Is there any way to make my 92 camaro with a 3.1 run cooler? The temp gets pretty high after sitting at a stop for any length of time (way past 220*, almost to the red zone), but it cools down below 220* as soon as I get some air moving through it. It seems as though the electric fans need to kick on sooner, am I wrong? So the question is, is there any way to lower the "kick on" point for my fans, or am I just stuck with getting a lower degree thermostat?




Any help appreciated.

 

i'd assume you can wire your fns through a switch which would allow you to control them manually, hopefully as well as letting the comuter control them if need be. Think there's an article (tech article) about total fan control which might help you more. There are also switches that can be placed on the engine allowing the fan to come on at an earlier temperature, however i think those might have been more difficult to install than a simple toggle switch.

 

whats wrong with getting a lower thermostat for the car

 

I've heard of switches that are like thermostats within themselves, that would tell my fans when to turn on, but I wouldent know how to hook them up. So....Hooking them up so that I could manually controll them by toggle switch would work but I would be switching them on and off constantly (when the fans DO kick on, the temp drops really fast). So I was wondering if their was a way to lower the fans existing thermostat, or an aftermarket one that could be installed. So that it could be done automatically.

 

I just wired my fans to run when the ignition is on.... and hooked up an LED light to tell me when the fans are on.... had too many close calls with my fans.

 

Nothing wrong with getting a lower thermostat, (it probably needs to be changed anyway), it's just that it would be a pain in the A** to get to it, to change it is all.

 

You just wired it up so that the fans run anytime the ignition is on (i.e. engine running)? Sounds like it would work, was the wiring procedure complicated?

 

switch the stat its the problem not the fans

 

I had a feeling about that thermostat......you wouldent happen to know what the temp is on a stock piece would ya? Also, what would be the ideal thermostat temp for my car, I mostly street drive, but sometimes that involves some pretty hard driving, high revs, occasional srtip use on the weekends. Oh yea, is the seal on my thermostat housing gasket or O-ring type?

 

I also have a 180* and a 3.1l radiator (bigger than my old 2.8l one) in my car so I dont know how much just hooking up the fans to the ignition would fix anything for you. Thermostat might just be just sticking. Just a gasket and some RTV.


-Bud

EDIT: ignition being the key switched on... engine running or not. Just plugged it into one of those ignition slots where the fuses go and a relay.

 

So is the OE piece a 180* or is that what you switched it too, if so, is that about all the lower I should go? Because my engine is basically stock eccept for a full exhaust system from the stock manifolds back, with no cat, 2.5 in pipe, and one of those flowmaster 80 series crossflow mufflers. Thanks for clearin up the fan wiring info. Oh, any advise on opening up my intake system a little(cold air, ram air, K&N filter, ect.)

 

180 isnt stock.. I think its like 195 or something close.

 

I lived everywhere with my camaro(s)

In temperate climates I had to run a 180 thermo and a 10" auxilary fan from Becool. Cost 40-50? bucks and I wired it to the power radio antennea through a relay. I never went above 190 standing still in 122* heat with A/C on.

 

I have an aftermarket fan sensor. I paid like $30 at Advance Auto (similar to autozone) It kicks on @ 165* or 185*. You just hook up a few wires and push the new sensor into the fins on the radiator.

 

Stock thermostat is 192 but I don't see why that would be the problem if he is heating up when he is dead stopped. My car does it as well, thermostat is brand new. I wired a switch so I can turn them on whenever I wanted which was really easy to do. I don't have to flip the fans on that much either, just when I'm sitting still like 10mins waiting for someone to come outta their house or waiting at work. I switched my stat colder but then friggin new england winter hit and my car wouldn't go over 120*, 130* so I switched it back. Just wire a switch, it's only 3 wires.

 

On your '92 the fan is controlled by the ECM. So in order to have the fan on/off temp's changed a new EPROM needs to be burned (chip).

The other method would be to purchase a fan controller from Jegs/Summit/PAW that has an adjustable set point (as previously mentioned in this thread). Then wire that in to control the fan.

The adjustable controller is a better method then wiring the fan to be on all of the time. I also wouldn't recommend changing the thermostat to a lower temperature, the engine will still heat up while not moving. And the lower coolant temperature (once moving) will cause the engine to not quite run correctly.

RBob.

 

Yep, I run a 180 degree 'stat in the summer, but put back a 195 degree 'stat for the winter.

 

you can buy bad thermostats from the store they say 1 out of 6 are bad but thats not likely .....you shouldnt need to wire your fans direct like that to fix a problem thats just a temporary fix and not actually fixing the problem you need to look into it more and figure out whats really causing it ....ie. radiator needs flushed or replaced with a larger one or the fan sensor is bad or thermostat is bad ..something else is wrong there

 

Tom...your simply an overachiever who enjoys spending waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to much time under the hood of your car...

 

The adjustable fan switch that has been mentioned in this thread works much better if you put the probe on the upper rad hose. Mine is mounted there with a zip tie and covered with some large wire loom looking thingy.

 

do you got a pic of it on your car id like to see what it is your talking about

 

well my pos $20 cam sucks but here is some pics you can kinda see what i mean .

Looking at the pic reminds me i need to wash the motor.
I put the probe there because i didnt want to push it in the fins of a brand new rad and because the hottest coolant travels from the engine through this hose into the rad so i figure the fan switch will get a better reading this way. My car really gets hot at all.

 

cooler thermostat doesn't solve the problem
and also a cooler running motor is a less efficient

 

When you run too cool maybe, but stock cooling systems are pretty crappy.

 

if this is the case then wiring the fans direct to the ignition would also be a no no by those standards

 

Actually mine stayed pretty cool most the time.
Mine only had problems in extreme heat standing still with A/C on. Otherwise it was prefectly fine. If you do the upkeep on the engine correctly most people will not experience problems. But there are times and condidtions where yes, the factory setup is lacking, and an extra small fan is needed to keep both the operator and the car happy.
But it is in no way a "crappy design".If it were, I do not think they would have used it from what 82 till now on quite a few of their vehicles. 3rd gen, 4th gen, vette has a similar design where it takes air from below the car, any of the GM line that does not have a substanial grill opening is all draw up design.

 

its just bizare ...i havent had a single problem with cooling on any third gen i have owned ....sitting still in 100 degree heat for stoplights or traffic even hmmmmm maybe its a v6 thing then ......

 

My fan didnt work at all when i bought the car, Thats the reason why i got the fan switch. At first i had the ghetto manual switch ran but went through alot of switches so i bought the stuff and did it the correct way.




What i ment by the stock cooling system being crappy isnt the air flow etc but the temps that the fans turn on at. They seem a little too high.

 

dont you hate ha\/ing to go to rigging your car to make it work ...it sucks ...

 

didn't read much but did you check between the radiators up front. AC n coolant? crap gets in there but.......



no AC crap, radiator or anything
Air dam made from aluminum
True ram air / cold air


My electric fan never runs. Unless I sit still for a few Min's.
Long as I am moving this is as hot as it ever gets.

 

Well mine looks very good. I used a relay along with the adjustable fan switch so it works without anything to turn on or off. Turn the car on and once it reaches the temp i set it to the fan switch turns the fan on. Turn the car off and the fan turns off.

 

I don't see how

but the way I look at it is if you are having a problem staying cool why bandaid it by putting a cooler thermostat in there

why not just find and fix the problem as to why you are running hot



but the motor that runs a little hoter tends to absorb iless heat from the combustion process. and heat builds pressure. pressure means more force being applied to the crank and so on

also with higher temps it allows the air,fuel mixture an easier route to burn being that a/f that is against the cyl walls tends not to burn as well as any cool spots on the combustion chamber so having them run a little hotter can tend to make things burn a little better

but like many things there are limits like detonation, and melting warping of stuff

but hotter the better in my opinion up to those point

 

Wow.....Lots of replies, where to begin? So I'll just jump in, well, the adjustable fan switch seems like the best rout to go, considering it allows me to fine tune the temperature at wich my cooling fans turn on, and mounting the probe on the upper hose seems like an excellent way to get the most accurate reading of coolent temp. I will probably swap out my thermostat for a slightly cooler one because the abient temp. has been around 97*-99* for about a week now, and I'm pretty sure its the factory piece. Checking between the A/C condensor and the engine radiator is one thing I have recently considered, but since the A/C dosent work anyway, I'm just gonna take the condensor/dryer out and replace the compressor with an idler pully, should free up a couple of horses, and take weight of the front end besides. I'm confident now that I can properly solve my cooling difficulties in the proper manner. Thanks for all the help!

 

is that even possible????

 

Just and FYI the $30 adjustable fan switch sold by summit made by flex lite is crap. It sticks on all the time and will run your battery into the ground. its nice to be able to adjust things but its crap. Mine got about 2 months worth of work. id sell it to ya but you'll regret it.

Buy a set temp one, or if you want adjustable spend the big bucks as the $30 one is junk.

 

Thats why you learn how to wire things in correctly with relays.

 

exactly ....

 

i live in south carolina where we get on average 90 degree days in the summer with hight humidity..so what i did is swith to a 180 thrermistat and wired my fan up to a toggle switch and mounted it on my gage cluster ..so when im in traffic i will "manualy" turn it on when i kown it will heat up and "manualy" turn it off when i started to go agin.. this worked perfect for me never had any problems. make sure when you get a switch it's a high amp one that can handle some amprage. i ran like this for 2 years and never had a problem.

on the electric fan there are two prongs on it..just get some elctricale connectors and wire it up. make sure your sucking the air throught the radeatior and not out of it..

hopes this helps,chris

 

We're back. Keep it clean, don't even try to discuss that which caused this thread to close.

 

Something else i thought of that you might like to try is water wetter.

I have used it in three cars now with good results. Now its not gonna drop temps a MOJOR amount but it does help some.

I remember an old thread about the stuff. Dean ( i think he had the agood2.8 name then) mentioned swimming pool chemical that did the same thing.