Free Tips on cryogenic engine treatment

When putting more power through an engine you need to ensure that every part will perform at its optimum.

One of the motorsports favourite techniques to improve the durability of an engine is a process know as cryogenic treatments.

As you can guess from the use of the word Cryo - it involves the cooling and heating of the engine block to temper the metal changing its structure.

First the engine is slowly cooled in liquid nitrogen. The liquid nitrogen is added to the sealed tank in very precise measures, too fast and you risk causing stress fractures in the metal.

After you have reached around -350F the engine temperature is slowly raised up again to over 300 F over a 12 hour period or so.

This process is repeated 3 or 4 times over the course of a week. The process will work on any metal engine part with popular use for hardening the block, pistons and crank.

The camshaft is also a high wear area of a performance tuned engine and will benefit from cryo treatment. It is best that the parts are cryo treated separately and then assembled.

Extreme cooling and heating has a massive effect on the engines durability and reliability.

The cooling and heating of the metal aligns the 'metal molecules' and allows them to be much more tightly packed together. This cooling and heating actually traps carbon atoms that do not have time to diffuse out of the crystal structure.

It forms a more symmetrical crystalline lattice which is much tougher than untreated metal. Known as a Martensitic structure this process has been used to strengthen blades and cutting surfaces and is now being applied to engine tuning.

It allows the head gasket and valves to seat better and this will also improve engine efficiency and power. It also improves the lubricity of 2 surfaces as there are less friction causing imperfections again raising the power output of the engine.

Rather than just affecting the surface of the metal the slow temperature changes allow the entire metal to attain the benefits.

Any stress points in the metal are thus removed and the result is that the engine is much harder and will cope with a lot more stress.

The internal friction of the surfaces is reduced giving an instant power gain. Because internal friction is lower the engine is more reliable and some sources quote 8 times the wear resistance for certain metals after a cryogenic treatment along with improved tensile strength.

There are not many places offering this service but there are some specialists out there. The relative cost to benefit ratio is fantastic and will give you a distinct advantage in the competitive motorsports arena allowing you to raise the bar of your engine power.

Performance Engines Cooling Electronic Water Pump

For a performance engine please never underestimate the need for enough cooling. All water cooled cars work on the principle of water being pumped around the engine and then to a radiator where it releases the heat.
Most water pumps are mechanical and run off the crank.

This creates 2 drawbacks:-
Firstly water is pumped in proportion to the engine speed. So if you have been driving hard and then suddenly go slow the water is being pumped more slowly and the engine takes much longer to cool down.
Next, the water pumps exert a pull on the crank. They are usually fairly bulky and take a fair amount of force to turn the impeller. Power loses to the water pump alone have been recorded to be as high as 17 bhp on a 170bhp engine.

Long used in motorsport an electric water pump is able to address both of these issues. It must be noted that the extra current it draws will create pull on the alternator in a similar way to the air conditioning unit. The electric water pump will come as a kit with the main pump and a controller. The more sophisticated controllers allow you to select an operating temperature for the engine from within the car.

The benefit of a water pump is that the water is circulated in direct proportion to temperature. The hotter the water then the faster it is pumped round the engine and this will assist with cooling. It also means that the pump is only running when it is actually required allowing the engine to warm up quickly and maintain an optimum operating temperature.

You will need to remove the existing water pump impeller and the thermostat as your electric water pump will replace these. Removal of the entire water pump is not absolutely necessary; indeed keeping the belt pulley in place will mean you do not have to get a new belt fitted.

A big benefit of an electric water pump is the fact that you can easily select the operating temperature of your car. Setting the temperature lower will mean the engine produces more power and setting it higher will improve the engines economy.
Sitting in traffic will no longer mean the engine reaches dangerous levels and the cooling fan on the radiator will have less work to do due to the faster cycling of the engine coolant around the engine.

Fitting an electric water pump is very straightforward, but as every car's cooling system varies we cannot give specifics here. The pump will usually fit inline near the switch that operates the flow through the radiator. You will typically have to cut a hose and fit the water pump inline and then wire this into the car's ignition circuit.

Depending upon your settings you could even let the water pump run when the car is stationary allowing it to continue to cool the engine when it is turned off.