I have had an on going cooling issue with my 85 z28 350 tpi i have had the car 3 years i completly restored it it will run at 165-175 in the winter in the summer the temp just keeps climbing all the way to 220 but will stay at 220 i have tried everthing i have 2 fans on the rad new rad seperate fan controls that come on at 165 everything is new. i have even tried restricting the flow but it just heats up faster. it just seems like it wants to run at 220 any help or ideas to try would be great thanks

 

Up to 220* is around the normal city driving operating range. On the highway the engine temp should be below the 220* mark. I've also found that the stock 195* thermostat provides the most consistant cooling temps.

 

Not really that odd. The lower the outside temp, the cooler the engine will run--as cool as the thermostat will allow anyway. Most will agree with that. However, it's also true that the higher the engine temp the more heat the radiator can pull out of the engine. The temp goes up until the radiator is hot enough to remove all the heat the engine is producing. Make sense? (part of the trick to how the cooling system works is the difference in temp--outside air flowing into the radiator and coolant flowing inside the radiator). To lower you operating temp, you need to make a change to the cooling system that allows it to pull more heat from the engine. Or make the engine produce less heat(not much you can do about that, unless the timing is screwed up). A bigger/better radiator, more powerful fans, better water pump, higher flowing thermostat(make sure yours isn't sticking part way open), tranny cooler(if you have an auto) 'may' all increase the cooling capacity(the amount of heat it can remove) of the cooling system.