Hey guys,

During the summer, what's the hottest your car gets, sitting in traffic?

I was drove my car today and got stuck in traffic. My temperature got upto 240 before traffic let up and it started to cool. I actually pulled off the freeway to let it cool.

Now I know that I have a problem and I am trying to figure it out with Tom (think it might be a bad fuse or relay-fan related). The reason I ask is my car always ran hot in stop/go traffic during the summer and thought this was normal. My buddy had a firebird and had the same type problem.

I even have the Be-Cool Radiator.

Glenn

 

Glenn,

I rarely see 215... my fans are set at 185 196 196 215.

Is there a chance that the stock fans temps are programed in?

Today I was running 197 driving to Cypressfrom San Berdo...

Mo

 

Glens fans are set up basically8 like yours except that the last temp is 196. I think he has a relay problem. When the car came in and Glen asked me to check why it was overheating. I found that BOTH fan motors were bad. I couln't beleive it! I am suspecting a relay issue in his car this time. The fans should come on if he turns his AC on to keep the AC condenser cool. He should have heard the fans running at idle but where he was at he couldn't stop to check.

 

I have a BeCool radiator and my car runs off of the chart hot (even without a thermostat). Tonight I will start the process of figuring out how to mount another radiator in the rear where the spare tire now resides.

 

240 isnt toooo bad is it?

 

Hi Tj!

Ahh ok.. it could be possible the relays are bad.... Glenn let me know if I can be of any help.... I was thining you ay check the fuses under the hood as well perhaps when the fans went it blew the fuses...

Hi Biff, the stock settings the fans kick into over speed at 235... To me it is a little scary seeling the needle almost pegging in the climate where Glenn and I live where the ambient gets to 106-110 degrees in the summer... 225 is probably about average temp for stock fan settings...


Mo

 

man, I never see over 218 or so, even in bumper to bumper traffic commuting in rush hour on the 5. I guess I'm lucky.

 

is your guage correct???
timing curve ok?, egr working?, close-loop?, O2 bias?, belt slipping?, fans flowing correct direction?, mixture too lean?, radiator plugged at bottom and lacking flow?, head gasket problem?, freeze plug knocked in not pulled out?, does turning on heater help drop temp ( more radiator needed)?, lower hose colapsing too soft?, Heavy duty 4 core radiator with 14 to 16 fins per inch?, proper cap 15 to 16 psi?, 50 / 50 mxture of coolant?, Knock sensor not working?, Exhaust Restricted?, All pulley sizes correct?, using correct gasoline?

(you know I did a extra credit paper for college and came up with 100 reasons a car could overheat, now I teach 2 nights a week 16 years and have my own shop thrity + years)avantihall@sbcglobal.net Riverside, CA. I have a 1981 Studebaker Avanti II with supercharged MPFI vette 1988 350 motor with 9.7 compression runs at 185 thermostat, no front grill, scoops up air very low, below bumper.)

sorry,,, fan shroud too far from radiator (don't touch but very close)?, deflector under car missing and pulling hot air from engine?, brakes dragging?,
best to keep under 220, emissions wants 205, I like 180 to 190,
first check to see if fan or fans are on and on high. check for clogged radiator, condensor, or stuff between the two.
I added external switch to turn relays on, when I see fit, Like drive thru.
Next you can add large pusher fan in front, be sure to wire for correct direction. Have also wired up both fans to come on at same time and on high.
good qualitiy water pump is need, with tight clearence in side pump for proper flow at low speeds.
Can add extra trans or oiler cooler and mount so hot air doesn,t go thru radiator, like remote or after radiator with 3/4" clearence the back through normal radiator cooler. Have 4 or 5 core radiator made, with 14 to 15 fis per inch. Have seen some factory chips that change the air/fuel ratio to near 16.2 to 1 when at high RPM medium load, should be 13.5 to 14.7 to 1.
If its gotten 240 you may have engine Damage, good that you stopped to let it cool. Again is your temp. guage correct?????

 

What yeah talkin about? The car was tuned on dyno and custom built by TJ. It ran perfect the last that I heard of. Now it is getting over heating is the fact have nothing to do with what you say above. If the fan relay is shot. It will be getting overheat. That what he is should looking out for. Not the BS you mentioned above.

ps. If you have been follow the history of this car. Then you would understand the car better what seems to be up to.

 

I was wondering the same thing....

My guess a fuse or a relay...


Mo

 

Avantihall,

Thanks for the advice, there are a couple of areas that I will be checking out here shortly.

Bruce is correct though, Tom did an awesome job and I am sure it's something simple like a relay or the system needs to be purged.

I am just too dam lazy to check out the fan on the passenger side. I did verify that the driver side fan is working. I will start with the easy stuff first and let you guys know.

Glenn

 

I'm no expert - but I didn't like running my car over 220 degrees, so when it started hitting 230 - I knew it was time to remove the radiator shroud and clean out all the leaves and debris in between the radiator and condenser. (You should probably try this) Generally, in the past this worked nicely for me... except after the last time I cleaned everything out and put fresh coolant in it... It still ran at 230 degrees. I have been running a 160 degree stat and all the relays were in good operating condition. My solution.... a RON DAVIS RACING RADIATOR!!!!!! Direct bolt-in with no modifications. Radiator is much larger than stock including larger metal tanks instead of plastic. Here's the results with only swapping the radiator... Old operating temps were 210 - 230 degrees under normal driving conditions in hot South Florida. New operating temps are an amazing 169 - 171 degrees under normal conditions and as high as 185 under high RMP conditions such as racing or horsing around in low gears. The radiator was expensive but money well spent!

 

With a 160 t-stat and a elec water pump, I rarely go over 190

 

 

i had my l98 up past 299* where the gauge stopped
at that point there was no more water
i would not reccomend this as i am still working out the kinks

 

Mine runs around 230-245 in heavy traffic but my car is a 86

 

too funny !

 

Thanks for the info - the funny part - I put a brand new Be-Cool radiator in my car.

I have been out of town a lot of lately and haven't really had a chance to play with it. I did find some air in the system and bleeded it out. I will drive it to work tomorrow, it should a good day to test it out.

The area in front of the condensor is completely free of debris, fans are working, fluid is to the top.

I am going to check out the sensors next.

Thanks again,

Glenn

 

did you ever fix the problem? Also, off the topic but are you running a 2.95 blower pulley?

 

Dunno if this will help, but on my dad's Vette we had a simular problem. What was happening on his was the fans worked fine when everything was cool and we were testing in the garage, however after driving for a while the relays would just stop working. It was both relays too, and we pulled em both apart but couldn't find anything wrong with them, cleaned contacts etc but the problem persisted. In the end we just replaced the 2 relays, and problem hasn't been back. It's such a simple exercise to replace those relays, it's the first place i would start.