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Running “hot” at idle, even hotter with a/c on. I just about tried everything.
LTX and LSXPutting LT1s, LS1s, and their variants into Third Gens is becoming more popular. This board is for those who are doing and have done the swaps so they can discuss all of their technical aspects including repairs, swap info, and performance upgrades.
Re: Running “hot” at idle, even hotter with a/c on. I just about tried everything.
Matt - I was following most of this, but I think I may have gotten lost at some point - can you post up what your final configuration is? (fans, radiator, ducting, etc...) I think there is a lot of good troubleshooting that everyone did and I know you purchased some $$$ parts at some points.
I'm about to do the cooling system on my LS-swap and it'd be good to see where you ended up on this. A lot of great collective knowledge in this thread.
Re: Running “hot” at idle, even hotter with a/c on. I just about tried everything.
Matt, Im pretty sure there are 2 more side plastic pieces you can put on..or make them to seal up the rest of the ducting to the rad for better pulling of fresh air. Im ordering replacement panels as I have none of those pieces in place either. I like the addition of the foam with you installed your replacement rad. I still think the overall underhood temps are keeping things above where you want them to be and extracting some out will got you that 10* drop to feel more at ease. Making my T/A hood vents functional you can feel heat coming out of them even though its small opening.
Re: Running “hot” at idle, even hotter with a/c on. I just about tried everything.
Originally Posted by QwkTrip
If you were right then oil coolers would be obsolete.
Oil temp senders are cheap and just another sensor so they are on most cars today. Back in the 80s I only recall some built cars having them. They are, though, the better measure of engine temp aside from temperatures sensors on the metal itself.
Re: Running “hot” at idle, even hotter with a/c on. I just about tried everything.
Originally Posted by 86White_T/A305
Matt, Im pretty sure there are 2 more side plastic pieces you can put on..or make them to seal up the rest of the ducting to the rad for better pulling of fresh air. Im ordering replacement panels as I have none of those pieces in place either. I like the addition of the foam with you installed your replacement rad. I still think the overall underhood temps are keeping things above where you want them to be and extracting some out will got you that 10* drop to feel more at ease. Making my T/A hood vents functional you can feel heat coming out of them even though its small opening.
Yea I’m missing the two side pieces with the X molded into them. I’ve been trying to find some but can only find them in a full set with the rest of the pieces.
Re: Running “hot” at idle, even hotter with a/c on. I just about tried everything.
Matt,
I can report that adding the plastic shrouding to my car has dropped my temps around 15-20* keeping me around the 205* at idle now as opposed to 220*. Not that due to my intercooler size and location I was not able to use the side pieces. I plan to get some foam and cut to shape what i need and seal off as much a possible to funnel in air. I dont have a fan shroud on the rad and I think this might help while switching to slim fans. the only other thing Ive been contemplating is how well my waterpump is functioning which is the original from my 00 ls1 motor i started with. Might be time to change it out. Short of adding holes in the hood and coating my hotside piping to reduce heat..Im running out of options to run cooler temps
Re: Running “hot” at idle, even hotter with a/c on. I just about tried everything.
Been busy re-doing my fuel system so sorry for the lack of updates. The news is pretty good though. I drove the car down to the tuner a few weeks ago. Its an hour drive each way, most of it is highway. We hit some traffic along the way and we had the a/c blasting the entire trip. I took this screenshot the day of the tune. I’m happy to report that the coolant temp never passed 206 the entire day! Thats driving in the city, on the highway, and even in the crawling traffic we hit. Never turned the a/c off and never got hot. At highway speed it sat around 198, went to 206 in the stop and go traffic.
Now I was very pleased with this, but the following day was a little different. I took the car to a sonic drive in and sat there eating for about 25 minutes. Had the car idling with the a/c on the whole time. This day was a little warmer than the screenshot above, and the coolant temp SLOWLY made it to 217. I mean it was the slowest it ever climbed.. After leaving, the temp came back down to the normal 198-208 area. Now these were pretty extreme circumstances, and I was sitting there with the a/c on for way longer than I normally would. Regardless with the results from the day of tuning, I’m calling this pretty much fixed. I’m planning on sourcing the rest of the airdam I’m missing, so that may help a little more. I also ordered some more 5 inch piping to move my air filter out of the engine bay so that will help my iat’s a bit as well. I’m sure I can get it idling under 200 if I add some hood vents and wrap the headers, but honestly this is a massive improvement and I’m perfectly fine with it. Its literally running 30 degrees cooler.
Re: Running “hot” at idle, even hotter with a/c on. I just about tried everything.
That is great news. These engines make a lot of heat. Sitting and idling is pretty tough. The last thing I would think to try is put a lower cover from the radiator support to the crossmember to block recirculation of heated air from the engine bay.
07-12-2020, 07:19 AM
