I took my car to the track last night and they were supposed to be open until 10 pm. We got there at 8:30 because we made some stops on the way and what not, when we get to the gate they said they were going to close at 9 now because there wasn't a good turnout. We unloaded the car quickly and I made 3 back to back passes. First pass when I went through the traps the temp was right at 200 ish going off of the stock guage. I got back to the starting line and did another pass and the temp went to 220 after that run. I let it sit for a few minutes for one final run. At the line when I did my burnout it was right under 220, once I finished my pass it was just over 220 .... I'd say in the 240 area. I went to go park the car to let it cool down and the temp was still steadily increasing and almost made it to the red zone on the stock guage. I shut the car off and checked my fans and they both work. I usually constantly run them on this car. The car has a becool radiator with 2 fans that came with the radiator.

Usually I can drive this car in traffic for long trips and never get over 220, even on hot summer days. The car has a 400 block and aftermarket aluminum heads. The coolant guage gets it's reading from the sender in the drivers side head. I read in another thread this is not a good place to take the reading from so I'm wondering what others think about that. Also, can I just remove the thermostat completely? The car doesn't get driven in cold weather and is more of a weekend warrior type car. Even with the thermostat intact and working there still has to be some sort of restriction to coolant flow as opposed to just an open hole, and I'm thinking maybe that alone will make the difference?

I suppose on the other hand 3 back to back passes isn't the best idea either, usually I let the car cool down 30 minutes between passes, but last night we were only given a 1/2 hour total to run the car.

Thoughts on thermostat removal and coolant sender location? Thanks.

 

Turns out the thermostat wasn't fully opening. Can I just eliminate the tstat altogether since it's only a weekend / track car?