LSA Engine Open Cooling?
 

Changing out the 377 in my 2009 Pachanga... Ordered a Crate LSA 6.2 All aluminum engine from GM Performance. I only run fresh water lakes in Northern Ontario/Manitoba Canada. Looking for your thoughts on running an open cooling system & closed system for supercharger intercooler with remote oil cooler including a filter/screen via electric circulation pump like used on a camaro/corvette.

Thanks

You may want to get information from someone smarter than me on why its "not for marine use"
JMO - If I were to go with that engine I would go with a closed system due to corrosion inhibition and probably easier to maintain operating temp

I had a customer with a twin LSA application and we made some closed cooling tanks for him. PM me if you need any assistance. I still have some data and drawings that might help.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...f1818d7dad.jpg

Run a closed system
their was a guy on here that did a ls3 stoker build running in a man made lake, after a year he converted to close cooling if i recall because of the corrosion issues

You need a closed system for many reason and for longevity. Electric water pumps basically are short duration and how does it adjust for the ever wide changing RPMs that a marine engine goes thru for hours on end ? Yes they are great for drag racing and so forth but thats blast off and shut the engine off in 10 seconds -- no hours of on and off the throttles for a jist to see water flow spikes / volumes and water temp drops & spikes. Plus has any one done YEARS of testing for duration with electric water pumps in the complete marine enviroment on open water cooling systems ??

A closed system will maintain constant temps alot better thru out all rpms and that helps and keeps the expansion rates were they need to be with aluminum engines and those parts for a jist. Then you have the corrosion issues but thats really a no brainer.

I think a member ( corey331) did an ls into a checkmate a while ago.... if I remember right he said the motor was pretty corroded within one summer of fresh water running, and went to closed cooling after that.

aluminum will corrode in fresh water as well...saltwater just speeds it up, run closed system, also ALL GM crate engines listed as "not for marine use" they sell componants to a 3rd party to build "marine" engines and all warranty is thru them.

So the 6.2L SC motor here isn't provided by GM? I have been wondering as it seems like this would be a nice replacement for my 500EFI motors. Less weight, closed cooling and MORE room.

GM Marine Engines | GM Powertrain Marine

Dude thats NICE!

I haven't looked but i would think Mrcool would also have stuff for the LS. Hardin Marine does.

The Motor is from GM Performance, every motor they list states "Not for Marine Use". As far as I can find out, they do that due to the extreme use & or extended WOT. So the 2 year warranty they provide would not be honored obviously.
The GM Marine engine they list online is identical with the smaller/lower less desirable upper intercooler from the CTV-S.

coming to market totally cleanable as everything is removable and put back together. No temp changes thru sections of the cooler itself because there is NO TONs of solder. . No seems to break or leak - no rolled metal with soldered https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...94dfb2c1f5.jpg
end caps and so forth. 10 times the quality at basically the same price. Even when an engine lets go - totally taken apart and totally cleanable. No more throw away oil coolers and the same for the heat exchangers. The Heat exchangers are the same but of course larger is diameter and length than the oil cooler shown so just picture this as larger in size.

Looks great, Where do you have them available? website?

Next month - I am trying to data base the sizes of coolers and heat exchangers so I can cross reference from app to app. Not easy to do so that is talking alot of my time doing so.

i was going to go this route on my old boat. was impossible to get a answer from GM about it. none of the local GM dealers or area rep had no idea either

id honestly just get a iron block 6.0 and go that way with some hard anodized heads

Do you have any of your heat exchangers available yet?

Sorry I missed this. I have some oil coolers in currently. I kind of messed up my timeframes here because I am working on cool fuels for Merc and Volvo with the same engineers here. I should have some heat exchangers coming in soon. My other delay is still making the list for crossovers per the OEM coolers and heat exchangers. That is very time consuming alone. For the past 2 weeks I got hammered with winterizations because our lows last week was 4 days straight in the 20 s. I am trying to catch up with this. THANKS for asking and your time

Keep me posted please, thanks for your reply.

Closed system is what he would need, I think he might be talking about the electric pump that GM used in the ZL1 and CTS-V that circulated the coolant from the intercooler brick in the supercharger lid to the heat exchanger/radiator on the front of the car. That pump had one speed and circulated as much coolant as it could to keep the IAT's down, I had a ZL1 that I built and loved it. You could use a three stage sea water pump (if they make one), I know Hardin offers a two stage pump for the LS platforms. But stage 1 & 2 could circulate freshwater through the Heat exchanger for the engine and heat exchanger for the SC coolant, then use the third stage to circulate the coolant from the SC through the heat exchanger. Just a thought, but LS Swap the world lol

Im extremely experience with marine closed cooling since I prob worked on more 496's than one can count plus the many HP 525's along with a ton of inboards.Also new marine inboards and I/Os are closed cooled especially all LS and LSA based engines since their intro into the marine market with the cats = emission controlled engines.

Closed cooling is the way to go regardless of engine especially for MPI engines. It keeps better constant steady engine temps thru out all rpms. This also helps with AFR's as well. That provides better engine temp control for a jist of it.

Also less air and steam pockets, aerated water in the cooling system by far. Also less thermo shock internally - very cold water - vs heat soaked engine. Heads and block upon start up. And this is not even talking about the longevity factor of internals being closed cooled.

They use the SC motor in ski boats don't they? Do they use something to circulate the water through the inner cooler brick like Jim said?

My opinion about aluminum in a boat is different than most people (and I may get flamed for it), but it is based on my own real world experience.
I use to run a SBC jet drive and the jet, impeller, intake and exhaust were aluminum. The jet was powder coated, but the rest was raw aluminum and after 20yrs of running fresh, salt and brackish water nothing showed any signs of corrosion. I know it sounds like BS, but it's not. I always flushed the motor asap after salt use, but didn't always flush after fresh use.
So based on my experience, I don't worry much about aluminum in a boat. I know there are tons of horror stories out there about aluminum, but I've seen cast iron rot out in short order too.
I've never been able to wrap my head around why there is so much fear about aluminum when aluminum trailers are used instead of steel for salt water use. What am I missing here?
I also don't worry much about using car motors either. I personally don't see any difference, save for the cam and accessories. I'm currently replacing my "marine" engine with a GM crate LS. Yes, I am going closed cooling, which is counter to what I just said, but that is only because I have all the parts from my 496HO to use and I plan to be in salt a lot more than fresh. If I was fresh only, I wasn't going to put it on.
All that being said, BUP makes some good points. Temperature control may be more critical on these engines than the old SB's I used in the past.
And as always, my advice is worth exactly what you paid for it. :blahblah: