Hey guys I'd like to know how y'all are keeping your 3rd gens cool when it's 100-110 outside??

In my 91 I was driving on the highway doing about 70-80 mph and I was still seeing engine temps of about 210. I've got a 160* thermostat, Griffin 3" aluminum radiator with 2 Derale 12" pusher fans going at the same time too. The fans push a total of about 4000cfm. I figured that should've worked but hot damn it runs too hot for my taste

Any ideas to help a guy out would be appreciated. Thanks

 

What car are you driving?
Is the air dam/deflector under the car?
Have you checked to make sure your heater core isn't restricted?

I have a 91 TA Vert. 305 TPI.. All stock fans and radiator. The P.O. installed a chip and a 160 thermostat from Harris performance tuning, and my car never sees more than about 185, even today in central Texas. Over 109 degrees with the AC on.

 

91 Z28 LS swap iron block 370 front mount turbo 80mm
Air dam under the car is there
I've got no heat or AC

 

Is your hot side coated or wrapped? Do you have a turbo blanket?
I have a turbo LQ4 similar to yours and I’m seeing 213 driving on the highway but I don’t have a hood on the car yet. I have turbo blanket, jet hot coated hot side, air dam, 2 row mishimoto radiator and 4,000 cfm derale dual puller fans.
LS engines run hotter than the small blocks that came in thirdgens. I’ve read that the fans in LS fbodies don’t even come on until over 220.

 

Yep I've got a turbo blanket that's nice and thick and recently put some DEI titanium lava rock exhaust wrap on the downpipe. My radiator is a 2 row with 1.25" tubes. This was only the second time I've driven the car on that hot of a day but didn't think it would get that hot.

The car was at 210 but never went higher but never got cooler

 

good god, don't drive it when it's 100-110 degrees

 

86 z28 Camaro, 355 nitrous sbc, stock radiator, stock fans with a 185 degree fan switch and a 180 degree thermostat. Will run at 200-210 on a 100 degree day out on the street.

85 Iroc with a 305, mild cam and iron heads, stock fan and radiator. Same 185 degree fan switch and 180 degree thermostat, that engine will run about 190-200.

both engines have stock water pumps, no ac accessories or condenser, both also have cowl hoods with vents on the back, not sure if that would make any real difference tho. Both also have the connection points where the heater hoses would go plugged. And both also don’t have any heat risers in the manifold, again don’t know if that would make much difference in operating temps.

 

For the OPs car would it be possible that a pusher fan is spinning slower and letting less air through than the outside air would be able to naturally flow through the radiator at 70mph causing a restriction at highway speed? I hope that makes sense lol but that can apparently be a negative of a pusher fan vs a puller mounted behind the radiator which won’t block airflow at higher speeds.

 

I'd be interested to hear too. Twin gt35's on a 5.7 vortec. 195 thermostat, Griffin rad, two fourth gen fans and bigger air dam installed. Turbo blankets, wrapped downpipes, and vented hood where the IROC louvers were. It goes to 210 always on the hwy but never above and I cant seem to get it lower. At low speed, it'll drop 10 or 15 degrees. No space for a bigger rad either...

 

I've heard of guys mainly in the 4th gen arena that turn their pusher fans off when they are going over 65mph and things actually cooled off more than with the fans going full tilt

 

My 4th Gen Trans Am LT1 Vert actually runs cooler with the A/C on because of the way the fan(s) are programmed/set to come on.

 

I think I can use my Dominator ECU to switch fans off when at highway speeds

 

I have done just the opposite on some and they cool down. If the fans are weak they block flow. I have an engine that requires 10,000+ cfm at 70-75 mph to stay cool when it is working hard. The more power you are making and the more you are using, the more heat.

https://youtube.com/shorts/xtH17jWIbHI?feature=share

 

Just move north.... In NY I don't even bother to charge my AC...... And I just run 160 all day long ...


These cars just didn't seem to be designed for big time cooling... I wonder if they saw these challenges when designing these cars.

I think we need more radiators... Like a Veyron...

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Got it all sorted out, I changed the coolant temp sensor to a Rife liquid sensor a little while ago and must not have got all the air out of the system. I popped the cap off and let it run until it got up to temp and sure enough after about 10 minutes there was a big burp and coolant level dropped enough to get about 3/4 bottle back in.

Thanks guys for the input. Have fun!