Hey everyone. I've been trying to solve this problem all summer and cant quite seem to get to the bottom of it. The car is an 89 camaro with a carburated 383 stroker and supercharger running about 7 lbs. Now the car runs at 220 or even a little hotter at some points no matter what I do. I have added 2 15 inch fans one pusher and one puller on a griffin 2 core aluminum radiator with the fans on a 185 degree switch. I tried removing and adding a thermostat and running water wetter with the coolant. I have also added a trans and oil cooler and nothing has seemed to help. What should my next step be? maybe header wrap?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

I'm no Super Charger or boost expert, but cooling is all the same in this respect. Since you have pusher fans and not the stock puller fans, the shroud is not there. The factory black plastic shroud is the key to good cooling. When big puller or pusher fans are on a radiator without a shroud to catch "and direct" all the air through the entire radiator surface, they are very inefficient. (((YET, some people do have luck without a shroud)))

I know a bunch of people who have had issues just like you with an aftermarket radiator and very good fans......they added a shroud to seal all the air being either pushed or pulled through the radiator.....and it solved their problems each time. And solved it big time.

Without a shroud.....a LOT of the air is lost. And if your fans are laying right up against the radiator cooling surface, the air blowing off the fans ONLY cools the 15" diameter surface for each fan. The entire rest of the radiator surface, which is a lot of area, is getting no fan assistance. Its just getting ram air. Do you also have a good front lower air dam...? You can make a shroud very easy with cheap sheet metal and some shears.

You have pictures of your radiator and fans.....like a straight down shot from over the top of the engine?

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Show us a picture of your engine bay. Could be a number of things. Does it seem to get hot while cruising, or idling?

 

Do you have an intercooler in front of the radiator

 

Do you have the air damn under the radiator? 3rd gens really have to have that air damn or will overheat quickly.

 

^^^^I was thinking the same thing, need to have 93camaros question answered.

 

All the above suggestions are good advise. You might also check to see if you have air bubbles in the cooling system. I would flush it again and make sure there are no air bubbles in the coolant. This causes steam rather than the actual coolant doing its job by removing the heat.

 

OE 3rd gens did not have fan shrouds. You should be running one tho once you defer from stock. Remove the pusher fan as its an obstruction. 1 larger 15" fan even if it's a sPaL is not enough Cfm for a supercharged motor. Forced induction motors run hotter due to the hotter more powerful combustion.

I I have a 87 TA, have worked on a total of 3 thirdgens. Here's some info for you.

Old school SBc will run hotter than an LS. But if your going to run single fan, needs to be a 16" or larger with a shroud. Make sure the rad is sealed so air doesn't escape from the front of the rad (air at speed). 3rd gens are bottom
feeders so you need an intact air dam. Fan switch needs to be above Tstat temp. 180 Tstat fans should come on at 180 off at 170, 180 tstat on at 170 and off at 160. Make sure they are coming on at the set temps. OE 3rd gen computers had them set at 195 on first fan and 220 on second fan.

Cooling fan diagnosis is if you overheat at idle and up to 35mph then it's 2 things. 1. You have air in the system. 2.) your cooling system is inadequate. This encompasses the rad size and fan Cfm. Your rad is fine as Griffins are good. So if you overheat at idle and slow speed then your fans aren't strong enough or you got air in the system. Cooling fans are useless above 40mph as the incoming air is more than any fan can provide. If your overheating above 40mph than your issue is air flow through the rad or air in the system. This encompasses air escaping around the rad, no air dam creating no low pressure zone, area behind the rad not allowing air to escape after passing through.

You our need to verify that there is no air in the system. Bleed the system with the front of the car jacked up and refill as needed. Watch the rad level as the Tstat opens.

Hopefully you you have the correct waterpump and not a reverse flow or have it spinning in the wrong direction.

I I do not recommend single fans unless you don't have enough space for duals or if you have a 2 speed single fan. Some helpful tips would be drill a 1/8" hole in the Tstat to help with air bleeding. Never use tap water and used distilled and always run a wetter or a cooling lubricant that fights corrosion and keeps the seals lubricated.

Post a pic of the engine bay. But pusher fans are a no no as they block incoming air where as a puller allows air to pass through the rad before becoming a restriction. If your running a FMIC then that's just how it is. I noticed a 20*F increase in engine temps with a 12x31x3.25" intercooler installed.