My car(87 TA, carbed 305, 700r4) runs about 240 degrees almost all the time no matter what, on a hot day it gets up to 260. according to my sunpro guage. even after a fresh rebuild and an ALL NEW cooling system. all the new parts are factory replacment except the thermostat which is a mr gasket 160 degree. no matter what I do I can't get the temperature down. the factory guage is still hooked up and reads only around 200-220. I've checked and rechecked and can't figure anything out. the coolant doesn't boil at all, but the engine does get VERY hot, even the hood gets hot, no isulation under it anymore. and it takes longer than it should to cool down. any thoughts or suggestions?

 

If the gauge isn't faulty, and your replaced everything. You may have trapped air in the cooling system, or you could be like me and have a custom built motor with more HP than the radiator likes. Or a crushed hose. A cheap thing to try is to drain the radiator, refill with distilled water and add Water Wetter. This works great for my friend as water wetter decreases the surface tension that builds on hot water. Plus water alone runs cooler. I know what your thinking... No radiator fluid? Wont that rust... read the label on Water Wetter. If i'm not mistaken, no it wont rust.

 

Hello,
I had a similar problem with my car. I changed everything that you could think of & it ended being the wrong temp senser that goes into the head, it may my car seem like it was running in the same temp range that yours does. it runs under 200 most of the time!

Hope this helps............

later,
robbie

 

is it an electronical or mechanical gauge? id trust a mechanical one a little more, if its electronic it could just be a stupid sensor or something.

 

Do you still have the air dam underneath the car?

 

the sunpro guage is mechanical, the stock one is electric. The sunpro guage worked great when it was in the 350 in my 87 cutlass. I've thought about the possibility that it broken while in storage after it was removed. I'm gonna pick another one up if nothing else works. The air dam is still in place and intact. mjsmikey, I'll try what you suggested with water wetter. I've also considered the fact that my engine has to much HP for what my dual core radiator can handle, I've been thinking about picking up a 4 core. thanks for all the suggestions and input. I'll let you know what I come up with.