My car seems to run between 220 and 240 depending on the temp. the other day it got to 250 in a drive through. I even tried going to a mainly water mix in the radiator, a new radiator cap, a 180 thermostat and the damn thing still runs hot. I cant get any cool air out of the vents at all. What would make the car run so hot? Maybe the timing too retarded? It still got hot today and we advanced the timing by twisting the distributor today. Inside the car is hot, like the heat is constantly on. Its not, but why is it so stinking hot? How can i cool it down? Theres no crap inbetween my radiator and condensor, my radiator looks like its missing a tube, then fixed, and it looks mildly corroded (all green on spots). Do I need a new one?

 

flush the cooling system and possibly look into a new replacement radiator(or a through cleaning at the least). do you have a mechinical fan? electric? if it's a mechinical possibly your fan clutch is on it's way out. check your water pump while your at it. run a 2/3 mix of water and 1/3 antifreeze.

 

Yea, make sure your fans are turning on

 

I didn't like mine running hot either....soooo......I installed a 160* thermostat and wired one of my fans to a switch in the dash so I can turn it on and off at will. Now it never gets over 200* and runs great. Also do all the flushing and cleaning others recommended and run a 70/30 antifreeze mix....NOT mostly water which will boil out. Good Luck!!

 

I have a clutch fan. We advanced the timing 8 degrees, and it seems to run a little cooler, but we havent had a good 90 degree day in a while to really test it out. I do know I need new air conditioning, but it feels like my heat is perpetually on in the car. Do headers really heat a car this badly?

 

bad heater valve, possibly? Or maybe the vacuum contolles are stuck in the car allowing the air to pass through the heater core and into the cabin.

 

on the '79, this happened i think because of the removal of the material on the firewall, trying cut weight, it got to the point where i alomoste passed out on the way home from classes. i got desperate and thought about using heat shielding on the fire wall, i know how u feel.

 

Remove top and bottom water hoses and force water through the rad from top to bottom with a hose pipe. If you can, remove the rad and blow water through from bottom to top. You will be amazed at what comes out. Usually about 50% of rad tubes get blocked after a few years.
A second cause of high temp is a corroded water pump impeller. NEVER use water as a coolant, thingfs will corrode badly, rusty bits will come loose and start to block the rad up again that you just cleared!!
If in doubt about the rad-change it.
Also make sure all air dams are in place under the car and not damaged.

Andy.