Finally got my 408 project up and running can't wait for breakin miles so that I can drop the hammer to see what it can do. This is my question I put a 160 thermostat in the 408 but temp is running right at the 210 degrees. With the stock engine had a 180 temps ran about 180-190. Yes had the computer programed for the breakin.

Talking with one of my old school Hot Rod buddies said he went through the same thing with one of his cars, told me switched he from 160 back to the 180 and car ran cooler. His explanation was that the 160 water, coolant continously cirulating, whereas with the 180 water can stay in radiator and cool off until thermostat opens to allow water to again flow through the engine. What is thoughts of you guys, any experience with this, any comments?

 

are your fans coming on early to work with the stat?

 

I understand the idea of slowing the water down to allow more time in the radiator for heat transfer but once the thermostat is open, whether at 180 or 160, the flow should be the same. Check the programming on the fans, but at highway speed the fans are off and it should run slightly cooler with a 160 stat.

 

Highway speeds or sitting at a red light temp stays at 210 but I wil check when I get my final tune to make sure that the fans were programed to come on early.

 

happened to me on some cars and switched to the 180 and sometime 190 or 195(don`t remember) and the car ran cooler and the mechanics explanation is the same as your friends

but in summer and stop and go trafic and idling for a long time .... nothing works here for an f-body

 

On my LS1 i have a 160 T-stat! My fans are tuned to turn on early. I forgot what temp my tuner set them too..

I also have a switch panel for my manual fans. I have it set for low speed to light up my green LED and high speed both green and red LEDs will be lit...

When i am crusing around my low speed is ALWAYS on.. Even on the hwy. And i now that if i am beating the car a little bit the high speed kicks on for x mins till it gets off that temp then the low speed will keep running. To be honest it is a little annoying to see that my low speed fan is always running.

I have a water temp gauge but have not hooked it up yet i need to do so

 

99-02 f bodies temp gauge stops working after a certain temperature and will show that the temp is always at about 210 even though it's running at 190 when you go over 210 then it starts showing you actual temp the only gauge to show you actual temperature all the time is the 98 f body unless you have an auto meter or something like that

 

i wasnt even thinking he is reading the factory gauge. yeah that is not very accurate. get an autometer water temp gauge and you will see actual temp. mine never gets over 195 with my 180 stat.

 

My thought is that your buddy doesn't understand thermodynamics. More flow of coolant through the radiator will not hurt, it will always help. If anything, he probably had an air bubble or something else wrong with the system, and he didn't know, and he also didn't know that he fixed it by accident when he changed to the 180.

If you're trusting the stock gauge, stop that, plug a scantool into the car and see what your coolant temp actually is. Check the coolant system a few times for air bubbles and other problems (leaks, clogs, kinked hoses) and have the car tuned thoroughly...a bad tune can result in elevated operating temps too...though the tune would be bad enough that you'd really know it when driving it.

 

Go to a rad shop, and have them use a Laser Temp. Gun on it.....

 

True, to a point. If the flow does not STOP completely so the coolant has time to cool while its sitting in the radiator, its a ticking timebomb and will get hotter and hotter. If the t-stat doesn't close, at least during city driving on a hot day, its all over, you're screwed. All you have is a big gas guzzling water heater.

I have a 160 t-stat in my 427ci and it runs cool as *****.....never, no matter what, will it go over 195*. Only possible way it'll go above about 195* is with the A/C "on" in traiffic on a 95* day.

LS1ROPER,

Your new engine should run hotter during break in. Make sure your fans are BOTH coming "on" together and that they're working on both high and low settings.

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I finally solved my overheating problem. It works.

I installed two 12 inch pusher low profile fans on the face of the AC condenser. The bonus of the pusher fans is that once the car heats up it will actually cool back down again now whereas previously once my car heated up I could never get it to cool down unless I turned the air off. Even then it would take forever.

The pusher fans keep pushing air through the condenser and also to the face of the radiator in parked or slow moving conditions. I tested again yesterday - 94 out - no more overheating with AC on full blast both parked idling and in slow traffic it maintained 210-215. I have never been able to maintain those temps before-even with the big Becool radiator.

I removed the BeCool and went back to a thinner 97 SLP style radiator. It allows better air evacuation in the engine bay compared to the oversized BeCool.

Two pusher fans are a very inexpensive fix and it works.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1835930...7602956888623/

 

i have a 98 ws6 the water temp actually works on it

 

I wish people would realize that the size of the radiator is NOT the key to good cooling system. The stock radiators, especially the LT1 radiator, are ALL that is needed. THe key is to have everything working properly at the same time.

Did you slide those 2 fans in there without taking the condensor out? Can you get them in there from going in by the air dam?


.

 

I not an engineer and don' have the skills to calculate the amount extra cooling capacity the BeCool had over a 97 style radiator. What I didn't like was the BeCool thickness impeding airflow on the backside of the radiator. The tabs on the BeCool to hang the ATI fan shroud aren't cut correctly either leaving a gap between the shroud and the radiator.

So I wanted to prove two things. One was that the 97 model radiator has enough capacity and two - that if you can get more air to the condenser while idling or in slow moving traffic - the AC condenser will be more efficient. The additional air provided by the pusher fans passing through the ac condenser gets to the radiator at a lower temp. And the mod appears to prove both.

Note: on f bodies the only air that gets to the radiator has to pass through the hot ac condenser first.

As for the installation. The installation requires removal of the radiator because of the way I hung the fans on the face of AC condenser. I used the the typical plastic pin kits supplied with each fan. So you need access to be able to push the retaining tabs onto the pins protruding out the back side of the AC condenser for each plastic pin. On an f body there isn't enough room to reach with your hand backside of the ac condenser to attach each retaining tab.

I choose to remove the radiator for access. I also wanted to reclean the AC condensor of any debris, even though it was cleaned about a year ago.

I did not want to remove the AC condenser, but maybe one could remove the condenser making installation of the fans outside of the car easier rather than removing the radiator and fan shroud. I don't see how that is possible on an f body.

The condenser is taller than it is wide. The two fans must be installed flush along the bottom of the condenser. There is a vertical brace under the horizontal brace just on top of the condenser (F bodies only) with just a bit over two inches of clearance between it and the condenser. A low profile fan less than two inches thick at it's outer diameter will just barley fit under the vertical brace.

Currently my fans are wired to come on when I start the car. If I were to drive the car in the winter I would wire a manual switch so they can be turned off in winter. I don't drive the car the winter.

My fans pull about 16 amps through a 30 am relay.

To directly answer your question - it depends upon whether you can reach between the condenser and radiator to attach the retaining tabs whether you have to remove either the radiator or condenser to get access to the backside of the condenser.

On systems where there is an opening for the radiator to get air rather than from the AC condenser - not sure if the mod is an advantage or not.

The Spal fan has plenty of suction. The problem, however, on f bodies is that all air flow to the radiator has to be pulled through the ac condenser first. The installation of pusher fans on the front side of the ac condenser provides the additional air needed while idling or in slow moving traffic.