GoldenRhino

So as some of you may know, our 89 RS was totaled recently thanks to two things a) old lady b) backing out of driveway across the street. Long story short it was claimed a total loss and we are now into a beautiful 84 Z28 HO. While the car is twice the car the RS was, I have some issues to deal with. First off, the radiator is sporadically leaking. I started chasing the overheat bug the other day as it was getting into the "danger zone" (close to 260) in stop and go traffic on an 85 degree day. It cools down as soon as you hit highway speeds. I replaced the thermostat with a 160 before doing any research and while that helped a little, I know now why that wasn't the best idea and will be going to the 170 here when I replace the water pump and radiator. I had a lightbulb and thought "fan fan fan fan..stupid". I've been researching ******* write up on gaining some control over fans and intend to do both the dual fan conversion/buildup and the full set of options on Willie's write up. However, for now, I noticed that the A/C switch does in fact work and when I turn A/C on, the fan kicks in and the temp goes waaaaayyyy down (right close to 160-175, best guess from stock gauge). For now, since there really isnt any air circulating on Lo fan and the A/C isnt charged anyways, bingo bango, built in fan switch for hot days.

Now, while troubleshooting the overheat problem, I noticed this morning that when I started it up, once it got to operating temp, the radiator was doing a bubble gurgle kind of thing on the passenger side of the radiator, towards the bottom where the plastic tank meets the fins. The leak didn't last long and somehow isn't doing it now. Can this be a random issue that has to do with expansion/contraction?

My plan is to just replace the rad next pay day if the tranny leak fix doesn't cost an arm and a leg (see post in Trans forum). I want to get a good rad but not overkill and spend to much. It is stock L69 305 carb'd right now and I don't plan on doing any power adding this season so it will be awhile before more than stock cooling is required. What do you all suggest?

mcb55-210

I have a nice clean radiator from '85 IROC that was rear-ended/totaled with 52,000 actual miles. Depending on where you live, we could work something out if you are interested. Send me a PM if you care to.

Aviator857

I run a parts store replacement radiator, but it's all copper including metal tanks not plastic. It easily keeps my ls1 at temp even in the Georgia summer. Heck I've let it idle for about 45 min while doing the front end alignment with AC running a few weeks ago.

I think it was AutoZone, maybe NAPA.

Does the low speed fan kick on with the temp switch?