Very informative post, Mcrib!
Ecoboost Engine Heat Management Strategies
While reading the latest C&D, a few tech innovations were talked about (though not the highlight of the article). In short, it was about how the modern engine is designed and built to take the rigor and abuse of a very wide range of use-case conditions (from the US, to China, and beyond!).
The idea was that unifying this test and build platform made a more robust engine and created fewer headaches down the road for everyone.
Since they were talking about our engine, I took notice...
I believe this is one stout motor. I recall being surprised (amazed, really!) that this small displacement motor came so "tuned to the edge". That's confidence from Ford!
Now that I'm running it harder and I watch the real-time and logged data (thank you, APv3!), I can see that this motor doesn't just feel like its running cooler, it is! One thing I just learned (from the same article) is that the 1.6l Ecoboost motor has "four valves for cooling". Think of this as controlled chambers for the respective cooling media areas.
Whether I'm hammering it in the canyons or just driving to work on a chilly morning (okay, chilly for LA and say 46 deg F!), I can see this system at work. I watch the connection between ambient, intake charge, coolant, and oil temperature (along with the cat temp to approximate EGT). All this along with checking for knocking (still running "-1 OAR-L"), you get an idea of whether your motor is really happy or not.
Moreover, you can see the logic at play with allowing coolant and oil temps to equalize, and even occasionally allowing oil temps to go higher in conditions you wouldn't think call for it. Yesterday while loafing along on the freeway, I noticed that while seeing an ambient temp around 46-48 deg F, the system allowed the oil to reach a hair over 200 deg F, then used it to equalize the coolant temperature such that it settled in around 186 deg F for both.
It's funny, when you measure something, you can tend to think of it as a new condition. Clearly a lot of this is in play with every modern motor, from every manufacturer, but it's nice to see the pop culture references match your new reality! I dig it.
The idea was that unifying this test and build platform made a more robust engine and created fewer headaches down the road for everyone.
Since they were talking about our engine, I took notice...
I believe this is one stout motor. I recall being surprised (amazed, really!) that this small displacement motor came so "tuned to the edge". That's confidence from Ford!
Now that I'm running it harder and I watch the real-time and logged data (thank you, APv3!), I can see that this motor doesn't just feel like its running cooler, it is! One thing I just learned (from the same article) is that the 1.6l Ecoboost motor has "four valves for cooling". Think of this as controlled chambers for the respective cooling media areas.
Whether I'm hammering it in the canyons or just driving to work on a chilly morning (okay, chilly for LA and say 46 deg F!), I can see this system at work. I watch the connection between ambient, intake charge, coolant, and oil temperature (along with the cat temp to approximate EGT). All this along with checking for knocking (still running "-1 OAR-L"), you get an idea of whether your motor is really happy or not.
Moreover, you can see the logic at play with allowing coolant and oil temps to equalize, and even occasionally allowing oil temps to go higher in conditions you wouldn't think call for it. Yesterday while loafing along on the freeway, I noticed that while seeing an ambient temp around 46-48 deg F, the system allowed the oil to reach a hair over 200 deg F, then used it to equalize the coolant temperature such that it settled in around 186 deg F for both.
It's funny, when you measure something, you can tend to think of it as a new condition. Clearly a lot of this is in play with every modern motor, from every manufacturer, but it's nice to see the pop culture references match your new reality! I dig it.
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