its a 87 IROC-Z 350. i have a 180* thermostat in it,but whenever it gets the least bit hot/humid here,the temp goes right up to 200 or so. is this normal? i dont like it running that hot and i have both fans running all the time (whenever the key is on). is there somethin i can do to help keep it a little cooler? i dont have the TB coolant bypass yet but i want to do that soon.

thanx

 

how old is the coolant?
i your rad not cooling properly.restricted
do a cooling system flush.
buy some stuff to help clean out the cooling system
dont forget to drain the block on each side of the block

 

mine runs around 220 unitil the fan kicks on then it coem down to a little less then 200 i think is pretty normal!!!

 

Actually that is 100% normal. The factory setting on GM cars is right at or around 228* for the primary fan to turn on. The secondary fan only kicks on when you are running the AC or if you get up to 260* or so. One way to help the problem is to buy a fan switch which will kick on the secondary fan at a lower temp but the one and only true fix is to go into the prom and change the setting down. I was having nasty heating problems and then I changed the settings and the T-stat and have never had a problem to this day. I dont think that my car has seen above 160* since the changes. Some low cost alternatives are water wetter, manual fan switch, looking at the AC condensor to see if it is all dented up, see if there is anything in front of the radiator itself (bags, leafs, cardboard, dead animals, trust me I have seen it all). Just some things for you to think about. Good luck.

 

That temp is pretty normal, but if you do start running a little hotter, as well as doing everything the other posters mentioned, you should also check the air dam under the car to see if it is damaged, you'd be surprised how much cooler a car will run when it is correctly attached.

 

Pressure wash the condenser to get rid of debris between the condenser and the radiator. Make sure the fins are not bent.

 

thank u all for your imput,whenever my next big project comes,ill do some of the things listed

and if only i could tune my own computer...

 

Yes, you can tune your own computer.

http://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/foru...?s=&forumid=16

I have my ECM controlled fan come on at 195 and turn off at 187. I have a 180 thermo. The temps the ECT is reading is 185.4 when the temp stabilizes. Either my thermo is off, or my ECT is off, but I adjusted the prom to compensate.

 

Try replacing your radiator cap. It might look fine, but it could be at fault. I just changed out my cap and I dropped just over 20 degrees. No joke, look into it.

 

Take the cap and bring it to the auto parts store to do a pressure test. Bad habit to just replace parts.

 

Thats very true, it is a bad habbit to just replace parts without knowing what the culprit is. But for the cost of a radiatior cap that was $3.99 I didnt mind replacing it. I had never replaced it before, and for piece of mind it was worth the 4 dollars.

 

Try this. Drain the coolant and fill it with water and add some radiator flush and twice the strength. Run it for a while and drain. See if there is crud coming out of the radiator. You might have a stopped up radiator. Another way to test it is to get an infra red thermometer from Sears. Be careful with it if you want to return it after use. Scan the radiator and see if there are any cold spots in it when the car is warming up.