I have an '88 GTA.... 350 TPI

It warms up at a slow pace... then once it hit's above 190☼ it won't go lower.... During city driving it will continue to rise until a tick below red line(260☼). Then the fans kick in and drop it to 240 or so.... With OEM dual fans (lol). When I drive the freeway it will cool back to 200(a tick above 190)

In my 305 RS... On the freeway (65+) I stay around 130... In the city my fans kick in at the line above 120 (160?) And cools off the engine..

Whut Gives??? Seems either the fans kick in at the wrong temp. is it the relay, or t-stat, uhhhh.... something else...

And what steps should I take? It's in your hands...

 

if i remember correctly the fans are made to come on at 230* these cars usually run hotter anyways but try a 180* thermostat and a fan switch that will come on around 185*

 

That sounds about right, when I converted over to electric fans I wired a stock fan switch for a 1991 Z28 into the relay circuit just in case I forget to turn on the fan. It kicks the fan on just above the 240'F mark on the gauge.

 

However on my 88 TA, 240 degrees is 20 degrees below red-line.... When I drive the freeway on a cool night, like tonight, my temp. doesn't drop below 200. Won't budge... However, if I ride the RS, in the same conditions, it will sit just above 120.. And won't rise until I'm off the freeway... The TA is running to hot... Any other suggestions???

 

I think Badass gave you the right advice. Also sounds like your RS is running to cold, maybe Tstat stuck open?

 

120 is way to cold. I know i have a totally different setup but mine runs at 180 to 195 all the time with a 180 t-stat, cruzin or sitting.

 

Update....

I spoke to previous owner. There is no t-stat in the car.
So the car should be running cold however it won't drop. I'm not tryin to hav. The car run cold. I'm tryin ta figure out why the temp doesn't drop. It will go from 240 to 200 when it gets air yet nothing further below..

 

Many will tell you that a car NEEDS to have a thermostat in it. The idea is that the thermostat needs to close, and allow the coolent in the rad time to cool off before going back into the engine. If the coolent is free flowing, it never has that time to cool down. And some of us out there will agree to disagree on this info.

Go with the advice BadAss gave you!!!!

 

if there is not thermostat the coolant will never cool down properly and it will always run hotter.............. like was previously said before me......... put a thermostat in and a good fan switch. also make sure you have an air damn.........

 

Thanks for all the info!

Yo, I greatly appreciate the feedback and direction... I also received the whole rundown of the car from the previous owner helping to fill in the blanks. I'll have this done by months end... If anything drastic happens I'll update then.. and

A...

 

id hate to turn this into the thermostat thread because there is already a huge one on it.

but 130 is WAY too cold

 

.... over 190 is normal. Fan kicks on at 220 degrees, w/the secondary (if equipped) fan coming on in the 230's. Removing the thermostat will not allow the engine to run colder continuously, it will only extend your warm up time (you need to lower your fan trigger settings in the prom if your running a lower temp thermo, or none at all). However, the engine needs to run above 180 degrees, as closed loop is fully enabled at that temperature. If you don't know how to tune your ECM, I wouldn't recommend anything less than 190, and anything more than 200, during operating temperature.

 

I know i just posted thanks an all, however i realized that i'm just not satisfied with the temperature of the car.. And most of the posts from others that have stated there opinions have been consistent. Yet I haven't received the answer "I'm" looking for.... I don't want my car running that high.. I stated my intentions and whut I want in the first post.

I drove my RS in 60* weather today.. It stayed near the bottom of the temp gauge when i was on the freeway... during city driving it warms around 160*.. the fans kick in at 180*..

Taking this same situation with the T/A... I took it out and once it got to 200.. it did not tickle, say high or try to budge below that figure... "People!" this is whut I want... to have it drop "Below" 200*.. All of my parts are practically new... I only don't have a T-stat, so my temp. should drop as my RS is the same way..... I want to be in control of my temp. not the other way around.... And yes I have an air dam

Help!

 

And as far as the no t-stat theory, that it won't cool down properly, and it will run hotter... My RS runs cooler with-out a t-stat.. for example.. if i have cool air entering the vehicle, the rad get's it and distributes to the engine cooling it down since the water continually flows... I'm basically looking for the needle to drop as i have cold air coming in...

I believe 240 is too hot due to the fact it's a tick below "Red-line" if the red-line was safe it would be green.... soooo...

If i have continuous air coming in this car should be cooling down... it's not... I need other suggestions other than fan switch this or that... I'm going to alter the temp the fans come on anyway.. yet if i don't find a solution to my specific issue, then the fans will continuously stay on since it wants to stay at 200..... lol!

 

Have you tried a good rad flush and 50/50 mix and a product called water wetter by red line? Jury still out on water wetter. Does it have dual fans or not? Thermo may help YOUR temp sensor may be reading wrong?

 

Bungo78, you don't seem to be understanding how cooling systems work. IT DOES NOT MATTER if whether you are running a thermostat or not, or whether you are running a full antifreeze mixture or not, what matters is what temperature the ECM turns the fan on. Lets say you disconnect the fan (for example), the temps will exceed 250 degrees, with or without a thermo, it is just a matter of time. If you are driving around in colder weather, you will "think" that the engine is running cooler without a thermo, but that is only because the cold air is hitting the radiator as you drive, and essentially doing the fans job for it. The only way to factually keep the temperatures where you want them is to lower the activation point in the ECM. That is the answer your looking for. You can install a freaking "100" degree thermo in the waterneck, the engine will STILL reach over 200 degrees, your just delaying the warm up time, and the fan will STILL come on at 220 degrees. Lower the activation setting in the prom, and your done....

 

Water boils at 212 degrees antifreeze raises boiling point 50/50 mix raises boiling point to265 degrees 70/30 mix raises boiling point to 276 degrees. Water wetter improves helps water dissapate heat better. Thermo gives time for fans to cool water insted of rushing by fans without getting any benefit from fan. KICKING FANS on earlier would help. Clean cooling system also.

 

.... the boiling points have absolutely no relevance though, not to mention water rusting the freeze plugs and radiator out way earlier than coolant will. The engine is most efficient at 180 degrees, and just because coolant has a higher tolerance than water doesn't mean one would want to run their temperatures that high anyway. The cylinders only know degrees, not what liquid is being used to cool it down, and the only way to keep the engine in it's efficiency range is to lower the fan settings, or move to Alaska.

 

TO lower fan settings he dont have to go into computer they sell aftermarket fan controls cause fan is going to kick off at highway speeds thus not letting it to lower temp. Comparisons to water to to show benifits of coolant. ALSO getting engine to lower temp.

 

lol.. thanks for info so far guys..

i'm going to drop the t-stat in this week and purchase a fan switch.. I'll go from there an see whut happens