My car has a 180* thermostat. I live in a very hot atmosphere and when cruisin in the daytime the temp reaches 220* and the car starts to really lose power. The chek engine light cones on and the transmission shifts harder and takes longer. What is wrong? And what can i do to make my car run cooler. 89RS with a 305 tbi. No catalytic and no other mods

 

Hey neighbor! You're right about a car loosing power as the temperature climbs. You are not alone. This question has been asked by some of the members here. If you look around you'll get a sense of what can be done to cool the car down.

To make good power an engine needs a cold/dense air-fuel mixture. Unfortunately, our cars were designed to better burn off emmisions rather than make HORSEPOWER. The factory designs our engines to run around at 220 degrees or so. As far as that is concerned your car's normal. Are you running an electric fan or one that is run off the engine? If it's electric you can get an aftermarket fan switch that'll kick on the fan at a lower temperature (stock one's don't kick on until about 225 degrees or so, or when the a/c is on). You may also want to look into an aftermarket computer chip that'll work with the lower degree thermostat and fan switch.

Do you know what trouble code is being sent. Is the tranny only acting up when the engine is hot? Have you checked the fluid level in the trans. It should be a reddish/pink color.