LT4ever

Or are people using the stocker even at this level?

Current config= stock radiator/cap/overflow & fans. External oil cooler and external tranny cooler (tranny fluid not going thru the radiator) sandwiched together with the radiator in the middle. Air dam intact.

Puck

iTrader: (17)

I plan on running the stocker around that power level. Just a 160 t-stat.

We have awesome cooling from the factory.

LT4ever

yeah, got one of those as well and even had my fan temp activation lowered in the PCM as well.

It's getting hotter than I want during normal driving to and from work. Hmmm... might have other issues at play here.

lt1slowz28

what waterpump?

LT4ever

stock water pump, and I deleted my heater core (airducts interfered with the cage bar)

LT4ever

Oh, and I did that crazy TB bypass mod as well... back when that was all the rage.

whytryz28

iTrader: (28)

Stock cooling system will suffice.

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

I have seen some complaints that if Dexcool dries it leaves a film that can cause reduced heat transfer. Any chance the radiator had dexcool in it at one point? I am sure with a build of that scale the radiator was out of the car for probably months and could have dried out.

I might try a real oil cooler rather than the coolant to the filter adapter joke they put on the f-bodies. This would allow oil to shed heat more directly to the air rather than adding that heat to the coolant.

T/A KID

iTrader: (12)

I use an electric WP with a griffin radiator and a single 3000 CFM fan. The radiator is smaller than factory to fit into the front support that is has been cut.

LT4ever

Since it's a '96, I'm guessing the factory put Dex-Cool in it, but I think that was the cut-off year they switched from green to orange. But I'm the second owner of the car and it had the green stuff in it when I bought it and that's what I've used ever since.

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

How about the oil cooler idea?
If you continue to have issues I would probably try a new stock/replacement radiator before getting carried away with something more exotic. At 16yo who knows what the internal condition of it is. Or maybe try something cheap like RMI25. I used that in a car that had sat for a year before I bought it and had a nasty cooling system and kept getting intermittent heat even after flushing and that stuff seemed to be a final solution. It did make a mess of the surge tank because that is where all the nastyness ends up.

LT4ever

Not sure I follow you. I installed the external oil cooler already. The oil cooler itself is about 10"x8" approx. It's secured to the front of the radiator. I don't have A/C. So the condensor is gone.

I've got a deep stroker oil pan (cuz its a 383) that holds 6qts of oil. Perhaps, there's radiant heat transfer from the oil cooler from the front of the radiator and radiant heat transfer from the tranny fluid cooler which is attached to the back of the radiator. The tranny cooler is about the same size... maybe an 1" or 2" bigger, but not much. My tranny temp gauge has relatively low temps though. That is if the verter doesn't lock up and I spin the RPMs up which heats the tranny fluid. But that doesn't happen very often and my engine coolant temps seem to spike even with tranny temps south of 200*. Could be a combination of both coolers strapped to the radiator????

LT4ever

I just googled this stuff. I never heard of it. Sounds like pretty heavy duty stuff. Is it widely available? NAPA/AutoZone/ORielly's?? Maybe a build up of crud along with radiant heat transfer from the coolers is my issue????

But real estate is at a premium on these cars and finding a place to relocate my coolers would be a b!tch!!! But then again, overheating is a bigger bitch!

LT4ever

But overall, you guys have answered my initial question. I was wondering if I've over-reached the cooling capacity of my stock radiator. But sounds like the consensus is the stock system should be sufficient even at a higher HP. So, it now sounds like i have other issues. Hey, it's better than dropping $700 on a new radiator when I don't have to. Thanks fellas

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

I assumed you had a "stock style" oil cooler rather than an external. The stock f-body one ran coolant to the oil filter adapter and pretty much sucks, an external that runs oil to the radiator or a separate cooler is better and it sounds like you have the separate cooler.

I don't think the coolers in front of the radiator are the issue. Is all the factory air flow management stuff in place? I haven't spent time under a 4th gen but on the Caprice there are flaps that keep air from going around the radiator.

With 4.10 gears most guys with the electric waterpumps find the car to run slightly warmer than it did with the mechanical because the electrics do not move anywhere near the max amount of water the mechanical does so IMO you made the right call keeping the mechanical. Now if by some chance you had say 3.42s then maybe you could get more cruise speed water flow from a electric but it seems doubtful that a 650hp car would have highway gears.

speed_demon24

iTrader: (6)

Do you have a thermostat for your oil cooler? The last thing you want is to not get the oil up to temp.

LT4ever

There's not much on the F-bodies in form of a fan shroud. The air dams underneath the chin spoiler keep air flowing upwards. The car came with the WS6 hood. I cut out the baffle in the hood so air has a straight shot into the engine compartment. I also pulled out the weather stripping seal that's fastened to the cowl. So, rather than a sealed engine compartment, I have air flow underneath from the air dam, in thru the hood snorkler and out thru the gap at the cowl.

I haven't plumbed a thermostat inline with the oil cooler. I'm more concerned with coolant temps. Besides, with a F1 and LT headers, it gets REALLY hot under the hood. The 3.73 gears and 3200 RPM stall keep the engine speed such that I'm never that far from my power-band. So, I'm sure my oil is plenty hot.

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

On the b-body there are flaps between the condensor and the headlights to keep air from finding other paths into the engine bay making sure it all goes through the radiator.

Is the airdam rigid? If they are cracked they can fold up at highway speed and act like they aren't there?

LT4ever

yup, air dam is rigid. Not sure I can picture the flaps you're speaking of. But ya know, I might have something as stupid as an air pocket in the dang line someplace. The radiator has been in and out so many times this summer, it could just be a simple bleed that I need to check.