My '91 L98 Z28 has the dual-fan conversion and a 160degree thermostat but in hot weather around 85degrees and up, the car struggles to stay cool. The fan is controlled by a manual switch and even if the fan is on from start-up to shut-off after a 10min trip in 95degree weather or up, the engine will really begin to heat up, runnin over 220degrees. Both fans work and seem to be running at full throttle. In weather like 80degrees and below, I can drive for hours with the fan on and have no problems. Twice, I've driven the Camaro in near 100degree weather and after less than 15minutes of drivin with the fan on, the engine wants to go into the 260degree range(maxing out the needle), but I shut the car off before that happens.

Running the air conditioner is out of the question because two minutes after running, my the engine will heat up EXTREMELY quickly. None of the hoses seem to be out of shape or anything, no coolant is leaking, and the radiator and reservior are always full. And yes, I've 'squeezed' each hose to see if it's getting pressure, but all of them seem to be alright.

Could it be the fans? Do you have any other suggestions? Obviously, here in Missouri we have been slammed by the snow storm, but I want to get a few ideas and maybe find out a few things I can check right now just to get things fixed before Spring.

 

Would you happen to have the ac radiator installed? My fathers car had the same problem as you stated, both fans running all the time, lower thermo temp, bigger radiator. Then I talked to a local I-roc owner about the problem, he said just to pull the ac rad because its blocking the full petencail of the engines cooling rad. after 40mins of wrenching it was done and havent had a problem sence.(whit over heating at least )

-though pulling ac in your perticular situation might not be worrent'd as my dad has a convertable

Best Regards
Skdoa

 

gan you check your timing and stuff like that. Your motor might be making too much heat due to other things and you stock style cooling system can't keep up with the problem. You might want to look elsewhere.

If the fans turn on and get 12V (you should check this), then they are running full throttle. I too have dual fans, I wired them up using a painless harness for the first one and the second I wired with another painless harness that turns it on at 180 or 160, I can't rememebr. But it works like a charm. Car just jumps to 180 and drops to 160 like clock work. Hope this helps.

 

Can I get where you got your Painless wiring setup for the fans from? I am doing the dual fan swap (YAY I TOOK OUT MY CONDESOR ALREADY) and would like it to turn on at 180 and the other at 200. I have a 180* stat. I heard the Camaro's were made to run 200* so I didnt want to go to low like a 160*. Plus since I will have a hi-flow water pump, hoses, Royal Purple coolant additive, 180- stat and aftermarket radiator my cooling will be done and ready to rock hot weather.

 

www.summitracing.com

It is all there. just use the search engine on the site and you will find it in 5 miinutes

 

Thanks. $60, do I need 2 kits?

 

yeah, but to be more specific. You need one normal kit. Non-thermal. Just a relay and such so you can wire it into your ignition. That fan will turn on right away.

Then another kit that comes with a thermal sensor that acts as a ground at 180. It should all be very clear on the site. Look a little more and get part #s and double check with me. I will let you know if you are gettiing the right parts.

 

Does it get hot at idle or just going down the road? If it is only when going down the road make sure your air dam is in place. You do NOT have to remove your air conditioning to make your car stay cool.

Two factors that affect engine cooling are air flow and coolant flow. Make sure there is no debris blocking your radiator's air flow. be sure to look between the radiator and a/c condenser. Then make sure you have good coolant flow through your radiator. Silicates can build up in the tubes and block them. The earlier style all-metal radiators were really bad about silicate buildup because the tubes were so small. Many stock aluminum core (with the composite tanks) were replace with the inferior earlier style.

Then there is the possibility of a cracked head or leaking head gasket causing exhaust gasses to leak into the cooling system.

Good luck,

 

Engine only heats up at idle, when I get rollin it will start to cool down as air gets flowing into the engine. Air dam is in place properly and isn't beat up or anything, is in great shape.

As for the head situation, the car has new heads and brand new gaskets, they were just replaced only a few weeks ago... and obviously the weather hasn't gotten any warmer in Missouri yet so I don't know for sure if that tactic will be make it better. The old heads and gaskets were in great shape though, so I'm not sure if that would be the cause.