Hey guys I finially got my 355 done and in my bird. We started it up for the cam break-in period and we had to keep shutting it off because the temp was rising upwards of 230.

We figure that there might be some air pockets. However, the original 305 had a "T" connector in the heater core hose that ran to the water pump. We figured that we didnt need it so we just ran one hose from the pump to the heater core. What is this "T" connector and where did it go to? Is it a neccessary part? Could the absence of it be causing our overheating issue?

BTW, the water pump is brand new, as everything else since we rebuilt a 350. So the problem shouldnt be the thermostat, any gaskets, ect.

Is this just a part of breaking an engine in? Comp Cams says to run the engine at 2500 RPM for 30 minutes. We could only make itabout 8 min each time before it got too hot. Any help would be greatly apprecated.

 

check your lower radiator hose.my car would run HOT at 2k+ rpms. everything checked out fine till i reved the motor under the hood and saw my lower hose colapse at 2k+ rpm. there should be a spring in there.

 

Yep theres a spring in there. I've also checked the thermostat and flushed the system. Still cant figure out what is wrong.

 

Do you have an electric fan? Was it turning on? How did you fill the cooling system?

 

Yep have the single fan, and its wired to a toggle so it was definitely on. We filled the cooling system by the radiator cap and some in the intake mani. I just flushed the system and also filled the top hose. My uncle thinks it might be air pockets, and I think maybe the timing is off/engine running rich. Not sure if either is the problem though...

 

I just put a 358 into my 92' RS and we had some trouble keeping it cool also.

I bought a steward stage 2 water pump
Jegs dual core aluminum radiator
jegs dual fan kit
160 thermo

But a few nights ago i found out i was missing a critical piece, which was the air dam, so when i would drive the air would vaccum under the car leaving the heat from the headers inside the engine bay. Then one of my fans stopped working AND draining the battery haha.. but once that is figured out i should be running pretty cool, it stayed at 210 on the way home with all of that PLUS i didnt have an air dam.. so who knows how much cooler it will run