salemetro

iTrader: (5)

Mr recently-completed swap is running too hot. I'm using a Griffin aluminum radiator, with the core support modded to position the radiator "upright" so I would have room for the turbo. I also installed a 160 thermostat. I've driven the car on a couple of 60-mile trips, and the story is always the same: The car warms up as I'm driving, and over the course of the next 10 miles it climes to 235* or so....and stays right around there. If the car sees ANY kind of boost, it really will climb quickly....so I've been taking it really easy. AFR is right at 14.7 during cruise, and timing is around 38* at cruise....with no pinging. Timing drops to 10* under boost, and afr can go as rich as 10 under boost....pig rich. Obviously this car has not yet been tuned, as I'm trying to work out all the "gremlins" before tuning begins.

I'm wondering what results others have had using the "upright" radiator mod on these cars. I currently have an a/c condenser mounted in front of the radiator....but it's not even plumbed yet. Is it an airflow issue? Or is it possible that I still have air pockets in the system?

Any help would be appreciated....especially from those of you that are running this radiator in a turbo F-body. Oh, and any tips on bleeding air from the system would be great too.

Thanks.

itsslow98

iTrader: (18)

What type of fan setup are you running? Controlled by the PCM? If so the tune will have to be adjusted to coordinate with the thermostat.

salemetro

iTrader: (5)

Fans are set up correctly, and have no bearing on temp at driving speeds. IIRC, I set them to turn on at 185, and off at 175....also, they disable above 30mph. The car will not cool to 160 even at idle, so I'm thinking it might be air trapped in the system??

Pop N Wood

iTrader: (1)

It looks like your motor is a good bit higher than the top of your radiator. I would try unbolting one of the steam vent fittings to help get the air is out when filling the motor.

Too little timing can make a motor run hotter. Maybe you can try disabling the boost and upping the timing to see what that does?

I would turn on the heater too. Lots of guys talk that the LS motors need some flow through the heater circuit or they run hot. That starts up conversations about whether some stock heater control valves completely shut off flow.

Old Geezer

iTrader: (3)

Is the 160 stat built w/ the correct internal control in it?
If the engine has been boosted without a tune, could it have leaky head gaskets?
A "sniff test" on the rad may tell if there's exh gases in the coolant....
R U SURE the gauge is reading correctly??
At cruise, can you monitor MAP?

salemetro

iTrader: (5)

The steam vents exit into the top radiator hose line. Tried the heater while cruising....very little difference. Timing at cruise is roughly 38* @ 14hg vacuum....no pinging at all. Timing goes to 10* under boost with AFR approaching 10...really rich. The tune is extremely conservative as for as I can tell.

salemetro

iTrader: (5)

I'm not sure what you mean by correct internal control. I just installed a 160* SLP t-stat. As far as head gaskets, I'm pretty sure it's not. They have roughly 100 miles on them along with the ported 6.0 heads....using MLS 6.0l gaskets.

I'm really leaning towards it being an air pocket problem, but am unsure of how to bleed it properly. I've thought about drilling a couple of bleeder holes into the thermostat, as I don't recall seeing any when I installed it.

What do ya think? Good idea, or no?

Clyde65

Try one of these dude.

http://www.jagsthatrun.com/Pages/Par...g_LSI-tee.html

salemetro

iTrader: (5)

Here's what I currently have....not sure if the JTR part will make a difference?

E.rodz

iTrader: (4)

you have a air blockage take a shop vac to the top of your radiator fill while running the motor and it will suck it right through.just cup it in your hand so you don't suck the anti freeze out use your hand to control the suction.theese motors are natorius for air locking. don't drive it until this is taking care of.

gofastwclass

iTrader: (2)

Your setup will work fine IF the radiator is higher than the highest point of coolant flow on the engine. If the radiator fill is lower you need a bleeder at the highest point or you will have a lot of trouble removing air from the system. Trapped air in the system can / will give you erratic temperature readings and or allow the engine to overheat - much the same as failed head gaskets.

If the torque sequence wasn't followed properly coolant or hot exhaust (in your case) could be flowing past the gaskets creating your issue.

It's difficult to say for sure, but judging by the two photos, I would say your radiator is lower or close to the same height as your water pump which can cause lots of headaches.

Hopefully it's just an air bubble.

salemetro

iTrader: (5)

Thanks for the input. Torque sequence was followed to the letter during assembly, and thread bores were spotless.

I guess I'll try installing a bleeder valve in the steam vent tube, and see how that works. This week, I'm removing the charge piping and turbine housing and having them ceramic coated (IAT's are not as low as I'd like), and will fab in a bleeder while I'm there.

I'm hoping it's just air in the system, as I really want to keep the A/C condenser and finish up the A/C system. I guess time will tell.

Pop N Wood

iTrader: (1)

Unbolt and remove one of the steam vent fittings when filling the motor. That will bleed it. Try jacking up the front end to see if you can get the top of the radiator above the motor.

You can check your T stat by putting it in a pot of hot water with a kitchen thermometer and seeing what temp it opens. Also make sure it FULLY opens.

Some guys need to run the motor and shut if off several times before the motor burps the air out. Jacking up the front end will help with this process.

zipster

iTrader: (5)

You could try this,

http://www.amazon.com/U-View-Vacuum-.../dp/B001DICJV6

works great!

salemetro

iTrader: (5)

Snap-On truck came by today, and I almost bought one LOL I'm thinking that a bleeder valve and my MightyVac brake bleeder setup should do the trick....we'll see though.

S10xGN

iTrader: (11)

Got to be an air pocket. As you can see, I have both an oil cooler and A/C condenser in front of a cheap Jeg's dual-pass radiator with an old single prop Buick GN fan and it never goes over 185°. This is in SE TX where it's over 90°F & 60%H from May through October. I have my steam tubes vented into the top of the water pump, that's almost the same as your setup...

gjestico

iTrader: (5)

Are you sure you have the correct thermostat ? By correct I mean the one that matches your water pump. The LSX cooling system is very different from the 'ol smallblock chevy design. Due to the positioning of the internal bypass and the thermostat being in the cold radiator water return path, If the thermostat is not right it will never open right. There are some differences between ealry/late water pumps and thermostats.
I had this problem due to swapping water necks to make hoses fit.

LS1NOVA

iTrader: (12)

In for the results.

I have a very similiar problem on a third gen. Im trying a blanket on the turbine and bleeding the air again.

GA95DCMSS

iTrader: (13)

I had a similar problem. I used the JTR adapter with the sight glass and the bleeder valve on it and that made it so much easier to bleed the system!. Also, check your thermostat, as mine had a small hole in it. Make sure that hole is on the top when you go to install it, otherwise you'll have hell trying to bleed it.

salemetro

iTrader: (5)

Man, I'm hoping it's just an air pocket. I won't know for certain for a couple of weeks....I started pulling out the turbo, hot side piping, and charge piping to be ceramic coated. I'll have it all out tomorrow night, then off to the shop....should have it all back in a couple of weeks. I'll update here with the results.

One thing of note, your car has a decent open grill to pass air through...F-bodies typically don't. I'm hoping that is not the root of the current problem.