Hi all..I am a newbie to the website and to owning an LT1. I recently bought a 1986 El Camino. Seller had put a 1995 LT1 in it. I really am enjoying driving this toy. I was having issues with it getting hot (or I thought so). The fan (only has one) was not coming on all of the time. I have a friend who is a mechanic. He helped me wire the fan directly to ignition. When key is on..fan is on. This helped..still on occasion, the temp gauge would go way up..then go down. This car has custom gauges. We decided to replace the gauge and put a new thermostat in. My friend put in a 195 degree T-stat. I stays right on 199 most of the time. Now with summer here, and A/C on it goes up to 212on occasion. Is this too hot? Is this normal? Should I put a colder T-stat in? Am I over reacting? Just got this thing..don't want to hurt it. Thanks in advance for any help.
Steve

 

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mine was going up to 220 before the fans were comming on. so I guess its normal temp.


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Why would your mechanic friend put a hotter than stock thermostat? 185 is stock.

A common upgrade is a 160-thermostat. Couple that with earlier fan operation and a good clean cooling system and your temps shouldn't get much above 200.

Your temps are fine, by the way.

 

180* is stock due to the reverse-flow cooling system on the LT1. Hopefully you are using the correct LT1 t'stat. Shouldn't use one for a Gen 1 SBC.

http://shbox.com/1/tstat.jpg

The engine is designed to run at 210

Everything you need to know:

4th Gen LT1 F-body Tech Articles

 

You really don't need the fans on all the time. You should wire them back like stock and put in a 180° (or 160°) thermostat. Read up on the cooling system.

 

Thanks all...is there any harm to let the fans run all the time? If 200-210 is normal..What temp on the gauge would be considered HOT or overheated?
Steve

 

I wouldnt run the fans full time either. I would think it will wear them out premature. I would think at certain speeds and starnge air currents could even be damaging them. You can have them controlled by the pcm and have a switch to turn them on before the programmed temps. Thats nice at a stoplight, staging lanes and so forth. As mentioned above if you put in the cooler and correct thermostat and had your pcm flashed for fans to turn on sooner you would be way ahead of the game. I had cooling troubles and much of mine was because the ac condensor and radiator had alot of little rocks and debris trapt and caused it to store heat rather than get rid of it. Forn me I considered 230 too hot but not pull off the road kind of hot. More of a be sure my fans are on and hope to hit some higher speeds to cool it down. 240 was the point I was worried (never really got there until the head gasket was going)


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Fans on all the time:

-engine warms up more slowly
-unneeded wear on fan motor
-unneeded load on generator system to power fan motor
-waste of HP to generate electrical power
-possible reduced air flow when at highway speeds

Upward of 245 is what I would consider the threshold to overheating. If your fan works at all with the stock configuration, I doubt you will see that.