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Honda Odyssey Overheating |
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One Way to Reduce Honda Odyssey OverheatingWith the FL250 engine tucked right behind the seat, Honda Odyssey overheating is not an uncommon problem. Liquid cooled heads are available for around $300+ and then you mount a small radiator up above where it can get some air flow. A small electric water pump can be used, but many people just route the hoses in such a way as to take advantage of the thermosiphon effect. The temperature differences in the system will cause the water to flow naturally - without the need for a pump. Regardless of whether you add an electric water pump or not, adding a liquid cooled head adds cost. For my old Odyssey that I bought for $500, I didn't want to spend another $300+ to go the liquid cooling route.Out of the desire to save money comes the $20 forced fan redneck idea....
Detmar 4" (P/N: 751RC) 240CFM Marine Blower I bent some aluminum flat stock to make a simple mounting bracket that attaches with the seat belt bolts. I bent the bracket so that the Detmar fan blows on top of the cylinder head. I already had the CR250 cylinder head with taller fins, but those taller fins don't do much good when they are not getting a good supply of cooling air. The Detmar blower is rated at a decent 240CFM of air flow at a modest current draw of 4.5 amps. The part number on the Detmar blower that I bought was 751RC. The "RC" denotes a water resistant blower - which I would recommend for this application. My 83 Honda Odyssey FL250 came with a slightly larger alternator output than the earlier FL250's, but even so it's output is very little at best. Even so, on a ride at the dunes that last around 4 - 5 hours, the fan continued to blow and never drained the battery during the whole time. The blower ran almost continuously while the Odyssey was driven. I was always able to use the Goki aftermarket electric starter to re-start the Odyssey. In other words, even with such a weak alternator output, the Detmar blower did not consume too much electricity. Of course, this idea would not work on a stock FL250 because the alternator output is AC. In addition, the earliest FL250's put out 6V, so that would not work for running a 12V blower. In my case, I wired my blower directly to the battery with a switch mounted near the Goki electric starter button. The aftermarket Goki electric start system has a simple rectifier circuit (diode) that converts the FL250's alternator ouput to DC current to charge the battery. If your FL250 has the Goki electric starter and has an alternator that puts out 12V, then you should be able to run a similar setup. Now onto the results... prior to adding the blower fan, my Digatron Cylinder Head Temp (CHT) sensor would show over 400F after running for a while. When temperatures would reach around 350F, I could hear engine detonation which can quickly destroy an engine. If I continued to drive, the temps would continue to climb until they would exceed 400F and then I would shut down to let the engine cool. I don't know how high the temperatures would have climbed if I didn't stop. I didn't want to find out (engine seizure or piston meltdown due to detonation). After I added the Detmar blower, the CHT would read right around 300F +/- 10F. Even on a hot day at the dunes with outside temperatures in the 90's, my Odyssey would run right around 300F even after hours of driving. I was very pleased with the results given the simplicity and low cost. I would call the $20 redneck solution to Honda Odyssey overheating a success. Here are some links to pages showing some of what I've done on my Honda Odyssey so far: Honda Odyssey Airbox Mod Honda Odyssey Tuned Pipe Honda Odyssey CR250 Head Honda Odyssey Digatron Tach Honda Odyssey Powerbloc Clutch Honda Odyssey FL250 Driven Clutch Honda Odyssey Overheating Solution Honda Odyssey at Beverly Sand Dunes Honda FL250 Water Cooled Head Return to Main Honda Odyssey Page
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