502 Ram Jet water temp
#1
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Car: 1991 Trans Am GTA
Engine: 502 Ram Jet
Transmission: TKO600-racing gears
Axle/Gears: 12 Bolt Moser-33"axles-3.91 ratio
502 Ram Jet water temp
Hello,
I have a question for you guys, What is the normal water temp for 502 ram jet in a hot day?
For whom follows my thread will know what is the status of the car... You can find the topic in this section..
Please Please Please do not read and go, any comment would be appreciated.
I have a question for you guys, What is the normal water temp for 502 ram jet in a hot day?
For whom follows my thread will know what is the status of the car... You can find the topic in this section..
Please Please Please do not read and go, any comment would be appreciated.
#2
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Car: 99 Z28 / 68 Skylark
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Re: 502 Ram Jet water temp
Hello,
I have a question for you guys, What is the normal water temp for 502 ram jet in a hot day?
For whom follows my thread will know what is the status of the car... You can find the topic in this section..
Please Please Please do not read and go, any comment would be appreciated.
I have a question for you guys, What is the normal water temp for 502 ram jet in a hot day?
For whom follows my thread will know what is the status of the car... You can find the topic in this section..
Please Please Please do not read and go, any comment would be appreciated.
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Car: 87 IROC L98
Engine: 588 Alcohol BBC
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Axle/Gears: Ford 9"/31 spline spool/4.86
Re: 502 Ram Jet water temp
Is the thermostat stuck partially closed?
Is the rad efficient enough to remove all the excess heat?
Can the fan can pull enough air through the rad?
Is there a restriction preventing air from moving through the rad?
Are the rad cores plugged inside?
Does the cooling system pressure up to the rad cap's rated pressure?
The engine should maintain the temperature that the thermostat is at. The thermostat keeps the engine from dropping below the rated temperature by closing if the temperature drops but has no effect on any higher temperatures unless it's not fully open.
The water pump simply circulates the coolant through the cooling system however it needs to run at a specific speed. Too fast can have the same effect as too slow.
That leaves the rad to do the job of removing heat. The rad needs airflow across the fins to remove heat. With an engine driven fan, the fan needs a shroud to efficiently pull air through the rad. On a typical application, the fan does nothing above 30 mph where airflow is forced across the rad. Third gens don't have a good frontal airflow and rely on the lower dam to force air upward towards the rad.
Coolant also need to flow through the rad unobstructed so that the airflow can remove the heat. If the rad has deposits inside it, coolant doesn't flow through properly.
A rad cap pressurizes the system. water boils at 212F. By increasing the pressure, it raises the boiling point. A typical 15 psi rad cap raises the boiling point to something like 230F.
If the engine doesn't overheat while driving but the temperature increases at slow speeds or while stopped, I'd say the fan isn't getting enough air flow across the rad to pull out the heat or the coolant isn't flowing through the rad properly.
If the engine runs too hot all the time, it can be any number of things including a bad head gasket.
Temperature on the low end of the scale is 160F. Moderate is 180F. Hot is 195F. You typically installed a 160 thermostat in the summer and a 195 in the winter. At least those were temperatures many years ago when carbs ruled. Now with EFI systems, engines are run at 195-205 mainly to reduce emissions. Hot engines don't make as much power as a colder engine but a hot engine greatly reduces tailpipe emissions.
Is the rad efficient enough to remove all the excess heat?
Can the fan can pull enough air through the rad?
Is there a restriction preventing air from moving through the rad?
Are the rad cores plugged inside?
Does the cooling system pressure up to the rad cap's rated pressure?
The engine should maintain the temperature that the thermostat is at. The thermostat keeps the engine from dropping below the rated temperature by closing if the temperature drops but has no effect on any higher temperatures unless it's not fully open.
The water pump simply circulates the coolant through the cooling system however it needs to run at a specific speed. Too fast can have the same effect as too slow.
That leaves the rad to do the job of removing heat. The rad needs airflow across the fins to remove heat. With an engine driven fan, the fan needs a shroud to efficiently pull air through the rad. On a typical application, the fan does nothing above 30 mph where airflow is forced across the rad. Third gens don't have a good frontal airflow and rely on the lower dam to force air upward towards the rad.
Coolant also need to flow through the rad unobstructed so that the airflow can remove the heat. If the rad has deposits inside it, coolant doesn't flow through properly.
A rad cap pressurizes the system. water boils at 212F. By increasing the pressure, it raises the boiling point. A typical 15 psi rad cap raises the boiling point to something like 230F.
If the engine doesn't overheat while driving but the temperature increases at slow speeds or while stopped, I'd say the fan isn't getting enough air flow across the rad to pull out the heat or the coolant isn't flowing through the rad properly.
If the engine runs too hot all the time, it can be any number of things including a bad head gasket.
Temperature on the low end of the scale is 160F. Moderate is 180F. Hot is 195F. You typically installed a 160 thermostat in the summer and a 195 in the winter. At least those were temperatures many years ago when carbs ruled. Now with EFI systems, engines are run at 195-205 mainly to reduce emissions. Hot engines don't make as much power as a colder engine but a hot engine greatly reduces tailpipe emissions.
#5
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Car: 1991 Trans Am GTA
Engine: 502 Ram Jet
Transmission: TKO600-racing gears
Axle/Gears: 12 Bolt Moser-33"axles-3.91 ratio
Re: 502 Ram Jet water temp
Thanks for all the replies, I will try to answer the questions one by one...
First of all, I am runnig only one fan, I bought a double din fan and hopefully I will install it today...
On higway the tempereature drops to 170-180F but on heavy traffic I saw 210+ (I needed to shut down the engine and let the fan do the job...)
Because I am currently using only one fan, I removed the thermostat so that It can start cooling immediatly.
Another issue is that, I have 2 gauges for water temp, both are located at different places. One of the sender unit that I am using is the car's old water temp sender unit, and one is the auto meter's. Old one is located at on top of the termostat cap, and other one is on the manifold...
The old one never passed 210... but although old one shows 180-190, new one shows 210+ (again I removed the thermostat so there shouldn't be any temp difference??)
That's the story guys, again thank you for your time...
First of all, I am runnig only one fan, I bought a double din fan and hopefully I will install it today...
On higway the tempereature drops to 170-180F but on heavy traffic I saw 210+ (I needed to shut down the engine and let the fan do the job...)
Because I am currently using only one fan, I removed the thermostat so that It can start cooling immediatly.
Another issue is that, I have 2 gauges for water temp, both are located at different places. One of the sender unit that I am using is the car's old water temp sender unit, and one is the auto meter's. Old one is located at on top of the termostat cap, and other one is on the manifold...
The old one never passed 210... but although old one shows 180-190, new one shows 210+ (again I removed the thermostat so there shouldn't be any temp difference??)
That's the story guys, again thank you for your time...
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Re: 502 Ram Jet water temp
Put a thermostat back in.
A thermostat allows the engine to warm up quickly but it's also a flow control for the coolant. Without a thermostat, the coolant is flowing through the engine too fast and can't pick up the heat. If you still don't want to run a thermostat for whatever reason, install flow restrictors in place of the thermostat to slow the coolant down.
This is what you need if you don't want to run a thermostat
http://www.jegs.com/p/Moroso/751807/10002/-1
I don't run a thermostat but I also don't see stop and go traffic. My upper rad hose is also juts a 1" heater hose so that restricts flow. A race car typically doesn't use a thermostat because when I'm back in the pits, the fan and waterpump are turned on to cool the engine down. I normally turn them off at 100-120F. By then the thermostat would be closed and I wouldn't get proper coolant flow to cool the engine down.
A thermostat allows the engine to warm up quickly but it's also a flow control for the coolant. Without a thermostat, the coolant is flowing through the engine too fast and can't pick up the heat. If you still don't want to run a thermostat for whatever reason, install flow restrictors in place of the thermostat to slow the coolant down.
This is what you need if you don't want to run a thermostat
http://www.jegs.com/p/Moroso/751807/10002/-1
I don't run a thermostat but I also don't see stop and go traffic. My upper rad hose is also juts a 1" heater hose so that restricts flow. A race car typically doesn't use a thermostat because when I'm back in the pits, the fan and waterpump are turned on to cool the engine down. I normally turn them off at 100-120F. By then the thermostat would be closed and I wouldn't get proper coolant flow to cool the engine down.
Last edited by AlkyIROC; 05-16-2009 at 09:44 AM.
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#8
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Car: 1991 Trans Am GTA
Engine: 502 Ram Jet
Transmission: TKO600-racing gears
Axle/Gears: 12 Bolt Moser-33"axles-3.91 ratio
Re: 502 Ram Jet water temp
Thanks again for all the replies, I installed the double din fans and I realized a big improvement....
It never exceeded 210 F and I will install a cryO2 sprayer tommorrow, I will pump alcohol, not water (on to the surface of radiator and oil cooler...)
It never exceeded 210 F and I will install a cryO2 sprayer tommorrow, I will pump alcohol, not water (on to the surface of radiator and oil cooler...)
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Car: 1991 Z-28
Engine: 350 L98 al head Stealth Ram
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Re: 502 Ram Jet water temp
210 is not hot . 230 -250 is trouble . If it stays constant at 180-195 moving and 210 in traffic there's no problem . If it starts at 195 and just keeps climbing you have a problem but if it maintains 210 I wouldn't get carried away . Factory thermostat is 195 .
#10
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Car: 1991 Trans Am GTA
Engine: 502 Ram Jet
Transmission: TKO600-racing gears
Axle/Gears: 12 Bolt Moser-33"axles-3.91 ratio
Re: 502 Ram Jet water temp
What happens is exactly what you say... I'm good than all...
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