Ok, with no thermostat, new water pump, new radiator and hoses, fan coming on at stock temp, intact air dam, I can sit at a stop sign and watch the needle creep up way into the red. The fan doesn't keep the temp down at all. I was looking around the engine compartment and noticed that there is an aluminum coolant line on the passenger side running from the radiator to the heater, and the header is sitting almost directly on top of it! Would this cause it to heat up so quickly? Is the stock fan just too weak to handle my engine? Any suggestions appreciated. Thanks.

------------------
91RS convertible 355 TBI 65# inj. custom compcam grind .480/.480, Edelbrock TBI manifold, open element, hedman hedders, Y-pipe, cheap cherry bomb muffler, Hypertech cop car thermomaster, Accel coil, wires. 2.02/1.6 cast iron heads. Engine specially made by Pflugerville machine shop. Forged bottom end, balanced. Coming soon: Vacuum controlled FPR, better exhaust, Torque converter, DIY PROM, bigger TB.

 

into the red? You'll crack a head or block if you keep doing that. My friend just did on his Explorer. Put in a thermostat. 160. Wire your fan to always be on when you turn the key on or get it to come on sooner.

------------------
-Tas
'89 Formula WS-6

305, TBI, auto, 14x3 chrome flat based open element with K&N, Milodon 160* thermo, functional Formula hood, cross-flow Flowmaster, '99z28 rear pipes and tips....

To be installed eventually far far far into the future: Yours if the price is right and I don't have to ship :
Hooker 1-5/8" 50 state legal headers, Dynomax 3" I pipe (PN 44063 and 43248), Catco 3" cat, and injector spacer.

Super GRK_Taz World
F-Body Dual Exaust
EFI & Intake Options
AOL IM: superGRtaz



Got Beach?

 

it sounds like you need to look into a new fan. my heater lines ran right next to my headers too, but my car was fine. are you sure the fan is operating at full speed? is all of you ducting still intact? i don't see why you would need a larger fan, my friend ran a stock f-body fan on his 450hp small block nova, and that was with an undersized radiator.
it sounds like the fan may be fried to me.

hope this helps

later
tim

------------------
91 Camaro RS-LO3,Auto
New Times Coming Soon!
Check Out The East Coast F-Body Nationals Home Page
www.geocities.com/njspeeder
My MAFB.ORG Home Page
www.mycar.net/mafb/registry/detail.cfm?id=299
DSI Racing Home Page
www.geocities.com/foff667

 

Are you sure the fan comes on? I know when my headers where install, that bastards broke the thremostat ont he passenger side of the engine block. Now my fan dont work at all. I have to turn on the AC to Kool the car off.

 

without a thermostat the temp may actually increase. Without the restriction, the coolant spends less time in the radiator, and therefore won't lose all the heat it has absorbed.

Put in either a 160 or 180.

------------------
'92 Astro 350 TBI Edelbrock intake, MSD 6AL, 3.42's, 2.5" exhaust, Flowmaster 40 2 chamber, B&M 2nd stage shift kit, 255 60 R15 tires on AR-727's, Polished & Bored TBI, Custom EPROM in progress

 

I agree with V8Astro, install a t-stat. As was mentioned earlier check to see when your fan is coming on. You can wire it to a manual switch or wire it to be on all the time or buy a thermostatic switch where it will come on at a set temp.

------------------
91 RS 5.0 TBI....Edel. TES headers .. 3" exhaust ...Dynomax muffler...5spd... 3.08...underdrive pulleys...cold air K&N flat bottom breather...strut tower brace...6-point rollbar...sub-frame connectors...Koni shocks and struts...16" Black GTA wheels...Autometer guages...custom chip...Grant steering wheel...a/c delete...smog delete...rear seat delete...ultimate TBI mods...afpr...36mm front and 25mm rear swaybars with poly bushings...

 

It was overheating with the thermostat in it, too. uhh. I just thought of something. Which way is your fan supposed to blow? Towards the radiator, or away? I think I may have installed it backwards, now that I think of it.

------------------
91RS convertible 355 TBI 65# inj. custom compcam grind .480/.480, Edelbrock TBI manifold, open element, hedman hedders, Y-pipe, cheap cherry bomb muffler, Hypertech cop car thermomaster, Accel coil, wires. 2.02/1.6 cast iron heads. Engine specially made by Pflugerville machine shop. Forged bottom end, balanced. Coming soon: Vacuum controlled FPR, better exhaust, Torque converter, DIY PROM, bigger TB.

 

I agree with V8Astro, get a thermo in there if you want the coolant to cool down.
The fan should be blowing away from the radiator and onto the engine. It wouldn't make sense for it to blow the other way especially when you're driving at like 40+ mph or your fan would stop and you would burn out your fan motor.
Another thing to look at is the space between the radiator and the ac radiator. If that area gets grass clippings or anything like that it WILL overheat frequently. Another idea is to drain all the coolant and run 100% water. Then check to make sure the waterpump is pulling the right direction by opening the radiator cam and turning on the engine (after it's been sitting for a while). Watch the level of the coolant, it should get sucked down pretty fast.
Another thing you might want to do is double check that your fan switch (passenger side head) is still hooked up.
After the car has overheated and you've poped the hood, do you hear any boiling in the system? If the level really high?

------------------
, Jon (350 TBI!)
91 Red My website

 

Ok, fan is blowing the right way. I do hear some boiling when it overheats, but not as much as I would expect. It isn't boiling over out of the reservoir. Could it be the coolant temp sensor? I just remembered, when I did my swap, I put the old one back in and it is very possible that it was damaged. In spite of this, should I get a better, fan anyways? Or will turning the fan on at a lower temp do the trick?

 

I have noticed since I put my 350 in, my interior dash temp guage shows me running extremely hot,especially at idle (talk about gray hairs), I changed the fan, and the temp sensor, and still the same thing....Then I found out that the factory dash guage is not accurate, and wasent really as hot as the original guage suggested---Now I run another temp guage and all is fine, go figure...

------------------
(Kill the headlights, and put it in neutral)

--George
92 RS 25th Aniv.
350 Goodwrench (NEW LO5)
700R4 Raptor: high performance intermediate billet servo, high performance overdrive billet servo,Mega Valve,13 vane high performance pump,1800 heavy-duty stall converter and a 29 element heavy-duty forward input sprag,
New: AC Delco Disrtrib,Heater Core, Shocks-Struts (sensatracks), Bosch 02 sensor, AC Delco Starter & Alternator,Radiator,Water Pump,Rotors,Cat-back,T-Tops.

 

Hook it to a scanner and see what the real time temps are. The temp guages on mine are 30* off. Mine used to read 220, it was 190 accoding to the computer.

I wired a manual switch and went with a 160*, now I have no problems with temps.

 

i have a stock fan and radiator, but i have an edelbrock water pump. my car can be at like 220, and i can literally let it sit there and somehow the stock fan cools it down to like 180ish in a couple minutes...idling and sitting still.

did you take out your A/C? check the area between the condensor and the radiator. there is about a 1 inch thick area there about the size of the radiator that can get filled up with leaves and crap over the years. mine was half filled when i took my ac out a couple years ago. you would be amazed at how much air flow it can block.

you said that you have the air dam, but do you have both pieces? there is the one that sticks straight down, then there is the one that is rounded and goes from the fron clip to the radiator area. my car overheated when i first got it (with the stock engine) and i got those two piece from the dealer and it cooled it down right away.

-Brian

------------------
1991 Camaro RS - ultra blue metallic, t-tops
GMPP 350 HO crate engine - 454 TBI, MSD ignition, SLP exhaust, everything is new
700R4 - 2,400 stall converter, vette servo, shift kit
z28boy.cz28.com
Central New York F-Body Association
z28boy@twcny.rr.com AIM - "Z28 Boy"
Daily driver - <A HREF="http://members.fbody.com/z28boy/grandprix" TARGET=_blank>
1998 Pontiac Grand Prix GT</A> - 2 door, black

 

Since it seems like you are trying things...try this. Wire your fan to run as soon as your key turns on as stated by tas i beleive. Since you live in TX i dont think that your winters are too harsh. Drain your coolant and put in a 70% water 30% coolant mix. Add to that a bottle of redline water wetter(this stuff works and my freind proved it to me). Also, put in a 160* stat just so you have one.

If all of that doesnt fix it. I would then go to a dual fan setup that runs all of the time.

If all of that doesnt work, maybe you are very lean. Is the car running normal? This is just a suggestion, because it seems like you have tried almost everything with now success.

------------------
*1989 RS
*Red, Daytona Turbo fiberglass hood, chrome 16x8 IROC wheels
*355 CID
*TPI ported plenum, SLP siamesed runners, Edelbrock high flow intake
*Edelbrock TES Headers (getting SLP 1 3/4)
*Richmond 3.73, Auburn Posi
*Modded 700-R4, 2800 stall converter

 

Thanks a bunch guys. After replacing my entire cooling system, it seems as though my fan just wasn't coming on soon enough. I'm going to just turn my a/c on until I can rig up a manual switch. Also, this single prop fan just may not cut it at higher temps. New fan for me probably. I do suspect that I might be running lean, as well. I'm running the 65# injectors, but at stock FP. Probably not good enough for that cam and heads.
Thanks again for the help!

------------------
91RS convertible 355 TBI 65# inj. custom compcam grind .480/.480, Edelbrock TBI manifold, open element, hedman hedders, Y-pipe, cheap cherry bomb muffler, Hypertech cop car thermomaster, Accel coil, wires. 2.02/1.6 cast iron heads. Engine specially made by Pflugerville machine shop. Forged bottom end, balanced. Coming soon: Vacuum controlled FPR, better exhaust, Torque converter, DIY PROM, bigger TB.

 

Put a thermostat in

------------------
Steve
88 Firebird TBI(WS6),TH700R4 - Open Element, Catco 2 1/2 High Flow Cat, K&N filter 14*4 element, 2 3/4 pipe with flowmaster 80 series with 2 1/2 inch turndowns, 180 Stant thermostat, Accel cap and rotor, L98 cam

 

I did . I'm sure that helped, too. Like I said, I think that it was a combination of many things. Thanks for all the help.

 

when I run the A/C when idling My temps seem
to slowly creep up...
Ive never idled long enough to let it get higher than 220(the factory gauge)

ive got open element air cleaner
and a 170 thermostat with 2 1/16 holes in it....I think im running to cool cuz my temp gauge reads like 160 when moving....I might try A 180 with no holes...but then wont the
block get hot spots in it because it wont be getting coolant all the time?


[This message has been edited by Tallboy (edited October 14, 2001).]

 

If your running more fuel into you engine, you need to check your timing, it might be slightly to advanced for the amount of fuel your flowing in, also Hypertech makes a nice performance fan switch, i have one for my Firebird, and my V8 never gets hotter then 185, and also have a 160 stat, and i dont run very lean, and also hopefully you have fresh coolant, with the proper mixture of 50/50 you car will run hot if you dont have enough water mixed in with coolant, reason being water has a much faster cooling rate when air it rushed into it or over it, another when it enters your radiator, since coolant is thicker, and is almost a lubricant it needs a mixture of water to cool correctly, and will make a differnce if at a complete stand still,

 

Tallboy, clean out your radiator and the space between the ac radiator and the engine radiator. It's probably dirty and this is why the engine temp increases when AC is on, not to mention the engine has to work harder but it's more of a cooling issue.

------------------
, Jon (350 TBI!)
91 Red My website