's. As most of us Countach owners know, that is where we struggle more than any.... IDLE SPEED. When you are running 2 fuel pumps, all the BOSCH electrical components for the fuel injection, 4 cooling fans and the A/C (not to mention at night if you have your headlights on too!), the car really struggles to put out enough amps to handle that load!

 

It cost me $100 to have my 17SI rebuilt and it can now handle 120 amps. Re-installation was easy. I took the unit apart into 2 halves again. The trickiest part, is to make sure you get the 2 brushes put back into their housing and feed a paper clip through the back of the unit and through the holes of the brush housing to hold them in place. Once I got the 2 halves fed back down into place, I bolted the 2 halves together again and pulled the paper clip out so the brushes would pop back against the armature. PRESTO! Mounted it back up, tightened the belt and hooked all the hoses and wires back up. Fired up the car and everything worked as it should.

 

I did notice a difference in my volt gauge when driving at speed that with all 4 cooling fans running, the needle no longer starts to dip into the red zone. Its still close to the red area at idle when sitting at a stop light with 4 fans running and your foot on the brake. I did turn on the A/C to see what would happen and was surprised to see that the needle really didn't drop that much further into the red zone. So who knows..... it may be OK. Only time will tell.

 

Here are some shots showing the old unit in place, the new rebuilt unit, the unit split in 2 showing the paper clip holding the brushes in place, etc..

 

Mike