Please help, cooling problem...

[Alex41]

OK..... I am at my wits end here with this cooling system. I have a stock 4.3 radiator (brand new) with a 16lb cap, with two (one 14" one 12") puller fans on it. In front of the radiator is the condenser with two pusher fans (one 10" one 12"); and below, mounted in the bumper on an angle facing the ground, is the trans cooler with a 10" fan pushing at the ground.

I can drive around all day with the AC off and not pass 195. I can use my AC for as long as I am moving at around 35MPH but as soon as I get into stop and go, or I have to wait at a light it will creep up to the 225+ range and won't cool off until I turn it off and let it cool on its own. I have driven it at 45+ to try and cool it off after it breaches the 22x range but it just won't.

What the hell is wrong

[SoLowXtreme]

are the fans kicking on with the AC on ? or do u have them ON all the time

[Kampz69]

i thought i read somewhere that having pushers hurts the pullers ability to work correctly?

[Alex41]

The pullers are thermostatically controlled and the pushers on the condenser turn on when the AC is on.

The reason for the pushers on the condenser was to cool it further. It was doing the same thing with just the pullers on the radiator and the trans cooler infront of the condenser. It only heated up faster the old way.

[denali_on_26's]

alex do you have a shroud for the fans inside your engine bay... if not call me and we can make one that looks good!!!

[philntx]

Definitely!

Unless the puller fans are shrouded, you loose 40-60% efficiency at low speeds.

[Alex41]

Really!? I'll have to make one then and try it out.

Do you think the radiator capacity is too low for a LSX motor?

[Petro]

zx9rgreen doesn't have any issues using his stock 4.3 radiator...

[Petro]

zx9rgreen doesn't have any issues using his stock 4.3 radiator...so I wouldn't say the radiator doesn't have enough capacity it's how efficient the fans work...


Sorry about the double post...

[philntx]

Without a shroud, the fans only pull air through the area of the radiator covered by the fan.
Shrouded, the entire radiator gets air movement by the fans.

[Petro]

Quote: Originally Posted by philntx

Without a shroud, the fans only pull air through the area of the radiator covered by the fan.
Shrouded, the entire radiator gets air movement by the fans

Maybe you add that to the sticky....

[chevysten]

Quote: Originally Posted by Alex41

OK..... I am at my wits end here with this cooling system. I have a stock 4.3 radiator (brand new) with a 16lb cap, with two (one 14" one 12") puller fans on it. In front of the radiator is the condenser with two pusher fans (one 10" one 12"); and below, mounted in the bumper on an angle facing the ground, is the trans cooler with a 10" fan pushing at the ground.

I can drive around all day with the AC off and not pass 195. I can use my AC for as long as I am moving at around 35MPH but as soon as I get into stop and go, or I have to wait at a light it will creep up to the 225+ range and won't cool off until I turn it off and let it cool on its own. I have driven it at 45+ to try and cool it off after it breaches the 22x range but it just won't.

What the hell is wrong

I have the same problem.I have the stock 4.3 rad.and 2 12"shrouded puller fans.I can run all day without the ac on and never gets over 195.Turn the ac on and it gets around 215ish.I'm going to replace my radiator with an all aluminum 2core rad.That should fix the problem.I'll let you know soon.Mike

[philntx]

Mike, When you install the fans, make sure you have them shrouded similar to the pics above.

[zx9rgreen]

Are you guys running the tranny fluid thru the stock radiator? That has to add some heat and since im M6 I dont have that added heat. I definitely have no cooling issues with my setup on stock radiator and $20 fans.

[chevysten]

Quote: Originally Posted by zx9rgreen

Are you guys running the tranny fluid thru the stock radiator? That has to add some heat and since im M6 I dont have that added heat. I definitely have no cooling issues with my setup on stock radiator and $20 fans.

Hey Steve,I'm running my tranny lines through an aftermarket trans cooler then to my radiator cooler,so I'm adding heat to it.So I'm thinking of getting an all aluminum rad.2 core to get it to cool better.

[chevysten]

Quote: Originally Posted by philntx

Mike, When you install the fans, make sure you have them shrouded similar to the pics above.

Hey Phil My fans are shrouded.It doesn't get ridiculousley hot but I like it to run a little bit cooler.

[2000extemeturbo]

Quote: Originally Posted by chevysten

Hey Phil My fans are shrouded.It doesn't get ridiculousley hot but I like it to run a little bit cooler.

What thermostat do you have? 195?
You would either need a cooler thermostat, a bigger radiator, a better fan, or some combination of the three.

[chevysten]

Quote: Originally Posted by 2000extemeturbo

What thermostat do you have? 195?
You would either need a cooler thermostat, a bigger radiator, a better fan, or some combination of the three.

I'm running a 160 stat.I've thought about some higher cfm fans too.Its so damn hot here in Houston dont know if that will work.Lol!!

[philntx]

Alex, post up a picture of your cooling system.

[denali_on_26's]

i talked to Alex's friend yesterday while they were messing around with it and i told them how to make a shroud and to take off the pusher fans

[Alex41]

I got it made and in my haste, I neglected to take pics of the in-progress. I'll tell you this, it took me 5 hours to finish it since I wanted to do some metal work to it. I also welded the bolts to the back side so they wouldn't pull out. The longest time taken was making a 1/4 inch lip on it to raise it off the surface of the radiator. The kicker was I can no longer run that smooth intake tube I made anymore.


I'll post some shots of it on the truck soon. Have to run for now. Peace out and thanks for all the help so far guys.

[bitchin sonoma]

Quote: Originally Posted by Alex41

I got it made and in my haste, I neglected to take pics of the in-progress. I'll tell you this, it took me 5 hours to finish it since I wanted to do some metal work to it. I also welded the bolts to the back side so they wouldn't pull out. The longest time taken was making a 1/4 inch lip on it to raise it off the surface of the radiator. The kicker was I can no longer run that smooth intake tube I made anymore.


I'll post some shots of it on the truck soon. Have to run for now. Peace out and thanks for all the help so far guys.

waiting for th pics

[Alex41]

Here they are as promised. Sorry they aren't better, there really is no room in this thing.

[nti06]

are those hayden fans?

you do know that out of the box they are configured as pushers right?

if you didn't flip the fan blade over and reverse the polarity on your "pullers" then they are actually still pushers. just reversing the polarity won't make them pull air. some people never think to read the ink thats smeared all over the box.

in other news, i gave AVS the idea to make a fan and radiator shrould kit. my idea was to make it out of bakelite and be a clean fit over the edges of the crimps on each side. i guess its still in the idea box.

[Alex41]

I got the truck second hand and have done a ton of work myself. I don't know if he flipped the blades but I can tell you, the guy that made this truck knows his stuff. If he bought them and then instructions told him to do something, he did it.

[nti06]

strange things can happen. if you get the chance, check them to see if you have enough air blowing through the electric motor side to moves leaves.

[Alex41]

Oh....It will blow a wet towel! The first time the fans kicked on with the shroud on it, the engine nearly died from the amp. draw.

[denali_on_26's]

so does it work good now?

[Alex41]

I haven't had the chance to drive it during the day yet but will keep you guys informed as to how well it works.

[redbug]

ok ,i have the same problems and i went and got a bottle of red line water wetter,actually read the instructions and i droped 8 degrees well 7 to 8.i went with a 20% antifreeze as it sez to do .i didnt relize antifreeze will not let heat out.plus this stuff has all the additives you need for the radiator.what i do relize is that at a idle you just dont get the flow you need of water even with a heavey duty pump.now in the alldata site it sez the idle air control is suppose to raise your rpm 100 rpms at idle with a/c on. mine dosent but it checks good ohms wise and voltage and no vacuum leaks any one have a idea on this ,one thing i did notice is that it still heats up a bit but it takes longer but the heat dissapates faster.worth a try and its only 10 bucks

[Christobevii3]

I run about 40/60 anti freeze/water with the stock 4.3L radiator and the flexlite 220's. I haven't had any problem, sits around 200-210 with a/c on at highway speed when its been 103.

[Alex41]

So I finally got the opportunity to drive the truck in hot weather in stop and go traffic this week. It seems to have fixed the problem. It won't go over 210 on the gauge, which I was told reads a little higher than it really is.

Thanks to all who helped and gave input on this project.

[2000extemeturbo]

Quote: Originally Posted by redbug

.........idle air control is suppose to raise your rpm 100 rpms at idle with a/c on. mine dosent .........

This sounds like a tuning issue to me. Contact your tuner and make sure they have it set the way you want it.