So yesterday when I went to put on a intake manifold I found out that my intake manifold has two cooling ports (one by the thermostat, and one by the distributor). I always hear thirdgens have overheating problems and that having a dual fan setup always does the trick. But my car has only one fan and stays at 170 or below whether I am doing 70 or sitting at a street light, or in traffic. The temperature gauge never moves which I am very happy about. Because even my brothers firebird from 1986 (one year differance) overheats in traffic. So the questions are: Does this extra port keep my car that much cooler? Should my brother go to a dual fan setup, or replace his manifold with a two port cooling intake manifold?

Thanks for looking

 

I personally would rather go with the dual-fans. Our cars, (especially with that front grill) have good airflow and with dual fans it will help a lot. Does he currently have mechanical or electric fans? If mechanical, is he running a spacer?

 

The duel fans really don't move more air, The second fan is used for the a/c system on our cars, unless it gets really really hot then both fans kick on. Make sure your brother has the correct air dam, if he is running without one then his car will overheat. I have a single electronic fan, Our cars run hot from the factory, the fan comes on at 230*. I wouldn't trust your temp gauge. The are well known for inacerate readings.

 

My brother has one electric fan. The stock one. I have been reading on the board about dual fan setups and they say they help, but you have to buy a new relay and do other stuff to make them come on at the same time, I am not sure about anything at this point htough. I am pretty sure my temperature gauge works because when I had a coolant leak it went up to 220 and then I ran inside the garage and put some more 50/50 coolant in it and it dropped back down to 165 but who knows you could be right. This is just me though, it's pretty cool to watch the gauge go up to 170-180 and then watch it drop back down when the thermostat opens. I am just happy that my car seems to not get that hot. My brothers on the other hand when you sit in traffic, you can feel the whole cabin heat up. So the fans don't really push that much air? Should we do the dual coolant port manifold and the dual fan setup then?

 

Check and make sure he has an air dam first. And for your car, I am fairly sure that the stock thermostat opens a 196*,Your car should at least hit around 200* if your cooling system is stock. It sounds like you have had a lower thermostat put in your car. And what I meant about the fans, is that stock dual fans don't push much more than the single electronic fan. Your brothers car is not running right if it overheats sitting in traffic, Find out why it overheats before modifing the system.

 

Yes he does have a air dam. And yes a 180 thermostat was put into my car. Oh okay. Wow, I would have figured a little more air maybe. Okay thanks for your help. Always have to dissect, can never be simple.

 

well that 180 thermostat is why your car stays cooler.
My 86 Iroc heats up fast but never overheats, gets up to 220* and stays there in traffic, it goes down when driving on the x-way

I will be puting a 180* thermostat in my camaro and a 192* fan switch in sometime next month.

 

it sounds very much like someone at some time has adjusted the fan turn-on temp on your car, whereas your brothers is probably still set at factory (which is way too hot).

His easiest solution would be to tap into the 'green' wire on his fan relay and ground it through a switch, then he can turn on his fan when riding in traffic to prevent the temp getting too high. Otherwise a more permanent solution is to have the fan programmed to turn on earlier.

A lower thermostat will not do anything to aleviate overheating in traffic, once it has opened its job is done, if the temp continues to rise (as in heavy traffic) the thermostat will not help in any way.

Sara Lou

 

well that doesn't make any sense, I know that a lower thermostat will keep your car at a lower temp overall,but it won't help in not overheating at a standstill, but since that guy is having problems overheating and I am assuming the cooling system is stock then there is a problem. My cooling system is stock and my 86 Iroc-Z doesn't overheat. And the factory fan switch is not "way to hot" the engine was made to run that hot to burn off more of the emission gases to make it cleaner. I know plenty of people with stock 3rd gen fbodys who don't have a problem with there cooling system.

 

Yeah both of our cooling systems are stock.

 

I agree to not trusting the temp gauge...I can feel my radiator get hot when the thermostat kicks in and my gauge isn't even reading 160 and I have the 180* therm.

 

If you're happy to have your car sitting at over 220*, then ok it's not 'way too hot', however, i'd rather my motor lasted a bit longer. It comes down to pesonal preference I suppose, my own thoughts are, anything above boiling point is too hot. Also, a hot engine sucking on hot air makes less power.

Also BTW, the 'air dam' only makes a difference when you're moving, it also won't make any difference sitting in traffic. If the car only gets hot when in traffic and runs ok when on the open road, its fan related.

And yes I agree, a lower thermostat will help overall temps under normal driving conditions, allowing the coolant to hit the radiator sooner will allow the coolant to cool sooner, but if the radiator isn't being cooled efficiently the coolant will continue to rise and the thermostat won't have any affect on the temp.

Sara Lou