Would like to know which way is the best way to keep my 88 5.7 iroc cool Any info appreciated:

 

I'm thinking a big banner across your windshield that says.... "IM COOL" :lala:

 

LOL, ohhhh man, that was so lame

1. 170* thermostat
2. Wire the fans together so that they both come on when the primary is engaged
3. Use Water Wetter
4. Make sure you still have a chin spoiler
5. Clean all the garbage out from in front of the rad/ac condenser
6. Get an aftermarket fan switch or have someone change your PROM

 

Under the tech section for electrical there are 2 articles for cooling fan modifications. Check it out.

Adding "water wetter" is another option.

tj

 

..surely you didn't expect a technical answer from EASY, did you...???

 

Well, his hoopty was overheating last year. I figured he'd be able to add a little........but no.

 

An old hot rod trick is to remove the rear hood seal.

Getting rid of the insulation under the hood, header wrap/ceramic coated headers keeps heat in the headers. Making sure you aren't running lean and a well working cooling system. New rad cap, 3 core rad or aluminum rad works well. Running synthetic over dino oil is good for a few points. Then there is a cooler running thermostat, a 170 as pointed out already is a good choice, still a bit too cool for my liking, I found a 195 with 2 * 1/16 inch holes drilled in gets a good 175-180 effect at speed or with the fan always on. This also has the effect of not shocking the whole engine with hot coolant when the stat opens as it allows gradual temperature increase across the whole engine.

A good mixture 70/30 of antifreeze/distilled water has a high heat capacity and very low temperature tolerance.

all this in combined will keep temperatures more than managable.

Put in a fan switch/reprogram the ecm to come on at a lower temp or wire both fans to come on are good options as well.

 

to add to everything that was said(except for synthetic oil..lol)..

A hoodscoop
A bigger air dam
A higher pressure rad cap
More water to coolant ratio
smaller waterpump pulley belt

Daz

 

Daz, what's opinion about using a higher pressure cap with the stock rad?

 

as long as the rad is in good shape and not go overboard on the pressure ..you should be OK

Daz

 

Well the synthetic = less friction = less heat generation = 1 less source of unnecessary heat... every bit counts right?

Daz is good on the point of a higher pressure cap, if not overboard too.

Increasing the pressure increases the boiling point of any liquid thus increasing the specific heat capacity for that liquid. Specific heat capacity is the amount of energy an amount of matter can hold before having to increasing 1 degree celsius in temperature. Example is how in higher altitude water boils at a lower temperature. Less pressure = lower boiling point, higher pressure = higher boiling point. The only problem with this is that your hoses and system in general must be able to handle the increased pressure of the system. I would not recommend the stock rad in this scenario, the plastic sides aren't the greatest. This also runs the risk of head gasket failure among other things.

The potential is there though to move more amounts of heat more efficiently.

 

headgasket failure from a higher pressure rad cap??(must...follow...resolution...)..Either way pressure by the pump to the hoses and rad dont exceed enough pressure to blow the tanks and gasket off..You will blow a waterpump gasket first..hose replacement is part of maintenance and as long as theyre in good condition they will not give in.Radiators can handle the pressure..Ive used 32 lb rad caps on all my f-bodies and NEVER have to replace a rad..Well only once when I dropped a compressor on it while on the floor..lol

Putting on pure water will net better results than running synthetics..

Daz

 

I didn't say run synthetic rad fluid...

As for high pressure, there are people that replace all hoses with metal ones, then if you've already been suffering from an overheating problem, there's head gasket failure potential there due to warped heads if you ran too hot a few times. You're right though with the water pump gasket failing first, but the oil mixing with coolant condition has happened more often than not under normal pressure conditions due to warped heads...

I unfortuneately had my el cheapo stock rad explode on me at a gas station once. Turned out the plastic failed and basically cracked open on the rad cap side... even launched the rad cap underneath the hood and dented it. I've done quite a bit since then in maintenance and repairs ensuring a properly running coolant system.

 

I'm a bit unclear on what I think the message is about running a higher pressure rad cap.

Just so there's no confusion- running a higher pressure system (i.e. due to cap) will not make you run any cooler- it will just increase the boil-over point. If you are running plain water with no additives this might be worthwhile. If you're running a water/antifreeze mix- the boiling point is already well above that of plain water with a stock-type (15psi) rad cap

What does this mean? If you're running a stock rad cap and using a 50/50 mix- your boilover point (i.e. where the cap will release and blow coolant out of the system) is already somewhere in the ballpark of 280*. If you're cooling system is at 280* you have a serious problem of some other sort- i.e. lost the belt for the waterpump or such. What does increasing the boil-over point to 290* or 300* do for you? Maybe buys you an extra 30 seconds to shut the engine down. How useful is this? I guess it depends on how/where you drive the car.

One other note: it seems to be a common misconception that running a lower-temp thermostat keeps things cooler overall- this is not true. The thermostat controls the MINIMUM temperature the engine will maintain. I.e. a 170* thermostat will make sure the block itself maintains a minimum temperature of 170*- the maximum temperature the system will allow is controlled by the other cooling systems components (i.e. waterpump, rad, etc.)

If you notice that your cooling system will always keep your engine running at 190* under all conditions (i.e. the hottest July weather with your A/C turned on)- you would do better to run a 195* thermostat than say a 170* unit from the point of "tunability"- if you put in a 195* and your cooling system could normally maintain a maximum 190* in all weather- yes- you have brought the engine operating temp. up 5* with this thermostat- but now you can set-up the engine -i.e. air/fuel adjustments- under the most stable conditions no matter what the ambient temperature. The A/F mix will still be affected somewhat by the incoming air temperature/moisture level- but the engine itself will always operate in the same heat range. Using a 170* thermostat will only mean that in cooler ambient conditions you will run at 170* and when the ambient temperature goes up- you will return to running at 190*- that's a 20* temperature swing- how are you going to get your engine tuned properly with such a large variable? This is obviously somewhat less noticeable for people running EFI systems- but still has an effect.

 

Just to get back to your orginal post Ray is there a reason that you want or need to run cooler, ie are you running too hot now (overheating) or do you not like the temp. the car runs at currently and want it to simply run a little cooler. A little more info on your part may help you get a more clear answer to your question.

 

i shouldve stated that the the higher pressure rad cap should go with a 90/10 water/antifreeze..The more water in the mix the cooler it will run..

As for tuning everyone has their approach..FYI EFI is more sensitive to coolant temps as the ECM relies on the CTS for closed/open loop operation.

IMO the engine is always hotter than the coolant temperature as oil gets hotter and stay hot longer than the coolant.Coolant is just there to make sure the engine dont get "too hot"..So the cooler the coolant temps the better considering the oil temps/engine gets to itsoperating range.

Daz

 

I decided to try out that Water Wetter stuff and I surprised to find out that it actually worked! It's also supposed to help lubricate the water pump so it seems like a decent investment.