Ok, heres the deal. I have a carbureted 350 chevy in my 84 camaro that always runs hot as hell. It's recently been rebuilt, has a new waterpump, new non-clutch fan, new oil pump with good oil pressure, several new thermostats, and a good radiator. The strange thing is, that the water in the radiator is usually pretty cool, I can pull off the cap, stick my finger in the water, and it's only warm. But my heater hoses are absolutely red hot, and my manifold and valve covers seem excessively hot too, for the most part, it seems like the whole top half the engine is really hot. Now am I wrong or do I remember seeing people on here post before about their heater core being the cause? Because that's the only thing I haven't ever replaced. Can the heater core get plugged or something and cause overheating? And I also thought I remembered someone sayin something about a quick test for that, by pinching off the hose or something, and bypassing the heater core? If so, how exactly do you do this? Thanks in advance.

 

I'd check that "new" water pump for proper flow. Check both rad hoses to see if they are collapsing or blocked. Can't blame it on the rad cause you say the water in the rad is always cool. Or is it the rad core that's always cool. Open the rad cap and then warm up the motor. When the thermostat opens
you should see the water circulate.
I dought a blocked heater hose cause I have mine blocked off with no problems.

 

What do you mean the valve covers and intake seem hot, they're supposed to be hot. What is your temperature gauge reading.

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"Putting any amount of money into a RICE BURNER is like wiping your a$$ with a turd. "
'86 IROC
T-TOPS, TINTED WINDOWS, BRAKE LIGHT BLACKOUTS
GM GOODWRENCH 350
EDELBROCK TES HEADERS
3" Hooker CatBack w/Aero Chamber muffler
EDELBROCK 600CFM CARB.
KN AIRFILTER
ACCEL HEI DISTRIBUTOR
160* Stat, just switched to 180* b/c of winter coming and going to college in the mts.
3:73 Posi
Rebuilt 700R4
B&M Megashifter, 5" Autometer Tach w/shift lite

 

I'd suggest a good quality water pump, such as a Stewart. Look at www.stewartcomponents.com

If you can take the radiator cap off while the car is running and is at its normal temp without it spewing coolant all over about 6 city blocks, then it isn't overheating. The water on the side where the cap is has already passed through the radiator and been cooled, but it should be more than lukewarm; that sounds to me like poor flow. If the water flows too slowly it will be very hot on the hot side (where the upper rad hose puts the hot water in) and very cool on the cool side. If it flows well, it should be more nearly the same temp on both sides, at very near your thermostat temp.

That "non-clutch fan" is costing you about 12 HP or so and not cooling as well as a stock clutch fan would. Ditch it and put an electric one in.

The heater core essentially "bypasses" the radiator. Hot water at the top of the engine has a "choice" where it's going to go, either to the heater core or the radiator. If the heater core was blocked it would make the car run cooler by forcing all of the water to go through the radiator.

Your typical rebuilt stock water pump doesn't move very much water at all, even when it's in good shape. I'd start there.

What makes you think it's "overheating"?

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