Thanks to various web sites and vast amounts of individuals with more knowledge than I, my 79 is running rather well. Barry "hats of" to you again for posting the information on timing. The information you provided has been very helpful on more than one occassion. Thanks for setting me straight on points too!

Back to my question: Living in Arizona it gets darn hot and I just figured out today why my auxiliary fan was not working. A prong in the fuse block is broken and not contacting fuse. Anyhow I managed a temporary fix and the fan now works as it should.

The car temp runs approximately 195-205 according to the gauge in the car without the a/c on and struggles to do so. Ambient temp has been 100-110 lately. When I run the a/c the qauge reads 220 even now that I have the electric fan working. The car has a new water pump, but the original radiator. The coolant is in good shape and is mixed appropriately at a 50/50 mix.

Is this too hot and does a aluminum radiator solve the heat problem? Or is there other things I can do?

Thanks for any thoughts.

 

Couple things. Change your water and AF mixture to favor the water, like maybe 75% water and 25% AF. The AF is only going to help you in the winter. That'll get you a few degree drop.

Then, check all of your hood seals and make sure that the seals are in place over the radiator core support and beside it so that no air can get around the radiator and must go through it.

If you do go with an aluminum radiator, seriously check out a DeWitts. I LOVE mine and was very glad to take the leap and buy it.

 

I live in South Texas temps today 95 and humid. My car with the A/c going always runs around 220 mines an 80. I have a stock radiator, flex fan ,good hood seals and run 75/25 mixture.

Kona

 

Go for dewitt's if you need any cooling upgrades. If it works in a BB with A/C in Qatar, then it should work well for someone living on Venus!

 

Try a 160 degree t-stat and see if that helps. It should. It will flow better and cool the coolant quicker. I am running a Dewitt radiator with a 160 t-stat and mine never gets over 200. Drill a couple small holes around the edge of the t-stat to help burp the system.
bernie

 

If your cooling system is in good shape (clean, no leaks) then 195 -205 is very normal. Even 220 isn't boiling, so you're fine. Only you can decide whether bringing the temp down a few degrees is worth the expense and worth having the needle be a little more to the left...

I don't know why a lower temp thermostat would help. The thermostat only sets the minimum temperature for the system.

 

i think 220 is too hot. thats starting to do your engine damage if it is run constantly. i dont think you should ever get over 200 otherwise changes need to be made.

 

Thanks for all the information everyone. Sounds as if the temperature is not way off the mark put maybe pushing it a little.

I will be doing the radiator swap in the future, but I will try an assortment of ideas you folks have offered first. I am not ready to let go of the funds just yet.

Those of you who have done the radiator swap already, is the core support still used? The original one on my car is still in place put is in need of replacement.

One other question, how do you get your profile picture to display? I have uploaded a pic of the car, but it does not display in my posts?

Thanks everyone, rubber side down!

 

Have you ever used any of those "stop leak" products you pour into the radiator? They can slow or stop the flow of coolant.

Lean carb settings will run hot as well as timing that's retarded (are you running the vacuum advance?...you need to).

Changing the stat won't do anything,..at 200 degrees (coolant temp), a 195 degree stat is just as open as a 160.

If everything checks out ok, I'm for the radiator swap mentioned above...yes, Dewitt's radiators are up to the task and they're a direct fit.

Good luck!

 

Make sure your front spoiler is in tact. These cars are bottom breathers and the spoiler helps scoop the air up from under the car and direct it to the radiator. You can also get a front spoiler extender from DR Rebuild which increases the size of the spoiler and scoops up more air and directs it to the radiator. I did this on my car and it helped by about 7-10 degrees. Also check to make sure your lower radiator hose has a spring in it to keep it open --- otherwise it may constrict when running at highway speeds and shut down your cooling capacity.
But, in the end, when I did a valve train rebuild this summer, I replaced my radiator with a Dewitts Aluminum job, replaced all of the radiator seals and hoses and now the car never gets above 200

Good luck

 

There are a number of issues to address when trying to get your Arizona C3 w/AC to run cool and provide cool. The first is to get the engine temp down. While the mid-70's and up cars had 195 deg. t-stats, their sole purpose was to reduce emissions. 200 deg. operating temps. reduce engine efficiency, reduce engine life, etc., etc. C1, C2 and early C3 cars had 180 degree t-stats. Why? Because GM engineers knew that they were best for the car/engine.
Regardless of the t-stat rating, your engine has it's own equilibrium temperature; if that happens at 180 degrees, then putting a 160 deg. stat in will only cause the engine to take longer to reach 180.
So what? Well, start by installing a 160 deg. t-stat. After that, make sure the radiator seals are there and in good shape (they force more air through the radiator...rather than going directly into the engine bay); check to see that the air dam under the nose is OK. If you still have problems, clean the radiator [rather than flush it]. Flushing gets the gunk in the water out; cleaning gets the gunk AND scale on the inside of the fins out...a much more important thing to do! You could also have a weak/ damaged water pump or a defective thermostatic fan (which won't draw air at slow speeds when hot). Lots of possibilities, but the t-stat is the first thing to change. (P.S. This will get the nay-sayers worked up...but do it anyway.)