i went to the strip the other night and my car was running 220-240 the whole night and my carb was bogging becuz of it.....i flushed my system the next day got a new radiator cap and made it so i can turn on my fan manually....but its still not running much cooler......one guy told me that with his headers his car would run a lot cooler....is this true.....if so then i will just wait until i do that and not spend money on a new water pump or something along those lines.....

 

Running headers is not a way to go about keeping a car cool.
What thermostat are you using? Condition of your lower radiator hose. Air dam?

 

i gotta 180 stat.....i replaced the radiator hoses when i changed the water pump last fall......and my car runs cool when im cruzin along the highway so i know its not the air dam

 

Make sure your timing is correct and you're not running lean.

 

i have no idea how to adjust richness/leanness.......and i think my car is running advanced some cuz it seems to run faster........

 

as i recall the 84 still ran a clutch fan, i'd check the operation of the clutch for the fan. also pull the radiator and check for blockage of air in front ot the radiator especially between the a/c condensor and the radiator if you have it.

 

no i have an eletric fan...stock.....i just hooked up a switch to it so i can turn it on at any time
but i still dont think its gonna help much

as for something blocking the radiator....i dont think anything is.....it all loooks good....but who knows....maybe the inside is all clogged up or something....i know when i was flushing the system i saw a lot of white crap on the inside....and i dont think very much of it came out......

 

quite often the problem isn't inside the radiator, but the outside where the air is supposed to flow through.

 

run water wetter and straight distilled water in the summer, this should drop you 20-25 degrees..........you could also look into getting and aluminum radiator and a seperate tranny cooler so the rad isnt working overtime.............dont know how old the rad is but it may be flowing poorly........another trick is take out the thermostat............on the flat ring around the stat drill 4 .. 1/8" holes............this will let water trickle through slowly and mix with the hot water in the heads .........dont know bout you but if its over 85 degrees my car stays put......

 

get a 160 stat too

 

I hear straight water can lead to rust.

 

If it runs cool down the highway and not cool around town at slower speeds, the fan isn't pulling enough air. What kind of fan are you running? Shroud?

 

Forgot about that, I don't have a shroud, but I need to get one for summer, or I may switch to an electrical one.

 

ya it can so just buy 2-3 bottles of "water wetter" and you'll be set.

 

the fan is stock...i talked to some guy and he said it should b pulling enough air and i dont know what kinda shroud it has.....and i had a 160 stat in there when i got it but it still overheated so i put a 180 in it and it runs the same......

 

I noticed a 20 degree reduction after switching to synthetic oil.

 

Haven't been able to find one at a junk yard, either... Every single one of them is cracked big time... found one off a different year V6 and it wasn't big enough.

Any ideas where I can get one? Without it, my radiator has this jimmy-rig support and I know the fan is pushing the air in that it needs to.

Also, any of you open element guys think your car runs hotter because of it? Like, since the air going through your carb is probably 30 degrees hotter to begin with, do you think your engine runs hotter?

James

 

the open element should effect it mine doesnt

 

This is my nemesis-heat!

I also have an '84 Z-28 also.

I've had the same trouble, here's what I have done with success. I'm not guessing, this is what worked. I can also tell you what hasn't worked well.

I did like you have, hooked up a manual switch. Good idea.
Use distilled water (summer only) a rust/lubricant additive and water wetter, a couple of bottles. It works--big time.

A stewart water pump. Stage 1 is plenty. http://www.stewartcomponents.com/

I am running a 160* thermostat right now, but am actually going to go up to a 180* high flow stat. Here's why.

160 opens very early, and stays open. The coolant doesn't get a chance to stay in the radiator to cool down b/c the stat is always open.

A 180* stat should close more often, allowing the coolant to set in the radiator cooling down!

A very trusted mechanic here was running a 400 sbc and was having trouble with this very same problem, until he switched to a higher temp thermostat....and it worked. He's been doing it ever since. So I am going to follow suit.

What water wetter does is dissipate heat more quickly while raising the boiling point of water.

What anti-freeze does is acts as a stablizer. It raises the boiling point and lowers the freezing point. However it also limits the ability to remove heat. Water wetter doesn't affect the freezing point, but does raise the boiling point and also dissipates heat more effectively than even just pure water.

 

one bottle treats a typical cooling system..........what it does is it makes it so the air bubbles in your system are smaller........the air inside a bubble isnt dissapating heat......the smaller the bubble the better the cooling

 

i usea Flow Kooler high flow water pump on my 350 with an alumium radiator single stock electric fan(wired so i can turn it on and off)and a 180 stat, and it actually almost runs too cold on the highway and never gets above 180 even in 100 degree bumper to bumper traffic. i think the water pump helped the most and is well worth the $. wish'd i gone with an aluminum one though but i'm too cheap.

 

Look just below the radiator support member. You should have a 5" piece of plastic that runs the length of the radiator. This is called an "air dam". If you don't have one then go get one - you need it. I bought mine fromt the dealer for around $30.

 

oh yeah the water pump was about 80 bucks i think

 

thirdgen resource has em cheap too, new ones too