Hey guys. I popped in a ramjet 350 motor in my 82 Z after some serious mods, good lord! this is my question now, what temps should I be seeing? Right now its still very cold in utah, around 15-40 degrees daily. Driving my car in say 40 degree weather I am running about 250 degrees, and then it jumps up right below the red 260 line, and then drops back down to 250. It usually stays right around 250. I am nervous that in the summer when it hits 100 out side, that my car is going to overheat. What temps should I be seeing on my car? Is this normal? this is defantaly warmer than my 305 engine, and it scares me a little. I still use the flex fan, w/ stock radiator. ( cleaned it all up ) what do you recommend? Do I get dual electric fans? what can I do to get this car to run cooler? or am I just over-worrying? let me know yoru thoughts please.. and I NEED A POSI REAR END if you know of anyone that has one, 3.27 3.42, or 3.73 let me know, I need one like yesterday, thanks guys.. any thoughts would be nice..

NAte

 

Stock motors are supposed to run a little on the warmer side to reduce emissions but doesn't do much for longetivity. But thats way too hot, and this isn't a stock motor. I'd start checking for things like a stuck thermostat, missing airdam, leaking radiator hoses (and in this case check the coolant level), etc. You also said you are using the stock radiator. Might not be sufficient for your motor.

 

Stop driving that car. 250* is cooking your motor. I don't like it in the summer when my car gets around 220*. 230* I would say is pushing it. Stock our cars are designed to run a little warm, I believe the fans kick on at 230*.
Does it run hot all the time, in traffic or highway? Check your thermostat, air dam, lower radiator hose, radiator cap. Do you have a fan shroud?

 

AHh crap, this is worse than I thought!!! WHAT CAN I DO? the motor is 2 months old, everything is good, hoses, thermo, etc.. it has to be radiator not sufficent right? what do you guys recommend? should I buy a new one? what options do you guys recommend? now im worried!

Nate

 

Sorry I forgot to mention.. yes it runs at that temp all the time, freeway or city... and yes, it has a fan shroud if that helps.. NOW IM FREAKING OUT ive ruined my motor, do I get any reassurance? what do I do? SHI%!!!! please reply guys.. im going to be a nervous wreck now with no sleep!!! i need help

Nate

 

I'm no expert, but I would guess if the motor hasn't showed any signs of blown headgasket or anything you might be alright. I would check to make sure the water pump is allowing the coolant to flow properly. If you want a new radiator I bought a Griffin aluminum 3 core from Summit for $180. I hear autozone sells one for $120. How much HP are you pushing?

 

Oh, one more thing, have you noticed any coolant bubbling in the over flow tank. If not, you might have an inaccurate temp gauge. The gauges in our cars are known to go bad. I had to buy an aftermarket one. Just something to check out.

 

MARK, YOU ARE A SAvIOR!!!

As far as coolant, it really never bubbles at all, it just gets warm, I dont think ive seen it bubble. If i get done driving it, and lift the radiator cap, it sends alot of fluid into the overflow tank. but its not bubbling. I hope its not overheating too much.. what kind of radiator should i get? what do I ask for so I dont get another stock one for a 305? the engine doesnt seem hot, except for the gague.. how would i hook up an external gague? do you recommend me driving it still since its not bubbling?

Nate

 

I wouldn't drive it until you're sure. Hopefully someone else can chime in with some expertise here. Personally if you open a radiator cap while the engine is hot, it should bubble and possibly burn the crap out of you, but it's not. So things might not be bad. I'm not sure how to hook up an external temp gauge, besides getting a new one. I bought one for like $30. Personally I would go with that method first since it's cheaper than a radiator, and then shell out money for a radiator. Any 3 core aluminum radiator in Summit, Jegs or Autozone will cool your 350.

 

Thanks again! I dont mind buying a temp gague, but does anyone know where I would hook it up? also, whats the diff between my stock radiator and a 3 row aluminum one? would it fit in the same way mine does now? is my fan ok you think? the flex fan? anything else you can recommend, **** ill go out tomorrow and buy a radiator, im worried now! what do I ask for exactly at auto zone so I dont get the wrong kind? if my engine was really at 250 dont you tihnk it would be bubbling pretty good? it just flushes when i lift the cap, but it doesnt bubble... is that a really good sign? when does it usually start to bubble? let me know man.. i apprecaite it.

Nate

 

The boiling point would depend on the mixture of the antifreeze and water, but at 250* it should be boiling I would think. The temp sensor is located on the driver's side of the block, it screws into the block between the #1 and #3 cylinder I believe. All you have to do is go out and measure the width and height of your radiator and you'll be set. One thing though, some radiator manufactures measure from the fins, while others measure the entire width and height. Just be sure to check, I'm sure at autozone they can help you, Summit told me but I forget. Basically a 3 core radiator has 3 rows of fins zig zagging creating more surface area for better cooling. Your fan should be fine as long as you have the shroud like you said. Is it electric or belt driven?

 

im going to go buy a radiator tomorrow from auto zone.. thanks again.. yeah i know where the temp sensor is, i just didnt know how to hook up a new one.. my fan is belt driven 100%.. my thermo is the stock one that came in my ramjet, which should be good.. is there any way to add my new radiator, a second fan? or how else can i help this engine cool down? im definately going to buy a radiator tomrrow, anything else i should get why i do it?

NAte

 

Also guys, do you think I will see a coolant difference with differnt brand radiators? Or do you think if i just go get a aluminum one from auto zone it will work fine, or do you think one on the internet that is like HIGH PERFORMANCE alum will be better? or is that just a sales pitch? do you think i will be fine with cooling my car with a alum radiator from checker or auto zone? whats your thoughts? what should i look for?

Nate

 

Sounds to me like you're not overheating at all, but rather you need a new temp gauge sending unit. It's in the driver's side head between the #1 & #3 spark plugs. Change that out before you get excited about radiators and other expensive stuff.

 

i dont think you need a new rad. or at least try a new t-stat or a different fan switch that comes on earlier first. my lo3 would some times over heat and when i switched in my vortec 350, i put in a new s-stat and a fan switch and now i am at a constent 182 deg and when i am hard on it it raises 3 deg and all of this is with one fan and with the stock rad. and also when you say open the cap you have a little valve on it that bypasses it to the canister and releaves the pressure because that would be the only way you could do it and i think some people miss understood you when you said that i think they thought you just unscrewed the cap. and the bubbleing would happen when you shut down your car. warm up your car completly and opening your hood and looking at the coolent over flow tank and see if it is bubbleing. and thats what they mean not when you are letting the pressure out.

 

he doesn't have a fan switch. his fan is a belt driven, flex fan. i believe that may have a bad temp switch as everyone says. my friend with his bird wen through the same thing. his always saty around 230though. we installed a aftermarket gauge and voila. the car ran 160-180*. best of luck

 

dude, sorry im kinda taking advantage of your post to post a question, but its kinda related , cuz i remember reading some once response here about bubbles in the overflow tank, and i do have them occasionally , what does it mean , cuz my car did the same over heating thing ntill i wired a manual switch i switch on , and off , btw , u might want t consider wiring a manual switch. but otherwise , what do bubbles in the overflow tank mean ?

 

Yeah I was a little odd on my explaining... WHen I turn off the car, the overflow tank is not bubbling.. its just raised a little bit. And if I open up the pressure cap on the radiator cap then it flushes into the overflow tank, but again its not bubbling. I dont get how I can have a bad sending unit, the engine is 2 months old? and its been like this from day one! I know its stupid to say, but after driving it long, and opening the hood the engine doesnt "SEEM HOT" at all. ITs not emiting heat hardly at all. I was wondering, can my headers somehow make it report hotter than it is? I looked at it, and there is a little clip that the temp wire connets to, and i was wondering if when the headers get hot, that it can make that clip hotter? Also, when I go out and buy a aftermarket temp gague, do I hook it up to the same place, the same way as my stock one? just unclip the stock wire and put this one on it? or is it more complicated than that? thanks so much guys, im less worried now :-) Keep em comin, and remember if you know of a posi 3.73 rear, let me know, i will buy it!

NAte

 

Ohh, one more thing... What temp thermostat do you recommend I run in my car? Right now its the stock one that just came in my ramjet, which I am not sure what temp it is rated at? For the utah summer driving conditions, what degree thermo do you recommend? and do you know what the ramjet's is?

Nate

 

On my aftermarket gauge it has a steel like wire going from the gauge to the block. And if not position correctly it could lay on the header, and that would raise the temp reading some, not sure how much though. During the summer I like running a 160* stat, and during winter 180*.

 

i guess i sould wait till i am awake to post (out of school)

 

I went to auto zone just barley, and instead of buying a radiator, i went and was looking at temp gagues. This is my question., on our third gen cars, where is the best place to mount these aftermarket gagues so they look good? I noticed they had no mounting brackets, so I will have to make my own, but anyways anyone got some pics of some aftermarket gagues, and where you were mounting them? I dont think my car is overheating, it keeps saying 260 degrees, but there is just no way, something is flukie on me.. so let me know guys..

NAte

 

I don't have a pic, but I mounted it right under the instrument panel, beneath where the SES light is. It's kind of hidden, the oil pressure gauge was mounted near underneath the center vents before I got the car. I'll get a pic, tomorrow when I get home from college.

 

You could put them under the A/C vents...


http://www.fbody.com/members/MikeSmi...cs/console.jpg

http://www.fbody.com/members/MikeSmi...s/interior.jpg

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It didn't look great, and they are about the cheapest gauges made, but it worked for me. Sorry about the quality of the car in these pictures. Got an 87 Trans Am out of the deal though.

 

did you mix the antifreeze yourself. i would say to check the guage and get a new sensor

 

You check the sensor by replacing it. It's less than $10, maybe less than $5. Not worth troubleshooting. They go bad all the time. I'd suspect, actually, that it isn't new at all, but rather is your old one that was swapped onto the new motor from your old one: since different cars use different sensors, one doesn't come with a new motor anyway.

From your description, your car is absolutely not "overheating", your gauge is lying. I would recommend against wildly spending money chasing non-existent problems.

For the same reason, don't waste time, effort or money on an aftermarket temp gauge. Just fix the one that's there.

Bubbles in the coolant reservoir would indicate boiling coolant. No bubbling = no boiling = no overheating.

I'd recommend a 170° or 180° thermostat year-round. But then, I hate work, I'd just as soon drive my car as fool around with a bunch of changing it all the time.

 

Hey

If u want to keep ur motor cooler then I suggest that u buy a higher capacity radiator. That should keep it a bit warmer. If that doesnt work much get a new air induction system. That will let the engine breath more and keep it cool. u should get K&Ns to let more ar in to. New air induction and radiator should help with the problem. Because thats hot man. Mines runs in between the 1st and 2nd notch all the time. Seldome hits 230

http://camaroz28.cardomain.com/id/56424

 

Like RB has been saying don't waste your money on a new radiator, replace the sensor and you should be fine. Believe me I bought a new radiator thinking it would solve my overheating problem, turned out to be the underdrive crank pulley I was using didn't allow for proper cooling.$180 later I realized I could have fixed it for free.

 

Just out of curiousity, what temps should a stock 5.7 1988 GTA be running on say just a cruise around the block.

 

I'll take a guess, if it's started and allowed to warm up or get to operating temp. I would say stock never below 200*. Of course it will be warmer when stopped and colder when the weather is colder. I have a 180* stat, 3 core aluminum radiator, no fan shroud with a belt driven fan, in town during cooler weather I never get above 190*. I'm going to have to get a fan shroud this summer, I had some warm operating temps last summer in 90+* temps.

 

YOU GUYS ARE LIFE SAVERS!!! Ive been in the garage all afternoon. I went and bought the kit that has temp gague, and oil pressure. I switched out my temp sending unit to the mechanical one that came in the kit., ( GOOD LORD, IT WAS ALMOST TO NEAR IMPOSSIBLE WITH THE HEADERS! ) I have bloddy and swollen hands now. and then I swicted my oil sending unit over to this kit. I then mounted it all up in my car under the dash, hooked up the lights, wire tied everything nice and pretty, made sure everything was perfect according to the directions on the kit. ( I started this project at 5:00 pm. and its now 12:37 and i just walked inside for the first time, these damn engine bays have no room! ) So I turned on the car, let it warm up, all the gagues were working, oil pressure was perfect, and temp was amazing the crap out of me! I hopped in the car, drove it about 5 miles, looked down at the temp, and it was at 200 degrees right on the button. it then flushed down to 180 degrees, and after a couple minutes worked back up to 200, and then flushed again as usual.. it never once got past 200, and thats with about 30-45 min of driving.. IT SOLVED MY PROBLEM GUYS.. my old stock radiator can cut the mustard i guess :-) I really want to say thanks to all you who contributed to helping me out.. I was honestly freaking chicken today when I heard you guys say " DO NOT DRIVE THE CAR , YOU ARE KILLING IT ",, That scared me to death. I just put over 10k into my car, and I was ready to go buy a radiator, fans, thermostats, etc, and thanks to you guys, I just had to put in a mechanical temp gague, and i thought why i was doing it, i should do the oil gague since that never worked since i owned the car.. they both work great, the car drives awesome, and I apprecaite all your help., I really do.. you guys are awesome. my car is actually running WAY COOLER than I thought it would. THanks again guys, Now I have to hook back up my horns, I messed with the wiring about a month ago, and now they dont work, I was playing with the harness under the dash. Anyone know off the top of their head what color the horn relay wires are? this is what happened. I put in a remote starter, and it went thourgh my horns too, everything was great, the starter worked, etc.. one day I was drivging down the road, and my cell phone rang, and then my car tried to start why it was running. Every time My cell phone went off, my car would try to start. it was possesed or something.. so I ended up getting pissed, and yanked out the starter. I just cut out the remote starter wires, but in the process I cut the horn wires, and I cannot remember which ones they were, and how I need to hook them back up. All i think I need to do is just connect the right wires, since they were working with the remote starter, and that went through the starter to work. and now I cut out the starter, and the horns quit on me.. so its just a wire that is cut, any ideas? thanks again guys, you are so awesome.. 10 stars for all of you :-)


VERY HAPPY,

NAte!

 

Glad to hear we helped. That's why it's always good to start with the cheap stuff first. Just to let you know the reason it is at 200* and then jumps down to 180*, most likely that's just your thermostat opening, unless you already knew that.

 

I believe that 220 is way to hot.My car rarely runs hotter than 190. Heat is EVIL.