Help with v8 cooling!!!!

[mountaindewguy]

OK i finally got my crate motor started after a year in progress. Now i have a problem where it heats up, and just keeps going. it has done this since the first startup. it will run, get up to about 225-230 before i shut it off. I had a used radiator, so i went ahead and replaced the radiator, and the water pump, no dice. i had a stock 180 thermostat in, and put a 160 in, no difference.

anyone have any ideas? i was running a puller electric fan but i'm having problems with that. so i set up a box fan on the outside of it to help cool, but regardless the sonofabitch just heats right up. i also have a flex fan i can use, but no shroud. i was thinking they pushed air out of the engine bay, but forgot they pulled air in so i need a shroud.

anything ANYONE can think of?

[s10-den]

One thing, a box fan aint gonna cut it.If you have a flex fan on there and its "pushing", you got the wrong direction fan or you have the belt on wrong, turning the waterpump the wrong way....

[mountaindewguy]

naw its pulling, but for some reason i was thinking they pused.

would buying a reverse flow fan, and flipping it around (so it pushed) make a good push fan?

[LXtasy]

What radiator do you have? what is timing set at? What is fuel pressure set at? Stritcly water? was this just at idle or driving? is there air in the system?

[sb350s10]

i had the same problem... i got a better radiator and put the flex fan on, now it stays cool... i got a two core rad if u need a different one make me an offer if u need it

[2fast4love]

ran into that crap earlier this year, here were my problems. radiator i used a 82-92 camaro 2 core works better than a 3 core brass. a tarus fan use a good fan i know spal has some good ones and so does s10v8. com. thats what i can reccomend should work. im not sure if you or anyone else is running a v6 rad but that didnt work for me good luck

[HectorM52]

Easy one. Get the fan working. Whether it's the Taurus, SPAL, belt-driven, etc... Just get one in there that works right.

[firstgenon24s]

Well I had a little problem with cooling this year in florida but now it takes about 15 mins of idling to even get to 180 but ive got a 160 thermo which im going to swap to a 180 and the stock puller fan on the belt and a 92 firebird 5.0 radiator with 50/50 antifreeze and a 4.3 shroud driving at night it runs at 150 and sometimes less im going to add this pusher fan behind the grille that i got its like an 11 inch pusher im going to mount it to the drivers side of the rad since it wont fit in the middle due to the core support Id try keeping the stock puller with a 4.3 rad and an 11 inch pusher behind the grille,i got the tip for the fan and thermo from s10den hes awesome!!

[sb350s10]

i got two 10" pushers on the front of the rad and still didnt work for me.. probably the fans though... didnt cool for me till i mounted the flex and it runs hotter with the elec. fans on for some reason... and i took the thermo out stays bout 180 190 in mississippi heat and bout 150 160 at night

[sb350s10]

oh and i got a 3 core rad from an el camino

[mountaindewguy]

what are you guys using for a shroud for a mech. fan?

[firstgenon24s]

im using 4.3 shroud modded up

[sb350s10]

i dont have one

[s10-den]

Yep the shroud is going to be a "make your own junk" item!!
Oh and350s10, this summer when it gets really hot, you might want to think about a thermastat.The longer you drive it, the hotter the coolant will get and it "WILL" overheat sooner or later.
Im actually working on trying to make fan shrouds,but its gonna be hard since everyone uses all kinds of weird chit and where they set their motors.Its takes ALOT OF TIME to make em look decent.You wont win a car show, thats for sure.Well, if the the pockets are deep enuff,you could..

Mountainman, what rad. and fan are you using?What thermastat,I see you over on the other side of the net having the same problem.

[firstgenon24s]

Yeah ill admit the shrouds def dont look too pretty looks much cleaner without them but oh well id rather have a cool motor than a clean overheating motor

[Svtzx555]

Had the same problem. I bought the conversion radiator from summit and flex a lite 220 e-fans and haven't had a problem since. The radiator is an all aluminum 4 core and the fans are dual 12". Stays as cool as I want it in the summer and during the winter, I don't use the fans at all.

[mountaindewguy]

yeah, so i got a brand new vette rad. yesterday, i started the truck up, fixed my fan problem (circuit breaker was shot) then BANG, fan sucked itself (SOMEHOW?!?!) right into the radiator.

thinking since i need a new one i'm gonna go ahead and get the conversion radiator. its expensive, but MUCH thicker and well built than a vette rad. and with a big ass flex fan it should cool alright.

what ya think?

[mountaindewguy]

also, what about that water wetter stuff by redline? or royal purple's or DEI's radiator additive? they're sposed to cut temps by like 30 degrees

[sb350s10]

Quote: Originally Posted by mountaindewguy

also, what about that water wetter stuff by redline? or royal purple's or DEI's radiator additive? they're sposed to cut temps by like 30 degrees

i wanted to that myself but didnt know whether to believe it or not

[2fast4love]

water wetter and thoose things tend to work , but they tell you to add about 70 to 80 percent water which in turn makes it cooler. truth is if you run 30 percent coolant and 70 percent water it will also lower your temps. check the antifreeze gallon says it outback.

[LaynLo]

Quote: Originally Posted by s10-den

... or you have the belt on wrong, turning the waterpump the wrong way....

i would check that too since you didnt say you had a regular or reverse flowing pump.

[mountaindewguy]

standard, v belts, foolproof lol

[s10-den]

The only thing about thick radiators is you better have a good fan(s) to pull air through them or some kind of shroud...

[mountaindewguy]

i have a flex a lite 18 inch, everyone else swears by them. i hooked it up to see how much air it pulled and DAMN. my electric fan was 3000cfm and the flex fan pulled in way more air than it did.

[s10-den]

I would take a water pump fan any day over electric,As far as everyday driving with ac

[jarvists]

I JUST DID MY SWAP AND I GOT ELECTRIC FANS OPFF OF A 96 intrepid and use the stock 4.3 raditor and ran a relay for the fan and i run 190-200 degrees and thats in 90 degree weather he in St Louis.MO

[s10-den]

You got ac?Ok,if your at 200 right now, when it gets hot(lol) your gonna have a situation I think...especially if your not moving, if not those must be some great fans!.got a pic of your setup?

[mountaindewguy]

would something like a leaky head gasket cause it to heat that fast? someone on another forum told me to check and see if my oil looked like it was milky in color, i still have yet to check, but just a thought..?

i just don't see how a head gasket would cause it to heat that quick? just got my new summit aluminum conversion radiator, will try that otherwise

[jarrodh]

mine seems tos tay prety cool, gets about 210 sittin in trafic,(195t-stat) for a long time, on a 30 degree day..30 here in canada, so what ever it is in fereheit

i got 86 corvette rad, 1 16' promotive e'fan(same as a flexalite, but half the price) and a 9' e'fan jammed beside it, about 2600cfm together..

[s10-den]

That will work good on a non ac truck...
and yes a headgasket will cause it to heat up and not stop heating up!Are you losing coolant?

[blownss98]

I had the same trouble I bought the be cool v8 s10 radiator fit great works even better.

[mountaindewguy]

dont think so, gonna drain the oil tomorrow and check it

[Bad-S]

i had a .060 over 350 and could NEVER keep it cool. tried SO many different combos.

the only one that worked and worked ridiculously well was this fan,
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/16-Zi...3286.m14.l1318

on a vette radiator.

i could sit in hot weather in traffic and it would never go past 200. awesome setup.

[mountaindewguy]

thats the fan i had, and thats the fan that ate my radiator lol.

my flex fan pulls in much more air though. HOPEFULLY my oil is OK, thats all i'm worried about.

[TuckaBlaze]

What about this one? 6000cfm...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Flex-...3286.m14.l1318

[Bad-S]

that should do the job... bu 400 bucks?!?! get that zirgo. worked out great and is pretty cheap.

[s10-den]

it woulkd be nice, but it would be hard as hell to fit it in there.

[The Griff]

hmm, i have a .060 350. I have the summit racing S-10 radiator, and Flex-A-Lite 220's, and it hardly goes over 205* on a 90* day.

[my598]

hi i have a 95 jimmy 4x4 with a/c. 350 with a 180 thermosat,corvette radiator. have dual electric fans in front of the a/c condensor. still the motor cruising down the road gets hot i`m about to sale this thing and give up. i dont have room 2 put a fan in front of the radiator. have about 1-1/2 between the radiator and the water pump. anybody have any ideas.

[The Griff]

Quote: Originally Posted by my598

hi i have a 95 jimmy 4x4 with a/c. 350 with a 180 thermosat,corvette radiator. have dual electric fans in front of the a/c condensor. still the motor cruising down the road gets hot i`m about to sale this thing and give up. i dont have room 2 put a fan in front of the radiator. have about 1-1/2 between the radiator and the water pump. anybody have any ideas.

which motor mounts are you using? i have the the stealh mounts so i was able to move the motor back far enough to make room for flexalites'










most of the pics were before they had been hooked up, so the wires are not interfearing with my w.p pulley.


also are you running a Long or a short pump? i have a long water pump, but if you switched to a short that could free up some room.

[my598]

i running a long water pump because i have a serp belt. that looks good. a freind of mine had them he brought them from ebay awhile back.

[The Griff]

Quote: Originally Posted by my598

i running a long water pump because i have a serp belt. that looks good. a freind of mine had them he brought them from ebay awhile back.

ah, i see yeah you have to have the LWP for the serp setup. which radiator are you using? Current performance just came out with a new radiator/condenser combo, specificly for us V* s10 guys...

[my598]

yea i know i seen it. its awesome but i`m leaving 4 iraq soon and money alittle tight. i have the corvette radiator in it

[mountaindewguy]

........

drained the oil today. it was blackish in color with a SMALL hint of grey. but i looked really close and could see like powder sized metallic flakes all through the oil. could this be the break in additive that was in it? (full of zinc)???

what all could it be besides a head gasket? if that is the case?

what exactly does milky oil look like? like white-ish in color or what?

***when i mean it was gray-ish i'm talking like pencil lead gray or darker. could be the zinc from the break in lube?

[jarrodh]

Quote: Originally Posted by mountaindewguy

what exactly does milky oil look like? like white-ish in color or what?

***when i mean it was gray-ish i'm talking like pencil lead gray or darker. could be the zinc from the break in lube?

milky oil looks like like a bad glass of baileys..lol...haha

and if if you just broke the motor in, then yes a metalic look to the oil is normal for break in.. aslong ans its really super fine... and just grey, but if theres pieces u can feel on ur fingers, then you got problems..

[mountaindewguy]

naw this stuff was like as fine as flour.

[V8ss10]

on my truck i used the factory radiator with dual electric fans and it never gets hotter than 210 usually...it sometimes will get up to 220 which is pretty warm but i really dont have any problems i have a serpentine setup with ac and all that as well

[reds10guy]

Hey,
I have an 89 s10 that i just put a 350 in. I bought the truck with a factory 4.3, swapped it for a 305, shattered the Crankshaft on it and decided to put the 4 bolt main 350 in it. the 305 overheated at first until i discovered i needed a reverse rotation waterpump with my serpentine system, after that it ran in the 175-195 range. I have the factory 4.3 aluminum radiator a mr. gasket 185 high flow thermo and twin 12" flex-a-lites pulling. I do still have the AC in it including the giant condensor but never use it because of this overheating issue.
The fans are wired to the ignition and come on at startup and sitting still it will heat up to 220 in about 15 mins...if I'm cruising around it takes about 30 mins.
It doesnt help that its 100 degrees in nashville today and has been close to that all week, but this is sick
My thoughts are removing the AC condensor and components, a 165 deg thermo, two 10" electric pushers, water wetter, and a tranny cooler.
I just dont know which will have the best effect on my situation
any help woud be greatly appreciated