LT1-LT4 Modifications 1993-97 Gen II Small Block V8

Knowledgeable LT1 guys help please

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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 12:32 AM
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Default Knowledgeable LT1 guys help please

My turbo car is to the point of getting tuned and im having problems with it getting hot. keeps climping up to 215+ within a few minutes.


To start off the car had a heavy mix of coolant and water in it from over the winter. and the car was getting hot just idling as weel as driving around.

I changed it out to distilled water and DEI radiator relief just to test out a cheap fix first. and its still getting hot, just taking a little longer to do so. also pulled the thermostat to eliminate that.

its a non filled block, stock waterpump (because of downpipe clearance issues i cant fit an EWP), has -16 braided lines for the radiator hoses, radiator is stood vertical with dual electric fans, steam line is ran from the back of the heads and tapped into the top of the thermostat housing


What could be the cause?

a. the -16 lines are too restrictive
b. the top line from the WP to top of radiator is routed up above the downpipe and actually is higher than the heads themselves
c. the waterpump is bad




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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 12:36 AM
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Did you get all the air out of the system?
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 12:41 AM
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I dont think he has a problem at all! He just wants to show off that setup. And I dont blame him! Nice setup! And as stated make sure all the air is out of the system.
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 12:43 AM
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yeah the car was vac'd down with a power bleeder
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 02:03 AM
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What radiator are you running? I'm betting its not effecient enough for your setup! That and you have the thermostat housing hose going to the wrong inlet on the radiator. On a stock setup the thermostat hose goes to the passenger side inlet. Lt1 are reverse cooling I think that could be your issue from what I see in the pics. just my 2 cent.
edit:after looking at the pics some more the radiator is plenty big and has a large capacity, but I'm willing to put money on the those hoses being the issue. good luck either way!

Last edited by 93QWKZEE; Aug 3, 2011 at 02:09 AM.
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 02:13 AM
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try some liquid glass, it could be a blown headgasket.
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 04:46 AM
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215+ isn't hot...that's normal. Is this new behavior or has the car always run at that temp? What is the upper echelon of your temps that you see?

I don't really see a problem here. You have an aggressive turbo setup that puts off alot of heat.
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 06:13 AM
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Agreed 215 doesn't seem that hot, your making alot of heat near the WP and radiator! It could be a waterpump but I would first look (1st pic) into that bracket that appears to be holding your hot side of the turbo. It looks to be using the WP bolts as support which means coolant is contacting it as it passes through it. I'm gonna guess that piece of aminimum gets pretty damn hot and you passing "cooled" water over it and into the engine. Just my thoughts!
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 10:55 AM
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Originally Posted by 93QWKZEE
What radiator are you running? I'm betting its not effecient enough for your setup! That and you have the thermostat housing hose going to the wrong inlet on the radiator. On a stock setup the thermostat hose goes to the passenger side inlet. Lt1 are reverse cooling I think that could be your issue from what I see in the pics. just my 2 cent.
edit:after looking at the pics some more the radiator is plenty big and has a large capacity, but I'm willing to put money on the those hoses being the issue. good luck either way!
the hoses are routed correctly. this radiator has the inlet outlet opposite of the factory radiator
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 10:57 AM
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Originally Posted by RamAir95TA
215+ isn't hot...that's normal. Is this new behavior or has the car always run at that temp? What is the upper echelon of your temps that you see?

I don't really see a problem here. You have an aggressive turbo setup that puts off alot of heat.
this is the first time the car has been ran for a period of time. it is a new build that got dropped off at the tuners last week. that is when we figured out it was getting hot. my tuner seems to think if it stayed around 200 it would be ideal. I believe he's been shutting it off when it reaches 215-218 from what i recal him saying
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 10:58 AM
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Originally Posted by 96LT1355Z28
Agreed 215 doesn't seem that hot, your making alot of heat near the WP and radiator! It could be a waterpump but I would first look (1st pic) into that bracket that appears to be holding your hot side of the turbo. It looks to be using the WP bolts as support which means coolant is contacting it as it passes through it. I'm gonna guess that piece of aminimum gets pretty damn hot and you passing "cooled" water over it and into the engine. Just my thoughts!
thats the motor plate. im running a motorplate midplate setup
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 11:07 AM
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Originally Posted by lt1badbird
thats the motor plate. im running a motorplate midplate setup
That shouldn't have any effect on the cooling of the motor.

If you think that the coolant system is correct then I would pull off the water pump and have a good look at it. You already stated that you were messing with the thermostat if that isn't the problem then, it must be in the water pump.
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 12:37 PM
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What fans are you running I knew a local guy who was running a vertical radiator with dual 11"spal fans on his f1 procharged 383 and they weren't pushing enough air to cool the car. he went back to stock radiator and fans and problem solved. The stock fans and radiator are pretty damn effecient.I can see you don't have enough room for that but maybe your fans aren't pushing enough air to keep the setup cool.
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 12:47 PM
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I still don't see a problem.
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 01:01 PM
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215 with a huge turbo next to the radiator and the water pump? i would think your doing great since most ltx run the same if not hotter than that.
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 01:34 PM
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How do you have your fans setup? They on all the time, or at a certain temp? Are they coming on?
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 01:52 PM
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they are on a switch. so even with them running from startup. its gets 215+.

I guess ill see if he leaves it running when it reaches 215 and see if/how much higher it goes
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 08:43 PM
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What thermostat are you running?
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 08:53 PM
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Originally it had a 180 degreee thermostat in it. i just took it out after i found out it was getting warm to make sure it wasnt stuck so right now none
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 09:23 PM
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Have you tried a 195 or 160? Mine got hot with a 180 so I swapped in a 160, however on my truck that i pulled a big boat with when i had a 160 in it would not keep it cool, so i swapped in a 180 and it kept it cooler than the 160 did while pulling. Do you have A/C? Also ask an old timer what happens if you run a motor without a thermostat because your trying to keep it cooler.
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