i have a 86 trans am the car came with a 305 tpi i got a 350 from someone got it built had a shop put it in. its a 355 tpi with 350 tbi heads lt1 cam forged scat crank flat top trq pistons standard rods and mains .with the old 305 it burned up got to hot this motor is doing the same thing wtf. its got new water pump rad hoses t-stat its a 160 failsafe maybe it needs a 180 what do yall think. well if it sit at idle it wont get hot but you drive it for more than 10 mins it going to get to 220 plus i wont left it go past 240 the fan is wired to come on with key and it does have a air dam . i had a 92 firebird 305 tbi before never came with air dam anywho. what could it be . im cuting the cat out was readiung that it could be that the coolant is green and does not leak the oil is good the motor has maybe 500 miles and same with tranny. it got 24 lbs injectors but the stock chip is a 305tpi could that be the problem?please let me know what u think thank you .

 

Check airflow to the radiator and your timing numbers when you're driving. Having the timing way off can cause overheating for sure. Does the car seem really lean?

Stock 305TPI chip?

 

its running off the stock 305 tpi chip also i have the air dam under the the car to

 

sounds like the injectors were not swapped out to 22#hr .

 

the cars has 24 lbs injectors it runs like crap still getin to 240 driving but at idle its stays at 160 there no water in the oil the motor and tranny have like 600 miles at max . it has no power down low it stubles bad from just a take off .Im very pissed about this my wife spent 4,000 to have this motor and tranny done i paid for the head work and clean and new cam bearings put in all the shop had to do was put it together and drop it in .

 

base timing and the correct memcal for a base tune will make a big difference in performance and injector pw control.

 

240 according to the stock gauge?

Sounds like all the shop did is put it together and dropped it in.

Probably needs a tune, base timing set at a minimum.

Fan wiring needs fixed so the computer controls them.

Get rid of the 160 thermostat, swap in a 195.

 

your fan(s) are still set up to run with a stock 195 t-stat. Either turn them on earlier or put in the stock t-stat.

You need to have this car tuned. You need a kock sensor for a 350, if you are using one. A 305 chip isnt right for this.

My guess is one of the swirl port heads is cracked. They are known for it.

 

Well guys thanks for the input it was a bad t-stat so far i put in a 195 and the car stays below 220 now but it does need a chip it does has a 350 knock sensor to gonna get a chip very soon for it .

 

Great!

 

And i hope that it stays like that im buying a set of ls1 fans from a friend of mine he got set it up the right way to. so it should help it some more .Im used to the tbi world not tpi i used to have a 92 firebird 305 tbi it was a fast sob i traded that in for a 05 gto ls2 camed headers it a beast of a car and my wife has a red 06 gto and then we have this 86 trans am to .The trans am is for a back up car i hope to see a lot more power out of it once i get it chiped .

 

Well i thought it was fixed on my way home from work it went past 220 my friend steve told me the other to to let it get hot and spray water on the rad from the front for 1 min to see if the temp drops and it did do that it droped down quick so he said the cooling system is working but i still have no clue what it is but when it gets hot in side the car has a odd smell like something melting maybe intake gasket or head gasket but there no water in the oil at all so i dont have no clue my wifes gto should be done today so i get my gto back and we are gonna drop it off to the shop that put the motor together and in the car .

 

As i stated b4 TBI heads are bad about cracking and doing random things like this.

It also sounds like you may have a airflow issue thru the rad while going down the road.

 

So im still trying to figure out this 355 tpi motor i put in a 195 t-stat it helped a lil bit but it still goes past 220 i let it hit 240 yesterday i pulled over left it running at a gas station. It called back down to 195 after about 8 mins then i started to drive it again could it be the water pump not able to handle the flow of the bigger motor the water pump thats on it is from the 86 305 but it was new at the time could the flow be different .

 

The water-pump should be able to keep up, but a new one can't hurt!


Also, you didn't happen to convert it to a serpentine setup, did you? Those water-pumps are reverse flow.

 

No sir it still v-belt the fan is cooling the motor it has the air dam under the car to . i took it back to the shop they built it yesterday when i picked up my wifes gto.

 

Stock gauges are known to be inaccurate. Are you sure its getting that hot?

 

I think you should invest in a usb to aldl cable and datalog. It sound like the lean condition from running the incorrect memcal is causing all of your overheating.

 

Agreed, as mentioned before, you need a chip to match your new engine.