so im bored and balanced with a summit racing serpentine belt kit and aluminum 4 row radiator a stainlees shroud and 2 12 inch electric fans and the condenser is in place but it is not running due to temo at 220. it seams to hole there but i was suprised that when i got on the highway for a few miles it got up to 230 i got off the highway and right back down to 220. any ideas how to cool this car off??

 

Air Dam in place? Radiator to support seals in place? Base timing set correctly?
Those are the starting points. You put in a serp kit, do you have the correct water pump? rotation correct?

 

Very good questions.

 

bump to save

 

yes air dam yes rad supports seals could be an issue as the new rad is so much larger than stock. rotation on pump is correct I was thinking about changing to an edelbrock ho flow even though summit says the one with kit is high flow. the tune could be an issue too I guess I will get it done when i get the oil pan and timming cover leaks fixed damn chrome always leaks so im switching to polished aluminum.

 

Are you actually overheating? Are you trusting the Temp guage or using a gun?

 

Great tips above about the base tune-thats critical first. Make sure your vac and centrifugal advance are working correctly.

Get an infa-red heat temp gun and check around your cooling system to see if you are really at 230. Your gauge or temp sender could be off and also check the voltage at your battery to make sure your not too much over 14 volts when the engine is running. Friend of mine had a bad regulator and his temp would fly up when he would rev up and then go back down almost as fast he was putting out almost 18volts when rev'd. made the headlights nice and bright haha.

Make sure you are running 50-50 antifreeze and distilled water in the cooling system and that you don't have an air pocket issue. Dont bother with those fancy coolant additives. I like to fill my radiator up with the front end jacked up as high as I can get it to get the air bubbles out.

Hows your lower radiator hose, make sure there is a spring in it and that its not collapsing, when the engine is rev'd.

Quick an easy thermostat test is to pull it and run the car to see if the stat is an issue.

Make sure your E fans and turning the correct direction so that if mounted on the engine side they are pulling and not pushing.

I am not a big fan of 4 row radiators- I like the new-age 2 rows that are like 1 -1 1/2" wide rows like Dewitts.

good luck

 

Thanks for all the tips. Now to find some time to try them out

 

There may be a simple solution to this problem. I see in your profile you are probably referring to a 1981. When at highway speed the temp goes up you are not getting air flow through the radiator. This happened to me also. It turned out that the spoiler was pushed up about a 1/2 inch on the tongue. Make sure the spoiler is resting on the tongue and your temp should be about the same as when you are in traffic.



On hot days (95+) it is not unusual for late model C3s to run at 220 to 225.