ok, it's running hot. 89 Auto Coupe. i've cleaned the radiator area out, 160Theromo, new water pump, flushed filled etc. still runs at 200-220 in traffic!!!!!!!!! cruising is 175-185NICE :hurray: but the minute i idle....Forget about it....220 here it comes. and i have the fan set up with a controller to come on at 175F. so the fan comes on at 170ish.... and it still runs hot. HELP HELP. I'm thinking of getting a universal Griffin from summit for like 200bux. Any ideas???

 

You gave it the old college try. Check the ignition timing. If it is too advanced or too retarded it can be the cause of overheating. Also, check for dirt and crud between the radiator fins. An auxiliary cooling fan, which was an option in some C4's can be installed in front of the AC condenser to "push" air thru the condenser and into the radiator. If your car has it, check if it is running in the correct direction (from the front to the rear of the car). :seeya

 

Yeah, use a better title to the thread. :mad

220 is somewhat normal. You need to remove the radiator to clean it, not just "the area". Search the forum and you will find lots of information.

EDIT to add:

This is how you clean your radiator
https://www.corvetteforum.com/techti...D=53&TopicID=2

Loose the stupid titles.


[Modified by PeteL, 7:06 PM 3/6/2003]

 

If you have the main fan coming on before 190, it shouldnt get over about 215 in heavy traffic in hot weather. My fan comes on at 195, and in 95F heat the car barely touched 220.

If you have burped the system properly, then id suspect a bad water pump, it at least wouldnt hurt to replace it if its the stock unit.

 

If you have a low temp fan switch in there, it should not be running that hot. I also have a 160 stat and a fan switch that turns the fans on at 200 and my car never gets much above that. Did you make sure you've bled all the air out of the system. This will cause a car to run hot. :yesnod:

 

I run into the same problem. I have the stock setup with the fan comming on at 228 and when I get into heavy traffic, the temp can sometimes hit 240. I have not found a solution. Maybe I need to clean between my radiator too. I have noticed that it has gotten worse over the last 6 months, then again, I live in Florida. :confused:

 

My fan has been programmed to come on at 195 or so, and I almost never see above 195 or so. Think the hottest I saw was in 105* weather, bumper to bumper after I really heat soaked the poor thing; think I hit 205* for a short while.


Water pump is not usually an issue with coolant temp of this nature.

Pete

 

This is NORMAL!!! My vette DID it, my firebird does it, my fathers achieva does it. Its the way the general designed it!! Cruising the air dam deverts air efficiently through radiator, when idling no air is moving through except ambient under hood. That is what the fans jobs are. There is a solution, have someone burn a chip for you that turns the fans on around 170 ish. So when cruising no fans required less wear and tear, but when idling fans come on early to keep her at 170 ish until a cruise condition is met again. Simple

Kitt

 

Ditto all the previous suggestions, including the title

My 88 "devours" thermostats. Generally, I run like PeteL expressed, but when thermo starts to go bad, I get the "rapid" heat up from say 175 to 215 at a long stop light. When i start rolling again it takes a long time to cool back down.

These rapid heat ups and long cool downs are a sure sign that the thermo is stuck in a partially open condition. Don't ask me why but I go through a thermostat about every year and a half.

I drill a 1/16 whole in the thermo deck to allow water to pass through all the time and to avoid the air pocket.

:steering: [ I love that Lil Guy! ]

 

well i've got some ideas from all yours' help. thanks. I have a fan switch that kicks the fan on at 170F. It's a thermo controller i installed, works great. I just looked infront of the radiator a few mins ago....lil bit of trash...can't beleive that in 3 months it collected that fast. Tomorrows plan is to pull the radiator out and have it boiled out and clean the fins and clean that area out and go from there. If it's fixed....then good. If not....i'm thinking of removing the factory single fan and putting on the largest 2 fans that will fit and cut the back of the shroud. B/c we're dealing with an air flow problem...b/c if the radiator itself was to small...then cruising it would heat up too. my base ignition timing is +6 in the "mode". HOW DO YOU BURB OR BLEED THE AIR OUT OF THE SYSTEM???

 

To burp the system, run the engine with the radiator cap removed, once it hits the tstat temp and is fully opened, any air bubbles caught inside the system will come out.

And you fill it up to the top when its done.

 

Yeah Pete but i dont see any other solutions to his problem. If the pump is not circulating the water adequately then perhaps it will raise the temp. I agree that its not quite normal.

 

In my 87...one of the FIRST mods I did, was the cooling system. Here's what I did, and to this day, sitting idling in bumper-to-bumper traffic with the A/C on, it's BARELY got above 210º (Which really isn't even hot, considering these cars were MADE to run at approx. 200º)
1.) Pulled Radiator Shroud Off and THOROUGHLY cleaned the area out, as well as picked all the junk off the radiator. (Then I just replaced it because I found out I had a leak in one of the sidetanks, it was only $150 to replace.)
2.) Added a 160º Thermostat
3.) Bought a Low-Temp Aux. Fan Switch (Yeah, I have the B4P Cooling Option, that means I have that little fan in FRONT of the radiator, as well as the big one behind it.) for $13 from MAD, it's a 190º/170º Switch.
4.) According to 65Z01's Tech Tip, I wired the Aux. Fan switch into the main fan wiring, so BOTH fans would come on at 190º and go off at 170º.
5.) Added a bottle of Red Line's Watter Wetter to my coolant.
6.) Did a Throttle Body Coolant Bypass (Tech Tips)

All in all, the total cost for all of this was like $25 (aside from buying the new radiator, which I did because I HAD to.) So...if you have that "booster" cooling fan, I'd follow my steps, and I'm SURE you'll be running cool. (If not, I GURANTEE your water pump is shot.)

 

Temps look normal, but galvanic corrosion is a problem on the '89 so check for a leaking head gasket, particularly at #7. A plugged heater core, crappy looking coolant, or if its ever boilovered after shutdown are dead giveaways. The radiator could be partially plugged too. The entire system needs to be flushed, not just the radiator. Pull the oil cooler hose to drain the right side of the block, the knock sensor to do the right side. Heads can be drained by pulling the aux fan switch and gauge temp sender. If you're running your a/c, make sure it's properly charged and that the fan switch is turning on the main fan when the high side reaches 230 to 240psi. Unless you've got both fans hooked up to the aux fan switch, only the aux fan is coming on at 175. Hook up a scanner and compare temp with the dash readout, and also check when the fans are coming on. A large variation might indicate a skewed sender or a bum dash, but at this point, it probably depends on how you have everything hooked up. Make sure the alternator is up to snuff & fan wiring, motors & relays are in good shape. Both fans on, a/c on high with an extended idle, has most on battery voltage. Fans slow down, car heats up.