I've been having water temp problems and now think I have them solved. My temps are steady 220. When I start hot rodding, they go up to about 230-235. Just want to know the absolute highest temp before I would need to turn the engine off

 

God only knows. The first day that I had my Z28...traded my built 87 mustang coupe with Viper T56 blah blah blah... for it, and I go to drive it during the day and it overheats and I am talking buries the needle at 260. I turned it off a few times in traffic but all that really does is builds pressure anyhow being that the fans arent on and nothing is cooling. I finally got stopped and waited a long while before I went to check on it, put some coolant in it and went on my way and again it overheats as I expected. I keep going and pulling over and going and pulling over til I finally make it home. I tear into the thing and find that there is no thermostat. I replace that. Overheating is still going on. Looks like it is time for a new thermostat. I also notice that the filler tube on the valve cover is from some other vehicle and possibly some other make ( I am thinking ford ) and it does not seal properly on the valve cover which under pressure, the oil begins to make like a geyser and shoot out around the filler tube and all over the underside of my hood and just gets everywhere in general.

Sorry I was not trying to hijack your thread. I have had this car for 3 days and have already started to make it a huge investment. DOH!

This chebby better put down some serious numbers when I start puting the goodies on there.

K back to your regularly scheduled programming.

 

damn you guys are running hot. my car never goes over 200. but the fans are always on.

 

I'd change the thermo to 160 and flush the system really well. Then go get the fans setup for that thermo. My temps never go over 190 and it's always nice to be able to see if my water temps are going up and I'll have time to react to them. Eww 260 is too hot and too much of a risk of blowing a head gasket.

Mike

 

235degF is not a problem in terms of causing any damage. The factory programming turns the 1st fan on at 226degF and the 2nd fan (or high speed in later models) at 235degF. The "red" zone on your coolant temperature gauge indicates the limits the factory engineers had in mind when they designed the engine.

You can generally get a little better performance with lower coolant temperatures, and that's where the 160deg t'stat and the reduced fan on/off settings comes in.

 

It depends on what you are doing. Remember that straight water boils at 212 so if you are a bit light on the coolant than your coolant might start to boil building up psi to the point that your hoses can burst.

 

Well hopefully you're not running straight water and even if you were, that's what a thermostat and radiator cap are for. So you don't bust any hoses.

 

212ºF is the normal boiling point. Add pressure beyond atmospheric and the boiling temperature is higher.

-Mindgame

 

with 180 stat and fans that never turn off my car doesnt leave 160

 

LOL then you're dilusional. A 180 stat won't open until the water temps reach 180. So the lowest your temp will ever be is 180 during full warmup. Can I buy pot from you?!

 

No. The pressure in the radiator will equal the vapor pressure of the coolant/water mixture, at whatever temperature its operating at. No boiling takes place. The cap is, in effect, an 18psi relief valve. If pressure exceeds 18psi, the cap releases coolant until the pressure is 18psi or less. If you have an overheating problem, this is when you get into trouble, but pressure isn't going to exceed the cap value, and healthy hoses aren't going to burst at 18psi.

Then your thermostat is broken - stuck "open", because if it is working correctly, it will not even open at 160degF and allow water to be cooled in the radiator.

 

Actually a 180 deg therm. opens at about 195-200 depending on the model, the closes again at 180. My hypertech 160 therm. doesnt even open untill 185.

 

A near stock LT1 should have no problem maintaining 180-200 degrees with normal stop and go city driving. First things to do would be:

160 thermostat
Manual fan switch or reprogramming

If that helps but doesn't satisfy or seems like you're still having problems, then:

1) check your fans to ensure that both of them are turning on
2) flush and refill your cooling system with new coolant
3) check all your hoses for softness, hoses can deteriorate on the inside and cause clogs you can't see- it happened to me, I didn't even know anything was wrong till I sprung a leak.

 

That doesn't seem right at all. I have a 160 thermo from TPIS it does open around 160. During highway driving it sits at 165 and goes up to 190 when the fans kick in. If it were truly opening at 180-185 I haven't seen my temp peak up to that point then go back down to 165. Now you've got me confused . Injuneer anyone else know if thermo's open like 20 degree's above the advertised temp then come back down? I'd like to know if this is the case. thanks

mike

 

LT1squirrel sorry about rippin on you. Just read the post and I sounded like a ***. sorry

Mike