Hey everyone,
Recently, the temperature here in Atlanta has been picking up. The last two work days, with the highs being in the low 90's, I've sat in bumper to bumper traffic and my water temp has steadily climbed until it stops, just a hair before the needle touches the red. This car has always had a problem running hot and overheating. Recently, I've built a new engine, the entire cooling system is new (hoses, waterpump, t-stat, and a brand new pretty aluminum Be Cool radiator). How then, is my car still overheating? I thought it was possibly a bad temp sensor in the head, but then I hooked up to the lap top, and it confirmed, my car is running in the 250's! The cooling fans are running. What else can I do to bring this thing's temp down? Do the electric fans ever become worn out so that they can't move air?!?!? I'm lost. If I could get a hold of Bryan at PCM for less to do my tuning then I would possibly try lower fan turn-on temps and a 160 degree t-stat. Anyone else have any suggestions or comments? I'm baffled.

 

I dont know about 4th gen cooling characteristics... but here's what I did to my 3rd gen to bring down the temps.

1. Wire the fans to be on PERMANENTLY, both of em.

2. Make sure the plastic air dam under the radiator is in good shape, mine was pretty beat up n wasnt getting airflow up into the rad, then it fell off, n the summer's come around in Florida again, I was running in the 250's even hit 260 once - then I spent $25 to replace the plastic air dam, i'm running at 190 on the interstate and around 210 in stop and go traffic.

Today one of my fans decided to take a dump so I'm back up at 230-250 degrees depending on time of day, but as long as the car keeps moving, I'm ok, n when i hit the interstate i drop right back down to around 200.

It sounds like you've tried replacing everything in the cooling system, so now just wire your fans on permanently and confirm the air dam is still there. In 3rd gens you just need to ground the fan relays n they'll come on with the ignition.

Also I find running NO thermostat keeps me cooler than running a 160 or 180, I know alotta people are gonna argue that you need to slow down the flow - but try it, if it helps it helps, if it doesnt, put the thermostat back in, but I even spoke to BeCool about this n they told me that removing the thermostat can help in alotta cases, but its all dependant on the individual cooling system so you just gotta try it n see what happens. You can even buy discs that are basically thermostats without the center thermostat piece, so you can control your coolant flow and keep it flowing constantly - look at that thing, the hose is like 1-1/2" thick n ure pushin all that coolant through tiny lil holes, talk about restriction!

 

Thanks, I'll try wiring the fans to stay on all the time. I'm not quite sure I understand what you meant about grounding the fan relays though?

 

Ok, if i can't get this stupid POS to cool then I'm yankin' the motor and replacing it with the original, and selling the damn thing as it sits. It makes no sense that a car with the best f-ing radiator made will not cool. To make matters worse, I can't find info anywhere on a Be Cool or Spal fan set-up that would work to cool it. I'm pissed, and I need help immediately. I can't afford to throw anymore thousands of dollars at this f-ing car.

 

I wouldnt go as drastic as to get rid of the whole motor. Make sure your hoses aren't collapsing at higher RPM's, n theres no silicone blocking the water pump passage onto the block. Make sure you top up the radiator while its at around 2500rpm n close the radiator cap while still at 2500rpm.

 

I appreciate the suggestion, but I've covered all of those bases already. I'm thinking I may just hold the motor for another project later. I'm really discouraged.

 

Have you bled the system ?

If you have done everything else, just pull the thermo and see if it heats up the same. If not, your thermo would be stuck.

Bleeding the air out of the system is the most overlooked though.
And I don't reccomend wiring the fans direct. Thats what burns them up.

-Shannon

 

Fans are rated for a certain amount of hours of use, lets say 10,000 hours - if u wire them constant, they are gonna last 10,000 and burn up, if you let them come on by switches, well, 1) if ure running that hot, they are gonna be on permanently anyway! n 2) they will still last 10,000 hours, but you're using them slightly less so the 10,000 takes longer to reach - IMO, just wire em direct, n after 10,000 hours (or however long they are rated for), replace em.