one of you should know...
 

why the hell am i still heating up... i got an aluminum 2 core radiator, 9,400gvw trans cooler, all new hoses, new EVERYTHING except a water pump (its only a year old) and i cant even go a mile w/ the AC on before it gets hot... and if i leave it in the driveway while its running with the 1705cfm fan on, it heats up... air pocket?? new water pump???

I replaced everything on mine all at the same time (removal of intake manifold to clean it, replace water pump, replace radiator, you know, you were there!!) and my car doesn't even come CLOSE to overheating now. My only guess would be maybe a chunk of rust or something got stuck in either your manifold or your pump. Might be something to look into...

Bruce

true, thats what i was afraid of...

something small you didnt mention is the thermostat. If it is old it could be stuck open and just letting coolant flow with out letting it have time to cool off in the radiator. 10bucks :)

flush it and get a new T stat

Also check the radiator cap. It may be weak.

When you flush it make sure that you put in a good brand of coolant. Not some junk. If you take it to a shop to have them do a flush make sure that they DO NOT USE THE BOLK FLUID! That stuff is crap. Take my word for it i have worked in three diffrent shops and they where all the say. Bolk fluid sucks.

Also have if you do all the the above and it's still over heating have it block tested. You might be able to get everything you need to do it yourself at autozone.

What temp do you consider "hot"? What t-stat is in there?

getting a new T-stat, right now its a 160, id planned on getting another 160 and by hot i mean over 220... just got a new radiator cap with the new radiator, 16 lbs pressure. took everything back out today, so im gunna flush it out tomorrow, to do that i just take out the T-stat and pour coolant thru the motor right? im using prestone btw...

Well ill tell you the backwards way i did mine lol. My coolant was a fantastic rust color when i bought the car and it overheated like you dont understand. So the wya i flushed the block was i would pull the drain plug on the radiator, let it drain completly. Plug and fill it with water. Start the car up and let the motor run and let the water circulate through the block. Shut the car off drain the water, rinse and repeat. It took me damn near 6 times of this but i have green looking coolant after 6 months or so, so it worked.

220* is not overheating. These cars were meant to run hot. GM designed them that way so they would pass emissions easier. The stock fan switch doesn't even come on until 235*.

What does it do when you are on the freeway? Does it run cool then? What about at night when the ambiant air temperature is quite a bit cooler? My Camaro runs hot during the day but run a lot cooler at night.

A high flow water pump might not be a bad idea. But it is no gaurantee.

:iagree: But who wants there car running at 220? Just general sense says the cooler the motor runs the better to a point. If i could have my motor at 180 or 220 i would chose 180. But i dont think our cars will run that low in the summer time here with the AC on or off, damn no grills.

But you said you cant even go 1 mile before it reaches 220? Now that i feel is kinda odd. My car with AC on will reach 220 with the fans on after maybe 15 mins of stop and go traffic if i get to moving like a freeway it will never get that high. I think something is screwy there. Im guessing the coolant wasnt rusty colored when you did the radiator right? Im still pointng at the thermostat. I would get a 180 stat just cause i have a 160 in my car and in the summer i think it opens to early and the coolant never gets enough time to cool down.

You said you got a new water pump. Are you SURE you got a reverse rotation water pump? I'm guessing you have a serpentine set up for your accessories.

1 mile might be a bit too quick for 220, but if it doesn't go higher, some part of your cooling system is working.

The last thing I did for my 91 is to put the "performance" water pump in that AutoZone carries. I have a 180 stat and moving or with the A/C on I run at 180. I rarely hear the fans come on but they do.

But then, I also had to replace the intake manifold gasket due to a leak and cleaned my intake out while it was off the car.

12-22 years is a lot of water through the little holes.

A. no, not a new water pump... not yet, but its only a year old...
B. I dont have a fan thermostat, i keep the fan on almost 90% of the time with a toggle switch on the dash
C. back home in CA, even in 102* weather, i could run the AC and the car would stay at 160*... i have not yet taken it on the freeway or driven it at night... new thermostat and block flush first... i was just thinking of filling it up with water and doing the flush like you did matt..
D. yes, the coolant was a lil rusty, but so was the radiator... the motor is less than 20k old, the radiator was stock from 1991.. but when i drained the coolant the 2nd time after i got the new radiator in, it was solid green.. no rust to be found... HOPING its just a T-stat... egad...

Thats almost 100% the exact same case with me, except a 160* stat. I never did think to ask you, but is that the old LO3 manifold on your car? Or did that come with the LO5?

nope, good ole LO3... but i did what you did to yours when i did the swap... about 20k miles ago.... new gasket is on, but i gotta re-mount the fan so i need to wait till tomorrow morning to get a new fan mounting kit, then i can re-install everything... taking out a radiator clears up a lot of room... but if it still runs hot... not only will i be $60 out cuz of coolant, but ill be doing the whole manifold jumble... and if the manifold is off, i might as well put the cam, headers and heads on eh??? but thats another story...

We used to have this problem ALL the time. We'd just deal with it as we didn't drive it often becuase it did overheat. Well when we moved 30 miles out of town we drove it out and the radiator blew, A perfect time to get a new one, so we bought a bigger Radiator and one that was thermal cooled? it has these lines that run through it and deliever cold water around the radiator and helps keep it all cool. we also got a new thermostat. The worked out perfect, we have NO overheating problems now. Well it HAD no overheating problems, it hasn't moved for 4 years now.

make sure your rad. fan is coming on. dude,i work on overheaters everyday. gimme a call if u need a hand.

the fan is a custom switch i made that grounds te relay and turns it on. i have a switch on my dash for it, i know the fan works... im comin back out to PHX today, ive been in cali for a week so maybe saturday ill bring it by or you could come by and look at it... thx bro, ttyl

hmmmm, took it out for a drive today, didnt get above 220, unless the AC was on... but with the AC on... deathtrap, it just keeps on goin up... while sitting still, its weird, it wont stay @ 160 which is what the T-stat is, but it doesnt really heat up all that much when sitting still... maybe a 180 T-stat? the water pump is fine, i checked that out and i flushed the living crap out of it before i put the new 160 T-stat in...

i took it out tonight and it stayed semi cool, still not staying @ 160 like i want.. but eh.. i guess i cant have it all...

dont leave out your t-stat... it lets the coolant pass through the engine too fast and it will run hotter than it should. just put a new 180 or 160 in it.

You do realize you live in Arizona, right?

i do have a 160 in it right now... i was thinking of getting a 180...

Questions:

1) Is your fan OEM or aftermarket?
2) Are you running hot both in stop & go and on the highway?
3) Is your lower air deflector intact?

Aftermarket fan

runs hot during both, only not at night... not as hot without the AC on, but even on the freeway, at night with the AC on, it heats up and doesnt stop.

my lower air deflector is intact and working

Im sticking with my idea that it is the thermostat not working properly. It sounds like it might be stuck open, or too low of a temp.

its brand new, so its gotta be too low temp

its brand new, so its gotta be too low temp

No. The t-stat opening temp does NOT determine actual running temp. The t-stat does not open completely at that temp. It normally will take another 15-20 degrees of heat to fully open. I've run a 160 t-stat for years with absolutely no issues. In the winter months, my engine runs around 170 and in the summer, it's 185 or hotter depending on driving conditions.

I have experienced hotter temps with aftermarket fans. I cannot quantify the reason why, only that this has happened to me on a number of occasions. Is it reversible? If so, is it turning the correct way?

Tell me, is your aftermarket fan controlled exclusively with your toggle switch bypassing the factory circuitry or is it wired into the factory fan relay?

Is it possible that you have debris stuck between the condenser and radiator? Just another remote possibility.

I will figure this one out!

Willie

Just another thing to keep in mind. Our gauges are not exactly accurate. Just because it says 220 doesnt mean it is. If you have headers and your sensor is near them it will read hotter. The actual coolant temp could be cooler by about 20*. I also noticed that because my sensor is near the header, my wire to the sensor over time became brittle and was causing the gauge to read lower than actual temp. I replaced the wire and now have a much more accurate reading. I too have used 160 stat and it works fine but I am also running a carb setup. Stat temps only determine when the stat opens not what temp the coolant will be while running as Willie said.

its from the factory harness, i have the switch wired into the relay, one end to the fan power wire, one to ground so when it grounds, it turns on the fan. its reversible, but its blowing properly, no debris, i just replaced the radiator and cleaned everything out... i dont think the fan flows enough to keep it cool when im sitting still and the AC problem, i really cant explain at all...

The reason why I asked if it was an aftermarket fan was because of an experience a friend of mine had. He bought an aftermarket fan to replace his original electric fan. Why? I'm assuming he thought more flow would result in more efficient cooling. It was worse! His car ran significantly hotter. Needless to say, he ditched it and went back to his stocker.

Do you have a shroud? From my recollection, the stock single fan setup did come with one.

Willie

yeah, but it doesnt fit, i had to get aftermarket... the new radiator is too thick.

David... I know this may sound crazy but listen up. I was plagued with this problem at one point awhile back as well. I went through all the different lower temp T-stats and was still running "too hot" for my book. I changed out and flushed my radiator probably 30 - 40 times. (no 5hit) always had the same results. I asked an old mechanic friend of my father's one night about it and he said...

"You live in AZ. It's dry here. You don't get the luxury of HUMIDITY like most other states. Try a 195 tstat and see what happens"

The next day I got the 195. It never went over 180 degrees after that even in the summer. He also told me that the lower degreed tstats don't give the coolant the oportunity to flow as much and cool down.

try it... what've you got to lose other than about $5 and 20 minutes of your time?

:yup:

my camaro constantly overheated with a 160 t-stat in there. I bought a 195 and it started running much cooler. ;)

What's humidity got to to with engine coolent efficiency -- two years of running my '92 5.7 in Northern AZ and a '87 5.7 in Hawaii [very high tropical heat and humidy] both cars with 160-degree thermostats, both with stock radiators and dual fans, both with no overheating problems. In fact the '92 is now back in Hawaii and it runs the same engine temps as it did in AZ.

Assuming the parts are in good condition and there are no air or water blockages, cooling basically comes down to airflow and heat dissipation.

i vote for airflow, when i drive it on the freeway, FINE... its totally cool and kosher... i just need better fans... ive got one aftermarket autozone special and its not enough... when i get more money ill get a good one from summit and see what that does...

I vote that you stop trolling these boards at 330am in the morning, get some damn sleep and figure out a way to fix this problem...:D :lol: :lol:

Assuming the stock dual fans are working correctly, incoming air to the radiator might be leaking at the sides. Check the two foam pieces sealing the radiator from the body panels, replace with foam insulation if necessary. One of my chronic complaints about F-body mis-engineering is the absence of adequate radiator shrouding to enable the fans to properly pull cooling air through the radiator. I've often toyed with the idea of carving a styrofoam mold to fabricate a fiberglass fan shroud...

When I move to Kingman, and knowing that I'll likely spend some time traveling to Phoenix and get stuck in 120-degree traffic jams, my planned fan upgrade will be from SPAL, which includes an excellent airflow shroud. Although not a 100% bolt-in, the trimming and adjustments to install are minimal.

assuming i HAD stock dual fans... that would be great.... too bad i didnt... LO3 + railroad tracks + impact - drainplug - oil = dead LO3.... $1500 + SDPC2000.com = new LO5... same single fan setup :-( but now, its aftermarket!

Hey Duck. You got a part # for that Spal fan set up? You gonna hang out at George's house when you move to Kingman? Oh Schwartzy, think you figured out the problem? Get a stock fan set up.

one problem... my radiator is about 1.5" thicker than stock, stock fans wont fit it... i tried to no avail...

Gotta find a way to move more CFM through the radiator. Cheapest way to increase the efficiency of your existing installation is by fabricating a shroud. Otherwise, 80-percent of the radiator surface will continue to have "dead" air unless the car is moving. Stock dual fans will be an improvement and are pretty cheap, but marginal in hot weather traffic jams, since there's still no darn shroud.

If space aft of the radiator is reduced, add a pusher fan to the front of the radiator, held in place with nylon ties. It will obstruct some air into the radiator at high speeds, but will aid cooling at low speeds.

SPAL fans are the "top-of-the-line" and the fan of choice for BeCool, etc, they're only 4.25 inches deep. The dual 11" MSRP is about $400, but street price is about $250. Since I figure it will cost me about $100 to fabricate a decent fan shroud, if I buy the SPALs I'll save that hundred bucks and fans will actually cost $150 'cause the shroud is included. Personally, I believe having a shroud would increase the CFM efficiency sufficiently to enable a single fan pull enough air for decent cooling, and that the dual fans are overkill. Well, unless the objective is to run the AC full blast while pulling a boat trailer up a mountain...

Just a thought, but what kind of coolant are you using, and have you tried Purple Ice or other such product?

Here's some more info about SPAL.

http://www.spal-usa.com/html/spalhome.htm

http://www.slickcar.com/productdetai...?ProductID=124

Dual 11-inch fans, part number 30100846

MSRP: $400.00
Just: $249.98 Set at Slickcar.com

I've known George via the Internet for a couple years now, ever since he moved all his stuff from SoCal, but we've not met in person yet. But our paths have crossed like ships in the night... He and I lived in the same areas of SoCal and were into cars, but I went into the Army to see the world and ended up stuck in Hawaii. We've both been through Northern AZ at different times. Life is funny that way, heh. Yeah, I'm looking forward to showing up with a case of cold Sam Adams and talking car-stuff with George. He's got a really cool F1 driver signature on one of his cars, I want to see that.

First thing I gotta find a place and have been browsing the real estate market there for a while. When the time comes I'll just have to put my stuff in storage and rent a place for a month just to put "boots on the ground" to pick out a place to buy. Not sure yet if it will be a trailer or palace, but it must be 3bdrm/2bth, 1/2 acre or more, and have a garage slab strong enough to hold truck lift. During the spring or fall, I'm plannng on having ThirdGen drive-in parties, heh.

50/50 ethelyne glycol/water... im thinking about a flush and using 80/20 water/water wetter... those fans are lookin pretty damn good tho... i think i might opt for that, overkill is my middle name

engine ice > water wetter

hmmm, where does one get that?

ur best bet is to get it off the net *google search* only place local i know of, and kinda close 2 me, is the honda motorcycle dealer over on like 107th/V.B. (or 115th/V.B... i forget).

im @ Avondale Blvd and MC-85... its the one by UTI right? on auto dealer row... its on 107th