I've been having issues like many others with overheating it seems. I have a 89 rs cam with a single electric fan.

I'm curious what would be my best bang for my buck on parts.

I'm thinking of replacing my radiator, upgrading to dual electric fans.
I'd love to get rid of my radiator coolant jug if possible, if theres a radiator solution for that? Clear some room up while keeping it cooler in there.

I'll drive for about 30 minutes on the highway and temp would rise to 230+, also my fan turns on with my car (which i like).

Solutions?

 

1) You do have the air dam under the radiator, right?

2) Best bang for the buck I ever got was the Flex-a-lite seperate fan controller. It's easy to wire, fully adjustable, has provisions for A/C, dual fans, and manual on/off switches in the cabin. I'm running a 180 stat, have fan adjusted with this to 195on 180 off. It probes the radiator instead of the stupid stock fan switch in the head that I've never gotten to work right - just leave the stock fan switch in the head as a plug. I'm using this with the stock 16in single RS fan stock RS radiator with great results for well over 4 years now. Even in heavy traffic on a 100* day at long red lights I never see over 220, and it's rare I see that - usually stays at 180.

 

no i dont have an air dam under the radiator.

Ive was once able to have my radiator run at 160~180 for hours on end now its just recent this has all be happening. I'd love to switch to dual fans to cover more surface area. Also i dont mind the fan being on all the time, it helps alot

 

Well just think of how well it would run if you were to get a new/used Air Dam back on to your car!!!!!

 

you absolutely need an airdam under your car!!

 

Fans being on all the time dose NOT improve cooling over 40 MPH, but the air dam does at speed.

 

air dam's a great start, gotta have one on these cars. try some water wetter if you haven't too; really cheap and some have gotten up to a 10 degree drop in temp.

 

Air dam then is the issue. At speed the fan being on actually reduces air flow to radiator - I've noticed this with mine - if I leave my fan on with the manual witch, it takes much much longer to cool down once I hit the highway than it does if I turn off the fan.

The dam is quite necessary on these cars, as it is on most all cars these days. Very few cars these days actually have much air flow in from the front. They all use these air dams. The dam creates a low pressure area behind the radiator (engine side), air will always rush to a low pressure area (like a vacuum), this the air is sucked through the radiator - the faster your speed, the more air sucked through. Fans on all the time in effect reduce the air flow sucked through - the spinning fan would be pulling air slower than it would flow otherwise from the vacuum, thus the fan blades actually restrict air flow. With the fan off, the air is allowed to flow freely, the blades are free to rotate at the same speed as the air rushing past them, and thus no restriction.

Get the dam, and turn off the fan above 45mph.

 

I know my single fan on my v6 will cool my car down 10-20 degrees with fan. I'm driving any where from 60-75 MPH.

 

How do you know the fan is running??? And don't a fan switch....

 

Another vote: GET AN AIR DAM. Hi folks, hope everyone is safe and not over heated today! Air dams are even comparably cheap! I've only got the stock single fan and basic radiator in my little L03, and drive around in Bakersfield, CA in summer heat and it gets up around 220 after a freeway run or in slow traffic, but at higher speeds gets back down around 180 thanks to the air dam. Big bang for the buck!

 

bang for your buck
1) get an air dam
2) drop a 100 bucks on a alunimum raditor from summit (?) (parts store is bought 100 bucks for stock raditor sooo....)
3) get the water wettter
4) come back if this doesnt increase your cooling

a single fan is bigger then the dual setup, but with 2 small fans it covers the same surface area. also ont he dual set ups the 2nd fan only kicks on when the a/c is turned on. and another factor but i forgot which. plus youll ave to do some rewireing of the fans and harness. also a lower temp themrstat and fan switch to come on at a lower temp (but not to much lower bc itll mess up the whole car if to low, 165 ? i think lowest you can go)(check around bout it first)

what i would do, get the air dam, get the raditor and thats all the airdam will cool at speeds above 30 mph and the alunmum raditor will dispense the heat better then stock at any speeds.

 

I got my fan hooked up to a switch. When I was driving from Boise,Id to Yakima,WA it was 103 outside and if I didnt have the fan on I was at about 220 then with fan on it would drop to 200-210 depending on if I was going up a hill or not. When I drive 30 miles to work on the highway my car will get about 200 in 80 degree weather when I turn fan on I can drop it to 175.

 

Best bang for buck solution,
DIY an airdam or get a used one.
DIY allows you to maximize pre-measuring clearance you would need and make it a bit wider then the stock airdam. Adding an angle to the airdam (stock one is more like a shovel) helps as well.

Then get one of these radiator mounted temp sensors, stick it in your stock radiator.

Flush the cooling system while you´re at it, or at least the radiator.

Mount a cheap 16" 2000 cfm radiator mounted fan and set the temp sensor to 180°

Order a new thermostat, drill 3 4mm or 5mm holes in it and mount it. Make sure to order a new sealing for the thermostat housing and clean things up before mounting everything back.

Make sure your hoses are good, otherwise replace.

I just did all this on a 89 RS with 305 TBI and car now runs 160-190° in 120° outdoor temperatures for hours on end, ranging from city traffic to Autobahn where it considerably cools down again.

 

Let me guess....NO air dam.

 

I found two summit radiators, which one should i get?
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-380482/
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-380455/

Whats "water wetter"?
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pApWgZdozQA
Should I just have water wetter and water in my system then?

How much of a big difference would there be if having a custom air dam vs a stock air dam?

 

I've read a hundred posts here complaining about the summit rads NOT being plug & play - everyone complains about them not fitting as advertised - I'd stay away from the summit rad, although I don't have a good alternative suggestion for one.

As I stated earlier, my stock RS single fan and radiator are plenty of cooling for my 350, WITH the seperate fan controller I mentioned.

Water Wetter is just an additive - you want to run a 50/50 mix of coolant and water, then just add the water wetter to it - about 12 oz is the size it comes, about $8 a jar, only need one - just add it in.

Only reason anyone ever makes their own air dam is because they are missing theirs or have a broken one, and can't find a readily available replacement. If you have a JY close by I'd just grab one there, or look to craigslist to see if anyone's parting a car close by. It's just a piece of thick plastic that's maybe 4 ft long and 4 in tall, bolts under the rad and displaces air movement to create that low pressure area to draw air through the radiator.

 

My 2 reasons to build an airdam were:
1: I live in europe. No airdams readily available, shipping and airdam would come at $75 to $100. (I did not find anyone parting out a thirdgen or knowing what an airdam was)
2: My driveway would damage the stock airdam.

The stock airdam is some 28" x 4" (on a camaro) and about, but not exactly the same on a firebird.
It first of all is at a right angle to the driving direction. Mounted under the radiator support and 4" tall that gives you clearance to drive over a pack of cigarettes but not much more.

I built my airdam for $15 (have spare parts for another 3 dams for this money in case something breaks or hits) and also made it 4" tall, but set it at an angle. There are some topics on this board covering DIY airdams.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/co...their-own.html (Anyone Make Their Own Air Dam?)

Page 2 of this thread has some examples as does the last page

and

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/cool...4-air-dam.html

Just scroll down to (almost) last post

There is not much to it, building your own airdam. No special tools required.
Just a drill, a ways of bending a metal profile a bit (I used monkey wrench and a hammer), a swa with sawblade good for cutting the steel profile to shape and an exacto knife (for cutting the polystyrene hard board I used for my airdam)

I´ve seen your topic in fabrication. If you were willing to build your own instead of buying a stock replacement for whatever reason (there is no real reason not to use the stock replacement if possible) I could give you a step by step on how I built mine. It appears to hold up fine untill now. Haven´t tried anything over 110 mph though.

 

iw ould go with the 380482...but truthfully im not sure, id ask around. and i noticed the prices you sure you want to spend that much? they should, or at least use to have some 100 dollar ones. but these are 2 core...i think the 100 buck 1 was single core.

i havent heard anything good or bad bout summit raditors and some1 sad bad things so ask around if you want to make sure.

and ya thats the water wetter. deffently flush your cooling system bc if i remember right you have to empty the cooling system and fill it with just water, and the water wetter.(the bottle tells you what to do, im pretty sure there should be no coolant in the system, just water and water wetter but read the bottle first)

and idk bout the custom or stock air dams, ask around. stock does great for me but like some1 said you could mod it so its wider, more of an angle. i think it would make a noticable difference.

 

None of this stuff will work if you don't replace the missing airdam. The easiest and most economical solution is to replace it first. You may not need anything else! But you can upgrade the rad if you still need better cooling. If you're not into hunting down used or fabbing your own try http://www.moderndaymuscle.com/inc/sdetail/793 Not all that much cash and could possibly be all you need. May as well try the easiest thing first

 

deffently do this 1st.

 

If you buy an air deflector from a Dealer by part# 14079836.

Auggie

 

Is that a GM #? GM Dealer said the air dam is called a Baffle

 

Air baffle-Air dam-Same thing

 

GM issued a Service Buelletin in June of 1984 for the 1983 and the 1984 Z28's regaurding Engine Overheating for the 5.0L H.O. L69 engines. For the 1983's they said to replace the Radiator (3047198) Radiator Upper Mounting Panel (14074738) and the Lower Air Deflector (14079836). For the 1984's they said to replace the Radiator (3047198) and the Lower Air Deflector (14079836) which I did on my 1984 Z28.

Auggie

 

Mines a 89

 

Missed that

Auggie

 

I noticed my buddies air baffle, which is on his 1999 caviliar and it looks the same size as our third gens, about 4ft wide and 4 inches tall...? any ideas maybe i could grab one of them an itll work?

 

If you can find a way to fix it, it will do the job just as well.
Doesn´t quite matter where the airdam comes from or what it looks like, main point is it has to be there.

I travelled 100 miles in 102°F (air temp. in the shade) weather with asphalt temperatures of up to 122°F.
As long as I travelled faster then 50 mph no fan was needed. Only when the car stood or travelled 20-30 mph the temperature started to rise above 180°. (I have a stock 190° thermostat, but did drill holes in the side of the ´stat for good measure)

Max temperature I reached yesterday was 210°