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vegas heat, car running hot

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danyboy1409

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
ive been having a problem with my car running hot since last summer. This summer i have AC and the car runs even hotter. around the city it will climb up to 210 215 and i have to shut it off at stop lights and run the fans to try and cool it. On the freeway it was running at 210 without AC, if i turned on the AC it would start climbing instantly. When the car gets hot my air to fuel mixture gauge says its running really rich and the car will stall if i dont play with the throttle

i have a march 1 serpentine system, stainless steel braided fuel lines from classic, mechanical fuel pump, phenolic carb spacer, and a demon carb, and a big block aluminum radiator w/ two 11.5" spall fans w/ a shroud.

the motor is a 350 from a 69 truck. it has the edlebrock performer RPM kit and was dynod at 420 at the fly wheel and 315 to the wheels.
 
#2 ·
Bottom hose renforcing spring ok? cant squeeze the hose up?
Shroud and fan ok? fan postioned right in shroud...have a shroud?
Thermost working correct, dont assume a new thermosts works...check in jug of water as it heats up..it opens and opens all the way....and correct thermostats diameter hole when open...and has bleed hole....and correct temp rating?
Radiator cap working correct and right pressure?
Checked the calibration of the gauge in a jug of water as the water heats up?
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
bottom hose is good i cant squeeze it.

the shroud is a flat piece of aluminum with two cut outs for the fans. how are fans supposed to be positioned?

we have tried everything, right now it is running hot with no thermostat and a restricter plate inplace.

the radiator cap is 7 psi, i recently read it is suppose to be 20 psi. would that make a difference?
 
#4 ·
Danyboy, heck yeah it makes a difference! I think I read on this site that the pressurized radiator cap value gives you double the amount in terms of temperature. In other words: I have a 16psi cap on my radiator. That means my system would not suffer boil over until 244* F (212 + 32) So even going from your current 7psi cap to a 16psi would give you 18* of leeway before trouble strikes.

Now, none of this solves your running hot condition. On very hot days out here in California, my car gets up to 195-200* - and almost never any hotter. You still have some tweaking to do to get your normal running temps down.
 
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#5 ·
the shroud is a flat piece of aluminum with two cut outs for the fans. how are fans supposed to be positioned?
Click to expand...
Covered in many older threads....shroud type and where the fan sits....get it wrong and it will run hot.

Cap...from memory the orginal was a 15lb anything from a 12 to 16lb we have found works well...going higher stresses the radiator..it is not the pressuew that stresses but the pressure twisting the radiator that causes metal fatigue....lay a raditaor on the bench, then presure test, you will set it 'warp'

AND DONT ***-u&me the gauge reads right....
Dro the sensor in a near full electic jug of cold water...connect the temp gauge lead to it and ground the body of the sensor to the car
heat up the jug, with a thermeter in it and compare with what is on the gauge

Testing themostats basically the same but no wires connected.

Important, do it when the missus is out...other wise you will be in deep poo.
And wash oput well with dishwash machine powder and rinse well, otherwise the salightest bit of oil left in the jug makes your cup of coffee taste like crap.
 
#6 ·
Sounds like you have an airflow problem. Check serpentine system and fans. Make sure they are installed correctly. Electric fans can either "push" the air or "pull" the air through the radiator. On some fans all you have to do is reverse the positive wire, meaning make the postive wire the negative wire and the negative wire the postive wire in order to change the direction of airflow.
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
ya the aluminum radiator i have says that an 18psi cap should be ran. tomorrow i will go and put a different cap on.

so the fans should be only sticking halfway out the shroud correct? i can have a friend make me one if i need it.

also the fans are in the right direction, i think. i feel the air blowing towards the engine.

i thought the radiator may be clogged with some rust or something, even though its new the motor is not. so i took it out and let it sit over night with some CLR in it and i believe i got some crud and crap out today. i threw in the radiator today and tomorrow i will take it for a drive and see if that makes a difference.. also i put in a 195 stat, does that seem about right for vegas heat?
 
#9 ·
Most 11" fans are borderline sufficient in normal heat. In Vegas heat, your most likely under faned.

There are multiple fan designs, hopefully you at least have the high performance 11s (almost 3" thick)

Post a pic of the fans and shroud.

Besides that, put a thermostat in it, but I would actually go a 180, a lower temp stat will just stay open all the time and never let the water stay in radiator long enough to cool the water.

Is your March set up a horsepower kit or high flow water kit?
 
Discussion starter · #10 · (Edited)
http://www.marchperf.com/styletrack_sb.html this is the serpentine system i have, i was told that it has a high flow reverse rotation corvette water pump.

VA03-AP70/LL-37A (11" HP) this looks like the fans i have, i measured the fans and from radiator to the center tip of the fan is about 3 1/4-1/2".

i finally took the car for a drive the other day and it seemed to do pretty good, it never went above 210 and it stayed around 200-205 and when i got on the freeway it cooled down to 190, the temp outside was 112 and the AC was blasting. but i did have a problem, the car when it warms up begins to run very rich and floods out the motor. the car stalled at a stoplight and didnt want to start and when it finally did a white colored smoke came out the exhaust. does anyone else have this problem of the fuel getting hot, i have it routed in the stock location, but the exhaust going over the rearend may be closer than normal?

i just read something that drilling a hole in the gas cap may help the problem since it would let air in and out instead of just letting the air in? (i have vented gas cap)
 
#11 ·
danyboy1409 said:
http://www.marchperf.com/styletrack_sb.html this is the serpentine system i have, i was told that it has a high flow reverse rotation corvette water pump.

VA03-AP70/LL-37A (11" HP) this looks like the fans i have, i measured the fans and from radiator to the center tip of the fan is about 3 1/4-1/2".

i finally took the car for a drive the other day and it seemed to do pretty good, it never went above 210 and it stayed around 200-205 and when i got on the freeway it cooled down to 190, the temp outside was 112 and the AC was blasting. but i did have a problem, the car when it warms up begins to run very rich and floods out the motor. the car stalled at a stoplight and didnt want to start and when it finally did a white colored smoke came out the exhaust. does anyone else have this problem of the fuel getting hot, i have it routed in the stock location, but the exhaust going over the rearend may be closer than normal?

i just read something that drilling a hole in the gas cap may help the problem since it would let air in and out instead of just letting the air in? (i have vented gas cap)
Click to expand...
Where i live it gets to be about 103 hot at times, my 68 runs at 190 - 210 at times too. I believe there is a special coolant that is made for cars that run in hot weather and it is suppose to keep your engine running allot cooler. I have yet to try this, and i am not running AC. I saw this special coolant in a Chevy magazine for Camaros also. I will add a link when i find it. Running at that temp my Camaro has never stalled but i can imagine with AC running it would. I drove to another city where the temp is normal like 70 and my camaro was luving it. I hate these hot cities but houses were cheaper, lol ..
 
#12 ·
Besides that, put a thermostat in it, but I would actually go a 180
Click to expand...
Yes...this is the stock thermostat temp...and make sure you get the 180 for chev SB there are 2 GM thermostats the std one and a "high flow" one..I would start with the std one 1st.
This will not 'solve' the issue unless the 190 you have in (which will be a non GM not for a SB...maybe for a toyota or something) doesnt have the flow charactoristics that the sb needs.
And always check the new thermost in a jug and thermometer before installing.
 
Discussion starter · #13 ·
i forgot to add that i did throw in a high flow 180 stat before the last test drive, but i had a 195* stat in before not 190*. Im going to wrap the fuel line with a heat radiant tape and see if that helps.
 
#14 ·
Check your bowl levels. If they are a little high the heat may force the fuel into the venturis. Also, run a 70% water/30% coolant ratio as long as you don't plan to go to a cold climate. It's tough to keep these babies cool. It's ****** hot.
 
Discussion starter · #15 ·
i just got back from driving and it was running really rich under acceleration but at idle it was good right around 12.7-13.2 on my AF gauge. and it did flood out and die a couple times. i just checked the bowls and i cant see in any in the front one and the back one was just under half way. i got a hold of the guy who tuned the motor and im going to go see him in a couple weeks to see if maybe he can do something. i checked the timing and it was 40* total advance, idk if thats common but we'll see.
 
#16 ·
Check the routing of your fuel lines, we recently built 2 Chevyll's and I ran fuel lines on outside of frame, ( transmission lines also) to keep them away from exhaust/headers. here in Arizona we run little less then 10/15 degrees cooler then you...can't drive my Lemans right now 230 in 5 miles...working on that right now J
 
#17 ·
really rich under acceleration but at idle it was good right around 12.7-13.2 on my AF gauge.
Click to expand...
When the throttle is down the engine is meant to run rich.
 
Discussion starter · #18 ·
i know it is supposed to run rich under acceleration but it is running so rich that on my gauge it is straight 10.0 and the car is cutting out as i accelerate.

i checked the routing of the lines and it is in the stock location, it is on the inside of the the frame than about half way down it crosses over to the inside. there is one point over the rear end where my exhaust pipping comes up within an inch of my fuel line! i put some heat radiant tape covering the fuel line near the rear end and also i wrapped the fuel line in the engine bay.

ive been looking at a Fuel Heat Sink like this http://www.etrailer.com/p-D13260.html but im having a hard time finding a reviews about them? does anyone know how they work?
 
Discussion starter · #19 ·
common guys im looking for suggestions!

ive read running a return fuel line could help cool the fuel by keeping it moving

also im looking into water/methanol injection system- if someone has experience with these if you could chime in and your thoughts.
 
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