I have read alot of the overheating threads and have decided that when I hit 210-220 that that is par for course. I have a high flow 160 stat, aluminum WP, good radiator, factory cooling fan setup,new air dam, and the biggest tranny cooler that carquest could get. I really want to run about 160-180 all the time. I think that I need a bigger flowing fan because my car will cool better at higher highway speeds. Do the addition of aluminum radiators help that much for heat disipation? I really want to get this figured out before my next motor goes in.

 

Get a duel fan set up, keep one fan running all the time. But just an opinion, 210-220 is OPTIMAL, not par for the course as much as it is perfect. It's the temperature that the engine will run it's best, fuel, H.P. everything.

 

there is a direct replacement 3 row rad you can get an most auto parts stores, key is getting a clerk that know their butt from a hole in the ground and knows how to look it up to tell if its a 1 or 3 row

 

You could get a sensor/fan thermostat that turns your fans on at a lower tempature. they should sell them at carquest.

 

My motor likes to be cooler as far as hp numbers. 1 run on the dyno starting out at 160 degrees made 213hp. Next run we only gave it a minute or 2 to cool down and it dropped to I think 207hp.
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Already run one.

 

There is an additive you can put into the radiator that makes it run 30f cooler. available at summit. http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

 

I understand that, however, there is a give or take if it's a daily driver between H.P. and MPG., but that's for you to deceided. Also, there may have been more dynamics with the dyno differences besides the temperature. I'm assuming that the first run on the dyno brought the temp up to 210*/220* range? Did the HP start to fall when it reached that temp?

 

personaly i dont like to see a motor that hot, you get better oil PSI and all at a lower temp, i would go the route of a 3 row rad, the cooling is ALOT better, that with a dual fan set up is a good idea

FWI i got my fans hooked up to where i can control them with a switch, turn them on or off as a want, you got to run relays but i like it set up like that, fast warm up in the winter also since i can kill the fans

 

These cars are designed to run as hot as they do to keep the emmissions low.
The car will always loose power when hot compared to cool, once the motor gets hot it also heats up the engine bay which heat soaks everything under the hood, thus causing the air going into the motor to heat up, and colder air is more dense and contains more oxygen which produces more power.

Sara Lou

 

People have different ideas about what they want their cars to run at. Myself, 160-180* is so inefficient it's silly. But if it's effecting your HP then go for it. The stock thermostat isn't even flowing water at that temp. I run a stock stat but drill five small holes in the top so I always have positive water flow. I don't know if that's a big deal, but an old timer hotrodder told me about it so I did it. Most auto makers design their cars to run at 210-220* I doubt that you could get a third gen to run at 160-180* under all circumstances.

 

Read this link. Interesting how they say an engine running too cool equals loss of H.P. http://www.grapeaperacing.com/tech/coolingsystems.pdf

 

Taken from the SAME website, same author.

You might also want to check out this site: http://www.carnut.com/ramblin/_cool3.html which states the optimal temp for power and engine life is around 175*-180*.

Sara Lou

 

When he says 10* drop in temperature he speaking of the air, not the engine temp.

 

Read it again, Ideal as stated in the graph is 180* to 200*. He also states that your engine oil should reach 212* to "boil" out any water condensation from the oil.

 

I run my fan constantly at the track, while cruising my car hits and holds 180 (the temp of the thermostat) after a run the car usually goes to about 200 then drops back to 180. 180 is a good temp to be running the car, if you don't have a setup to kick the fans on earlier then you're always going to run at the temp they come on at, modify your fan turn on temp and you should be good.