I bought my 16 year old son, a 1986 Z28, stock everything, 305 TPI and 700R4. The car has been really, really taken care of. He just started driving it daily, which is was with the previous owner, but she drove it mostly on the highway. It will run, open up the thermostat like it should, fan comes on at 225, (single fan) and sometimes will get up to 240-250 mark. It red lines at I think 260. I know these run hot, but that seems awful hot. Thye mix is right in the radiator, water/antifreeze, no leaks, nothing. I see in Summit or Jeg's, Painless makes an adapter that starts the fan at 195 insead of the 225. has anyone used this with success, and the Redline Water Wetter? This is a daily car, and hate to see it so hot. Any clues what or why it's this hot? Bad gauge? thansk in advance.

stock temp gauge is not accurate at all.

fan comes on at 235 from what ive seen (ive been wrong before )
Verify airdam is in place under the rad support. Run a manual fan switch (search its on here).

Good luck

thanks man, yes, airdam is good, will look at timing, and will be ordering that Painless kit, along with taking the 195 thermo out for a 170-180, then possibly add a dual fan setup. I'm used to looking at my oil pressure/temp on my hotter smallblock, so he may not be as 'attentive' as I am

stock dual fans would not be a good upgrade, trust me. Go aftermarket (SPAL!).

180 is a nice temp for tpi, also might want to look at the adjustable temp kits also, usually about the same price as a painless switch and can be adjusted to what you like.

yea, I meant aftermarket dual fan setup...you reccomend SPAL? You mean the Hypertech adjustable one?

SPAL is consider one of the top brands in the world, and make great fans (dual 11")

Derale, flexalite, etc. they all make on, i use a Hayden/Derale adjustable from 32-240+.

I may try a SPAL, used the Black Magic before, nice, but sure drew some current

Check to see if any debris is stuffed between the condenser and the radiator. I went from a belt-driven fan to GM dual electrics which both turn on with temp or with A/C. Very effective IMO.

http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/co...electrics.html (Belt Fan to Dual Electrics/Pics and P/Ns)

JamesC

what kind of damage would occur to an engine if it overheated up to 260 degrees? i know i could ruin my piston rings but exactly what would happen to an engine it overheated?

Also try taking the radiator out and cleaning it ...i bought a 93 Vette and it ran 220-230 in town...people say thats normal...well, it wasnt normal for me cuz ididnt like it ...i bought a new OEM radiator from GM for $150...now the car does good to hit 202-205 on a hot day here in south Mississippi...took my old radiator out and exactly half of the radiator was stopped up up....260 on a car will ruin the motor...cause the head gaskets to blow....warp the heads....crap that noone needs ....i started with the most expensive thing,the radiator and i figured since it was almost 14 yrs old,it wouldnt hurt...best $150i have spent in a long time

JAmie

you wanna know what happens when you reach 260+? i can tell you, I've done it.

what happens is, you pull over, turn the car off, and open the hood, to watch the lower radiator hose blow to pieces in front of you...creating the kind of confusion that leads you to believe that either the radiator blew, the block blew, or both(as you can't see where the surging boiling coolent is coming from as your run for your life from it).

you proceed to call a close friend or parent to help you tow it to a place you can work on it, check out all the hoses and other equipment(in my perticular case I had replaced the waterpump 2 years before, switched to an aluminum radiator 2 months before, changed the thermostat 1 year before, and most of the hoses throughout that time), and realize that only the lower radiator hose blew. you run up to your local parts store, buy 2 gallons of coolent and a new lower radiator hose, drive back to the car and fill it with the 50/50 mix after replacing the lower hose, fingers crossed and cussing up a storm the whole time(about 20 minutes). you start the car, and realize that it's built like a freakin brick.

car runs as smooth as the day it was brought to the dealership, I will say that it oxidized the oil and needed a change immediately, it also blew the thermostat gasket and needs replacement, but otherwise, it's like a cast iron pan, it absorbs and absorbs heat, and releases it slowly, little else. I have a 305 tbi, and I totally understand why they were originally were truck motors. these engines will survive a nuclear missile attack.

and no, the oil did not mix with the coolent, nor the coolent with the oil.