340 with edelbrock heads overheating
At idle it will heat above 210. I have not tried to see where it would stop i just shut it down.
My opinions; for at idle/vehicle stopped.
At Idle, the jets are NOT active
At idle, 12* is adequate
At idle, any hot-lash more than zero is adequate
At idle, alloy heads should be sucking the heat out of the cooling system,
The thermostat sets the minimum coolant temperature. It has nothing to do with the maximum.
The thing that sets the maximum, is the efficiency of the system.
As to efficiency; Your rad should have a temperature difference, measured by IR-gun, from top to bottom, of about 30*F.
>If it is less, your first option is to make sure the rad is clean and the fins are passing air, and, if you have a condenser in front of it, then same for it.
>Your second go-to is the fan shroud and matching 7-blade fan.
>The Third is to speed up the water pump, or add more vanes or install an anti-cavitation plate.There is no such thing, at idle, of ramming the water thru the system, too fast.
>Fourth is to install a thermostatic clutch onto the fan; it will strive to limit the max coolant temperature to it's set point.
>When checking your engine temp; find the hottest place around the t-stat housing, and mark it, then forever after, use the same location.
>If you are running electric fans, well I'm not yur guy.
<<My 11/1, 367 once had an unsolvable overheat issue; It turned out to be some combination of tight piston skirts and/or too small ring gaps. After hitting a wall in diagnostics, I had no choice but to tear it down. I added .0005 skirt clearance and .004 top-ring gap. After reassembly, it is impossible to overheat it, so long as the fan-belt stays on. No other changes. And, it makes more power. and it gets better fuel economy.
