Blown 383 owners with FMIC Inside Please!!!!

I recently finished putting together my car. It is a 383 with an ATI Procharger and the 3 core intercooler mounted in front. The car runs really hot. I have the stock rad, stock fans, 160 thermo and fan programming to come on at 180 along with the air dam. Everything works fine. Have you guys had the same experience with your blown 383's? I know that when you increase power to this level you need much better cooling capabilities especially with blowers, but I thought I would be OK with the stock system. I am thinking of going with better fans but I don't know if this would help.

I would venture to say that the amount of power you have is not really the problem. The problem lies with the front mounted intercooler is probably obstructing airflow to the radiator. You may need to get creative with some duct work.

How hot does it run? My friends 92 Vette (heads/cam car) always ran a bit hot <like 205-210> but they have poorly designed radiators/cooling ducts etc..

Mike

How hot does it run? My friends 92 Vette (heads/cam car) always ran a bit hot <like 205-210> but they have poorly designed radiators/cooling ducts etc..

Mike
Well, I shut it down when it would start going into the 230's, so it would get really hot.
Even when I had the intercooler mounted on the bottom and all the stock ductwork on I still had the temperature issue thats why I mounted the IC in the front thinking the IC on the bottom was the root cause of everything.

Hows your water pump flow. I have a 383Lt1 12 psi D1 and a be-cool+160 stat. I have been running a 12" flex-lite electric fan. Even with the fan running, if I am @ idle, the temp can go up to 210. When I have air flow it reduces to about 180. Converting to 2-12" fans now. I run a large spearco under in front of the K member. I run an electric water pump now.
Do you know if your fans are running @ high speed???

Yes fans are running at high speed and I forgot to mention but I have a Meziere HD Pump. The car just seems to creep up to higher temps as I am driving. At idle the temps actaully stay OK its when I am moving the temps don't seem to come down with airflow. Will the 12" flex-a-lites help me any?

I would say you don't have a fan problem. How about the theromostat? That's a cheap swap. Also, if you removed the hood and ran it that way, maybe your underhood temp is to high, and not enough air flow. I have an SS hood, and that helps by dumping air onto top of the motor. Temps should go down when moving. I assume your heads have no blocked passage when you assembled them. Are you running a felpro head gasket? I'm guessing to much. I did notice my driver side header would glow red. Turned out to be a bad opti. The rotor soon failed, and I could see the the metal contact was displaced changing the spark timing.

I checked the thermo when I put together the motor and it was fine. If the thermo was bad it would heat up at idle as well and it does not. I have cometic head gaskets and everything seems to be ok. I think I need to direct air to the radiator. It looks more and more like an airflow problem. Thanks for the replies so far guys I really appreciate it. :thumb:

Get a griffin rad and it will solve your heat issues. The Giffin is literally twice as thick as the stocker. I have one on my ride, and even in the 110-120 temps of the high desert of southern CA my car never got close to overheating. The hottest I have ever seen my car get was just a tick under the 1/2 mark, and as soon as I started to move and get some airflow the guage went down to just over the 1/4 mark. I also ran a 70/30 mix of water to coolent and also a bottle of "water wetter". Now that I am stationed in Wisconsin the outside temp never gets above 90 so the car stays at the 1/4 mark, and in the winter it takes a long time just to get to the 160 mark. Good Luck, and hope it helps.

Thanks ATMINF, I will definitely look into that. Which is the griffin radiator that will work on our cars and how much do they run?
Also I just got a great deal on Ebay on a brand new Dual 11 inch Spal fan setup for $200.00. I hope this along with the radiator will solve my issues.

I put my Griffin in about 4-5 years ago and I got it from Summit or Jegs. Its been so long I forgot, but I can say, all I did was call and tell them I wanted a Griffin Rad for a 95 Z28 auto and they hooked me up. Also you do NOT need a aftermarket fan. You can use your stock fan setup. All you have to do is some trial fit and cut out some of the plastic "support structure" and it will fit. I just did the old put in, take out see what still "hits" and dremeled the stuff that was in the way. I also "zip tied" some of the hoses away(tighten away from the fan shroud). Just take your time and really look at what can stay and what needs to go and you should have at least 75% of the fan shroud in place and it will be good to go. And more specifics just ask and I will try to help out the best I can. Also I think the radiator was around $500-550 when I bought it. Good luck

I was thinkin, could your electric water pump be wired backwards. It's a DC motor. Maybe a stupid idea, but, worth the check. If the impeller is reverse biased, flow will be greatly comprimised.

mzg has a point. i am running a fmic, and i have no cooling problems whatsoever. the fans are on almost constantly, but temps stay at 180 most of the time, never climbing high enough to get me nervous. check into it obviously, there is something to be fixed there. good luck...

I don't think you can go wrong wiring the pump though. Its got a black wire for ground and a fused wire for power. I connected the black wire to chassis ground and the positive wire I used an ignition wire from the relay block. But the thing is I turn the car on when its cold it will get up to operating temp. and can idle there for an hour without passing 180. The moment I put load on it and begin to drive the temp begins to slowly creep up.
dynomight what is your cooling setup? Still using stock rad? and how is your FMIC mounted?

aside from waterwetter and programming, i am running stock cooling. the temps never climb above 180, and once warm stay in the 170-180 range. the fans run almost constantly, however the car runs cool even on the hottest days. also, during summer months, i only drive the car at dusk and on, to avoid the sun/heat.

before the motor upgrade, the temps would hover in the 220 range in normal city driving. but after the upgrade, the programming kept the temps down.

i used to have a picture series put together for my fmic, as i did it myself. i liked it because i have seen some done where the nose is all hogged out and chopped up. i was able to keep mine looking stock, and i was able to keep my stock drivinglights as well. i do have the car apart right now, as i am going to mufflex to have ind/exh ductwork done for good. so i could take some pics for you and show you. let me know.

and i never encountered a major cooling issue, so my knowledge is limited. but maybe it could be a head gasket issue your dealing with? keep us posted...

Dynomight, the only difference I have between my setup and yours is the Meziere pump. I wonder if this could be my issue. I have read somewhere that the stock pump does a better job of keeping the car cool as RPMS rise. I will keep at it and see what I come up with. Thanks for the replies. That would be great if you can send me some pics of the FMIC I would appreciate it.

i have 383 fmic f1 procharger and mz water pump. never see temps like that. hows is your tune? do you know the timing is right? you say it runs hot but does it run right? any power problems? glowing headers?

No glowing headers, the tune seems to be good. BLM's are at 121 on normal driving. I may have to work on the timing a little but it should'nt be to bad cause the car runs good. I still have not taken the car WOT cause I want it to get dyno tuned first.
Are you running a/c or did you remove the condenser? I still have a/c in mine so maybe that is taking a toll on the cooling system since now the motor is demanding more from the cooling system. I don't know I am just really frustrated!!