im at wits end with this 383. it has a 160 thermo, 35* timing, be cool rad, oil cooler and electric fan sucking air towards the motor. i had to pull over for a cool down because it shot up to 280* degrees. here are the stats

850 cfm carb
holley dist.
msd ignition
proline 230 cc runner heads
10:1 pistons
3500 stall ,th400
pbm power cam
cam specs:
NT EXH
running duration: 287 295
duration:0.050 256 264
valve lift: .537 .557
lobe lift: .358 .371

opens: 29 btc 63 bbc
closes : 47 abc 21 atc

i know its a wild setup but should i lower the timing to 32* ?
how about installing another fan blowing air towards the front of the radiator?

any suggestions are appreciated...

 

I would say that the extremely high duration of that cam is allowing too much cylinder pressure to escape at lower rpms. If anything I would advance the timing more, but probaly put a cam with less duration in. Are you running vacuum advance?

 

May need to work on idle tune and low rpm cruise tune. May be overheating because its too lean.

How much timing do you run at idle and low rpm cruise?

 

allright timing was brought down to 32* and the front air dam was installed. STILL RUNNING HOT! fml gonna try to install a large electric twin fan and see if that mother effin helps.

 

I know its a dumb question but is the air dam under the car?..nevermind I just read your last post again,..lol

 

what are you running for a water pump. at least a high volume or a electric one i hope. what cfm is your fan putting out.i would run at least a 2600 crm fan for what you have. i just went threw the same problem and i changed everything you can think of so i know what you mean about nerves being shot.it finally ended up being my fan wasn't putting out enough cfm. does your car temp go down some when driving on the highway but in town starts to go back up? if so it's your fan. hope it helps.

 

be cool's twin fan on its way, current single fan is 1900cfm, this one is almost 2800 so i'll see if this does the trick.

 

***** effer &#%* , an electric twin fan hooked up, 10* timing idle and set at 30* still running &$#% hot! mec says coolant is flowing to fast thru the rad an motor, hes gonna hook up a standard water pump an restricter plate in place of thermo to see what happens. fuuuuuuuu!!!

 

Keep us posted. I'm fighting the same thing. My cam isn't quite that radical but my compression ratio is a little higher. Griffin dual core rad, northern fan and shroud combo, 180 t-stat, still runs 230 plus on 100 degree days. Can't use AC at all. What mechanical water pump would be good?

 

im starting to think that these motors no matter what just run hot, i googled all over the net and many guys are having the same issues. this makes me want to run to hawks and go with a fuel injected LS motor, but i cant afford it.

 

I have a 383 puming out 480 hp and what I use to cool it is a champion 3 core aluminum rad, a stewart stage 2 water pump, 160 t stat, and both of the stock fans are tied to each other and will run the whole time. My car never gets above 190 even in 90+ weather.

 

running the stock rad.. with a 11.1 383. the stock 2 fans come on auto 190, and turn off when under 170 ish car runs about 190 some times 195 when its hot out.

this was all set up by lingenfelter, going with the 427 just added the 3 core rad. and thats about it.

No A/C
4.11 Gears
sunny day driving car only
have made a few road trips in the past
ran like a top on the freeways 180/185 all the way
150 mile road trip

 

I'm thinking I may have too thick of rad. Even with two fans behind and one in front just not enough air flow inside engine bay. Pull off hood and will stay cool. I probably need larger exhaust also. My Griffin rad is two core but it's one inch wide tubes, maybe 1 1/4. Will hold nearly 5 gallons when drained. Thanks for the ideas.

 

starting to think my problems are similar to yours. Too thick of a rad with not enough fan. I have a thick griffen as well, but stock fans. Try more powerful fans with a shroud or add a smaller pusher in front to see what happens.

 

I have a pretty crazy 383, I have a 31 x 19 universal rad. with a stock dual fan set up. I have a jegs high flow rad, with 180* themo. I actally ran a 160* themo and it ran hotter then the one with a 180*. The coolent in the rad. doesnt stay in there fast enough to cool down. I would give that a shot.

 

the stock fans should move alot of AIR.

when My car is sitting in a parking lot. and i leav the ign in the accy/ON
but the eng OFF. the Fans run untill the eng is about 166 DEG then Turn OFF.

standing about 20 yards in back of the Car you can feel the AIR on your Legs like a Hair dryer on Low... thats Moving some AIR!

 

They can move some air but if they arent up close against the rad, they will not get the suction needed to pull air thru the rad. It will just feed in air from the engine bay and throw hot air backwards. These fans would be better with a shroud

 

What ever GM made/installed, are all the Fans I have

they have about a 1/2 inch Gap from the Rad.. thats a Factry Gap.
(they dont Rub or touch the Rad) when i took a look i was shocked.
i fig they would be right up snug...

 

IT WAS THE RADIATOR!!!!! the old fan wasnt extracingt enough heat from the rad and air/ pressure ruined it thats why it was running hot for so long. new rad put it and the **** sucka runs 189-195 consistantly after 45 min of driving. omfg its the little things thats gets em all the time! just effing happy i can drive it from point a to point b without overheatin..

 

Great news. Glad to hear your problem is fixed. Mine was the timing. 10 to 12 at idle and it stays cool even with the AC on.

 

I'm running my 383 with the stock radiator, stock single fan, and 180 thermostat. It has been 95+ around here and I never run hot. not even any problems with the AC on and in traffic.....

I guess I'm lucky

 

Anyone know what radiator Blue383 went with? Having the same coooling issues on my set up...tried everything under the sun. I have a 2 row BeCool direct fit alum radiator with dual flex-o-lite fans.

 

I'd like to chime in a little that from my experience, if you are building a lot of heat via radical combustion/timing improvements, there are 3 critical areas to focus on. Before I list what I feel are the key points, you must realize in a stock, unmodified V8 an engine via normal combustion builds approx. 20-25 degrees worth of heat. This means to maintain a stable engine temperature your radiator/fan combo must be rated to at least shed 25 degrees off the coolant temps between the time the thermostat begins to open to the time it re-enters through the water pump.

Now, once you begin making more power, you begin creating more combustion heat-you therefore MUST make changes to your cooling system. Here's my list and realize its not a 1-2-3 order to try...rather, do it all at once to see results.

1.) Larger volume radiator. Why? Because coolant transfers heat OUT of the engine so the more coolant volume you have, the more heat you can relieve the engine of.

2.) Larger CFM rated fan(s). Why? Because if you allow yourself the ability to move more heat out of the engine via more coolant volume, then you must pull the heat out of the coolant proportionately. Your fan choice really should depend on radiator size and overall coolant volume capability, which results from engine demands.

3.) Charging system upgrade/proper fan control. Why? Well some may not see the need for it BUT-if you need to run a stout fan, you will need to upgrade your charging system to keep up. And, depending on your desired fan, the stock system at best is inadequate to run any HO fan.

4.) Things to consider.

A. High flow water pumps and restrictors-dont use em. Why? Because if our goal is to pull heat out of the coolant with a stout fan, why would we want to speed up the rate at which the coolant flows by installing a high flow water pump? Keep the coolant flow moving a bit slower and you can pull more heat out. Restrictors are not usually a good idea because again, we want the heat OUT of the motor!

B.) Use proper wiring and loom. I suggest using the properly rated wiring for under hood use-it gets extremely hot and heat builds resistance in wiring-thats the last thing you want with your cooling fan system so use j1128 spec'd wiring-not the Chinese parts store automotive wiring. Its spooled with at least 10% tin alloy which makes it cheap to manufacture but also weakens the wire and allows it to build too much heat making them even more brittle. J1128 wire is heat resistant up to 257F and you can find loom that is flame resistant and can withstand even higher temps. Most can be identified by the blue or orange striping on its spine. You can find this stuff online with a little research if you are electrically inclined.

There's a lot more on the subject of cooling efficiency but hopefully this gives some of you a little help on properly upgrading your cooling system.

 

formula1LE thanks for your reply. To your points listed below. Ill start by saying obviously my set up is far from stock and I'm probably in the 700hp range with the weight of my car and and times that I have run at the track.

On the radiator, its a BeCool, dual core (1" core) direct fit, I'm going to send it back to BeCool and see if they can make it a dual pass set up rather than a single pass (and also have it fix because just started puking out coolant from the bottom the other day). I use water with a BeCool additive that isn't even on the market yet.

Electric Fans...dual flex-o-lite fans (2500 "rated" CFM) with a shroud. These are wire to manual switch that run all the time. Thought about possible getting a pusher fan, but have read that pusher fans can actually do a dis-service to the puller fans.

Charging system...replaced stock alternator with direct replacement from autozone last summer (rated at 105 amps).

Water pump...eldbrock victor aluminum pump.

Changed the crank pulley from the stock 7 5/8 to 5 3/4 to help slow down the water pump being that on the highway at 55 the motor is turing 2700-2800 rpms with th400 with 3.73 gear.

Added coolant lines from back side of heads to the water neck to help get rid of any hot pockets in the head.

Tried using restrictors, but ended up going back to the 180 thermostat.

Coolant temp starts to climb once the oil temp gets up to 250. On a 75 degree day the manifold temp is 210 and the coolant temp in the cylinder heads is 235 to 240.

I've tried advancing the timing to 40 as a test to see if that would help...didnt see any noticeable results so put the timing back to 32 total.

Took the A/C out of the car along with the condenser. I have a trany cooler in front of half of the radiator. Also have a intercooler the lays horizontal down by the air dam as well.

I'm sure there is something I'm missing, but that should cover the main points.

 

Okay....IMO I see a few things I'd consider changing. First, I don't think you have enough coolant volume in the radiator-a dual pass may help keep what coolant you do have in there a bit longer by allowing more time for heat transfer.
And, I don't think the Flexalite dual fan is enough to keep that 383 cool. 2500 CFM to me is about as good as a HD clutch/mech. fan.

Your charging system could use an upgrade to 140A once you go for a stout fan IMO. But for now, I don't see it as a concern but admittedly I think you don't have a powerful enough fan so an upgrade for your charging system may change in the future.

Your water bypass is a good addition though as is the distilled water/additive.

Your choice of a Victor Series water pump is a high flow unit so again, we want to slow down the speed of the coolant going through the radiator-this mod IMO negates the benefit of a larger crank pulley to slow down the wp speed.

So I guess the problems I see is too little coolant volume, coolant moving too quickly through the radiator (high pressure probably caused your leakage too) and too little of an electric fan.

 

I just put the smaller crank pulley on last week (not bigger as you posted) to help slow down the water pump...I've had the victor water pump for a couple of years.

Any recommendations on electric fans? Obviously I need to get the radaitor fixed first, then have BeCool convert it to a dual past set up. If that doesn't do the trick I would consider getting different electric fans if needed.

I've also had thoughts on a oil cooler, but the engine builder think 250 is fine and other think it is a little warm. I dont know if a oil cooler would help drop the coolant temp as well. Just a idea.

 

Oops. Yeah I was thinking "smaller crank pulley" but typed larger....lol. What kind of oil are you running? Any conventional oil regardless of weight begins to break down @ 240F (ie oxidizes, loses viscosity) whereas a quality synthetic (not born of a group III hydrocracked carbon base stock) like Mobil 1 doesn't begin to break down until it reaches approx. 600F so oil type is important no matter what power level you're at.

Running a dual pass radiator will hold coolant longer BUT we still have an issue with low volume of it-so the only option other than a physically larger one is to upgrade the fans. Duals are pretty much all you can run without pulley interference. A newer style Motorcraft 18" shrouded fan setup would normally be the hot ticket (hee hee) here if space wasn't an issue. I'd go for some LT1 or LS1 fans instead of the flexalite ones. Also, are you running any type of cowl to let hot air escape?

 

I'm running job gibbs 15W-50 hot rod oil.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I dont think the LT1 or LS1 fans are shrouded are they? Also wonder what kind of CFM they pull?

I do have a 4 1/2 cowl hood on the car.

 

Joe Gibbs Racing oil is a group IV base oil so it starts out at least in base form similar to Mobil 1 and Amsoil but with different additives and polymers-so, yes its a good oil. And yes the LS1/LT1 dual fans are shrouded....and rated @ approx. 3500-3800 CFM total. I can PM ya some info I have on the LT1's installed on a 3rd gen at least.

 

Send a PM on the info you have please. I'm interested. thanks.

 

I just went through this and my problem was the center air dam, or lack of.
What helps is water wetter, good working fans, and that air dam. It probably wouldn't hurt to shim the dam a little lower.
Typically, lower timing and a rich mixture help too, but not always.

 

UPDATE: I had to pull the radiator out of the car because it had a leak. Sent it off to BeCool to have them do the following: 1. fix the leak 2. convert radiator to dual pass set up 3. remove the transmission heater core inside the radiator. Once BeCool got the radiator and looked it over they determined that I had some cores that "ballooned". So to make a long story short, I got a new radiator (dual pass). Got the radiator in last night went out and drove it at night (approx 60 deg out) and the car still got up to 200 but that was only after the oil temp got up to 235-240. When the oil temp was between 190-210 the car ran fine at 185. I'm beginning to think that the radiator is doing it job but with the engine oil being around 240 the cooling system cant drop that much heat out the system when oil temp is at 235 or 240. Maybe with getting the oil temp down to 210 or 220 it will help drop the coolant temp at the same time. Running out of ideas other than possibly trying some LS1 fans.

 

I have a couple RamCharger style Chrysler dual fan assemblies at the moment-no LT1 or LS1 fans. These are dual speed dual fans and are right at 3800-4000 CFM on high speed. All presided and ready to go $179 plus the ride. PM if interested.

 

I meant prewired lol