I recently completed my 383 swap on my 91 camaro and while driving in stop and go traffic even at night in cool 65 degree weather the temp climbs past 230. When Im movin it will begin to drop and if I dont stop it will drop to about 200. My step up consists of a brand new modine stock replacement radiator, factory single electric fan wired to run constantly, new aluminum water pump. Ive tried both a 160 and 180 thermostat which made very little difference. Im running straight water with a bottle of water wetter and prestone antirust and lube additive. Im eventually going to upgrade my cooling system with an aftermarket radiator and better fans but this project has depleted my current savings so I would like to make the current setup work better. My first question is would removing the A/C condensor alone make a difference since my A/C is currently not workin. Second would a factory dual fan set up make a big difference over the factory single fan.

Thanx
Doc

 

Are you looking at the Stock Guage or have a aftermarket Guage?
Carb or Fuel Injection, If it is fuel injection you can scan the car with Software and see what the ECM is reading the coolant temp is, since is is better than the factory guage.
If you have headers the factory guage can be off by as much as 20+ degrees,
is the raditor cap new, if not have you checked to see if it is still pressureized.

More info from you will help us give you suggestions.

just my

 

The engine is currently carbureted and the computer has been removed. Im using brand new Auto Meter Pro comp ultra-lite gauges and the radiator cap is a brand new 16 lbs stant. Both radiator hoses are brand new. The air dam is on and in perfect condition as well as all the other factory plastic pieces designed to route air the radiator. I tried to cover all the bases as I knew the factory cooling system would be marginal at best with the new engine. I at least thought with all brand new pieces it would be able to keep the engine cool in the fall weather. I was planning on upgrading the whole cooling system if neccessary, while the car was down for the winter. I guess Im just looking for something to keep it cool for the next month so I can put some miles on the new engine before winter. Any suggestion would be helpful.

Thanx
Doc

 

230 isnt oerheating. You'll know its overheating when the coolant begins boiling out the radiator.

 

try a bottle of wetter water, many performance shops can get you some. its good for 10-15 degees. a nice big aluminum radiator will however be the solution.

 

definitly remove the ac condesor if you dont use the air. I did when i did my last cam swap and it will help with cooling b/c it will get more air . i notcied a differance when i took mine out . every little bit extra will help.

 

Are you using tap water or distilled water? Distilled water with water wettee will help. Tap water has too many impurities into and the junk in the water actually helps the water to boil. Distilled water does'nt boil like tap water becasue it's so pure.

Also, with a factory replacement you might be limited to the 16psi cap. Once you get a real radiator step upto the distilled water, water wetter, and a 20-22psi cap. Are you absolutly sure there is no air trapped in the system? Air locks can be a pita to get rid of and cause alot of greif.

Like mentioned if your not running A/C remove the condensor for more unobstructed air flow across the radiator. Next investement would be bone yard hunting for a dual fan set-up, that single fan is just no suffiecent for that small radiator and bigger mill.

Granted I'm running a electric water pump and restictor plate instead of a thermostat, but I have one heck of a time even getting to 150*, weather it be street stop and go, hwy cruising, or at the track. Other day when it was 50* out I could'nt get the needle to move off 100*, I had to keep cycling the pump manually to stop water flow for awhile then start it back up to get 130*

 

Yes a factory dual fan set up is better. Everyting you listed will help. I know I did it. And in the end it still overheated. So in went a Be-Cool radiator with dual fans, no more worries. Personally I'd skip eveything else and go straight to the radiator and fan upgrade.

 

I read the part where you stated that when driving it will cool down but when stopping it will heat up...Well, if that is the case your radiator is fine but when you stop that is where the fan comes into play and I can tell you first hand that the fan is definitely insufficient....So to remedy this problem for low cost compared to the high dollar fan setups I would go to the boneyard and grab a Taurus fan out of an early 90's car believe me they work....I nabbed mine for $12 and it pulls some air..... Good luck!!

 

saving

 

I also suggest the Taurus fan, it cooled my old formy down. Also is check the gauge . I remember mine would read high because of a bad ground. I use to panic but once I read the directions I noticed the small print that stated a bas ground would cause higher readings.

 

i don't know what wetter water is but running antifreeze (even in summer) will make it run 5-10 degrees cooler

 

actually running pure water will cool better than running a 50/50 mix. you run into corrosion issues and other issues running straight water though. antifreeze is just there do what is says, keep the water from freezing. id check to make sure the fans were blowing the right way or that there isnt a build up of leaves and junk in front of it.

 

I have read some about the taurus fan upgrade and I have been thinking about doing this to my car because my new 383 is running a little hot. My question is though how hard is this install and can I use my stock wireing. Currently my fan is bypassed off the ecm because I went to a carb setup and the fan runs as long as the key is turned. I was wondering if I could just instal a new taurus fan and let it run of my wirieng as it is?

 

antifreeze keeps water from freezing and raises the boiling point of water. i have always run 1 gallon antifreeze, the rest distilled water and one bottle of water wetter. never had a problem. i ran into air in the system a few times. when the car is cool loosen the temp sender ( if in intake) and see if coolant starts to seep right a way. when i removed mine it did not and made a clicking sound. i waited till the clicking sound stopped. then i reinstalled the sensor loosely and removed the radiator cap. when the coolant started leaking i tightened down the sensor and then tightened the rad cap. never had a problem since.

 

i run about a 75/25 mix and bleed the air out and dont have any cooling issues. it also helps to have a 2100cfm fan and aux 800cfm fan on the ac condensor.

 

Anyone

 

I'd be interested in knowing more about this taurus dual fan setup myself. What year taurus is it from? And is it a direct fit in a 3rd gen or does it require some mods?

 

the taurus fan is a 2 speed fan. it has 2 seperate hot leads, one for low speed and one for high speed. is basically up to you how you want to wire them in. if it was me id use 2 seperate fan switches and 2 relays. one at a lower temp for the low speed and one at a much higher temp for the high speed. or you can run the low speed on a temp switch and the high speed to a manual switch...the choice is yours. and fyi the high speed draws like 60 amps and pushes about 4500cfm.

 

its not a direct fit and requires modding. it has a built in shroud that would need trimming and mounting tabs made and things like that. its found in 90-95 taurus and the lincoln mark viii's with the 3.8L engine

 

60 amps... thats one heck of a power drain isn't it? The stock replacement altenator for my car is only rated for 78 amps, there is one available that is rated for 94 amps, but if this fan is pulling 60 amps by itself I could see it resulting in a drained battery or dimming lights / other electrical problems while driving fairly easily.

60 amps just seems like a huge amp load for a fan motor. Heck the amp for the subwoofers in my car only pulls around 30 amps on average, it can spike as high as around 95, but still for a simple fan motor to be pulling that much just seems a bit high to me.

 

it pulls so much because it spins at such a high speed. the high speed on the taurus fan isnt ment for prolonged use, just a quick few minute burst to really get some air moving and cool things down then slow the fan down to its low speed. 4500 cfm for more than a few minutes is WAY more than whats needed. low speed is like 2000cfm and i think a 30something amp draw, and 2000 cfm is plenty for most motors. i ran a 2500 cfm single fan on a 350 bored and stroked to 388 cu in and it was plenty of fan for texas summer heat.

 

Is there any way to set the Taurus fan up with out temp relays like maybe two manual switches ?

 

yea, like i said, you can wire the hot leads any way you want. the only down side to running a fan on a strickly manual switch is when someone else drives your car and they forget to turn them on on and next thing you know theyre on the side of the road with steam pouring out from under the hood and you have a warped head, or a cracked block, or some other overheating damage to fix. wiring a fan to a thermal switch with a relay is simple, can be done for $10. and you can even wire in a manual override switch for another $5.

 

Is there anyway you can explain how to do so....I am not that knowledgeable yet with wiring.

 

the attached pic is just a generic standard spdt relay. just be sure to get one rated at whatever amps the fan is going to draw. for the taurus fan youd need two relays, one for high and one for low. if you want strickly manual fan operation (which i advocate AGAINST) then you just use a switch inplace of the thermo switch. or you can wire it like stock and use a temp switch for low and use a manual switch for high. or just wire the high side to a higher rated temp switch and the low side to a lower rated temp switch (ideal since you cant forget to turn on the fan at either high or low speeds).

 

Thanks