This is just something that has me curious again.
Do any of you guys have these? (It's basically a can that the fuel line runs through, (coiled in the can) that you put ice in to cool the fuel))
I have heard a few people talk about them, and it kinda falls into one of the oldschool categories for me cause I never see any. Kinda like putting ice on your intake between runs.

 

Don't waste your money.

 

Why? Can you back that statement up with some info?

 

I'm sure it doesn't do alot, just curious if it does anything.
I have heard and read alot of stories of ice on intakes getting that extra bit out of a car.
So why not colder fuel?

 

If you are having fuel vapor lock issues then it is a good idea. It can't hurt anything but you will have to replace the ice a few times a day at the track .

 

i dont know how much they help, but i will say that they will not allow you to run one in many headsup racing classes. my understanding is that it can be a help for carbs, but fuel injected cars run at such a higher pressure its not as big of a deal.
but i have no idea.

 

I have always wondered myself, but supposedly the best combo is cold air and hot fuel.. I could not see any help in a FI car as you mentioned especially being most run return line that comes from fuel rail, so no fuel would stay, but if it did it may help with detonation though! But a carbed car where the cold fuel could cool the intake may have a good effect, I would bet it would be good with a blow through supercharger, being the fuel helps pull heat out of the air.

 

Cool cans do work. It's much like any tuning item, you need to test how your combo reacts to it. However, if you're tune up is already too fat then the cool can will only make that worse.

 

DIGGLER you bring up a good point about fuel injection, and also 87_TA.
But heres another thought for you. Maybe not so much a stock type setup for this point, but on fuel injected cars it is said to be best to have atleast a 1/4 tank to keep the pump cool. So the fuel starts getting hotter their, then going along side the tranny would heat it more, then the heat from the engine itself. That is all before it hits a fuel rail, throttle body, or carb.

I will also add this thought, even with FI. Same idea as a cold air intake, cooler air=denser air=more air.
The problem I see with this would apply more to a carb is that being colder and denser it wouldn't want to atomize or break up into a mist. However fuel injection wouldn't have this problem.

Almost forgot, Thanks to all that replied and the opinoins either way.

 

I ran one for several years in the '57. Figured it would help consistency with temperature changes during race day. Always fun hauling ice out to the track (our paying a king's ransom for it at the track), draining and refilling the can before each run, having the lid pop off once (had been messed with in the staging lanes) and spilling water on the track after the burn-out, etc.

When I went to the Div V ET Finals race in 2004 in Topeka, I decided to not hassle with it. I was already below the 13.0 minimum dial-in allowed, so I didn't want to make it any faster. Being away from home and camping at the track I didn't want to have to find ice every day. Made for a much more relaxed race day.

Let's see, something else happened that day at the track - oh, yeah, I won the Sportsman ET division title. . .

 

I had one on my car many years ago back when I still had a 305. It did make a very slight difference, usually around .05-.02 sec. For me it wasn't worth the trouble.

 

Well that was my point with FI - If you are even getting cold fuel to the injector being that most FI cars are setup with a return, so fuel constantly runs straight back to tank, so for it to really work you either have to have a non return regulator to stop all your cold fuel from just going back to tank. So you have the fact that its most going back to the tank, on top of that being the fuel is constantly flowing back to tank, it is not staying in can long enough to really cool. Cool dense air does mean power, however you are only cooling the air just as it enters the cylinder, not before like a carbed app.
But if you did run a deadhead fuel system lime LS1 cars do, I do think it would help cylinder heat allowing more timing. Good subject.

 

Well as long as it's a good subject I don't feel so bad about this post.
Anyway more a question for five7kid.
Did you ever think about dry ice? Or is that cold enough to have to worry about freezing the lines? I don't know how much it cost either.

 

Dry ice is too cold (-109 F). It might not freeze the gasoline, but it will at least freeze some of the constituents, making a slush.

 

I have a can I made myself that is fully insulated, not just cork lined. The ice stays for an entire 5 hour 80 degree TnT session. I used to have a problem with underhood temps, at one point I could hear the fuel boiling in the bowls. I now run a plastic carb spacer in the summer(alum in winter) and insulate my fuel log and billet filter with thermo-tec insulation. I used to not be able to hold my hand on the bowls for more than a few seconds and now they are the temp of the air pretty much. When running the ice, the bowls are noticably cooler but not frosty.

 

This didn't do anything for me. I ran two passes on a dyno, one cooled and the other non-cooled, and there was little to no difference. I'm sure it would help out with consistency or knocking though specially on a blow through carb.

 

dry ice may be too cold, but if you put a chunk of dry ice in a bowl of water, it only gets to 32 until the whole thing freezes over. it takes a while for it all to freeze. i know this from experimenting.

 

It's very interesting and confusing. Quite simple, what ever seems to work. The real question is will you push it enough to need or feel a difference. Paint can with (dry ice) in it. Inside copper tubing wrapped in circles patched into the fuel line. Usually under the hood. No it doesn't cause vapor lock. That's a common problem of Dodge. The fuel expansion at the carburetor causes the carb to freeze. But all the are doing with a Cool Can is trying to get more fuel to the combustion chamber. If you want to cool a car down quickly. Take a 5 gallon pail of water with a lid. Two holes in it. One vent the other allows water to squirt out. Hold the can up in front of the rad engine running. It sprays cool water through the rad cooling it and spraying the whole engine with steam and mist cooling it down quickly. Don't put too big of holes in 3/8 inch max, so you don't fowel the ignition. Best way to cool down between races.

 

use dry Ice in them..they do work. I used them back in the 80's. with carbs..