What happens when you are just ideling in park or neutral
440 Overheating 230 degrees
- Thread starter standup303
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What type thermostat do you have? I think I saw 180, but is it a high flow thermostat? If not, my recommendation is a 160 high flow from Stewart Components. That would be the cheaper thing to try. The other thing that I think it IS, you won't like. I believe it's ultimately going to be the radiator. If you have enough radiator, you "should" theoretically be able to remove the fan(s) for everything but the toughest conditions. Idling a long time in traffic, ect. The radiator is the end all be all of the cooling system. Too many people "get by" with band aids making the cooling system "just barely" keep the engine cool. I too am not a fan of ALMOST all electric fans. I say almost because there are a scarce few that will do the job. Most people though "just think" they are working, because they have a radiator that is more than capable. Most fans under the $200 mark are total junk and do nothing but block air flow.
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standup303
Well-Known Member
Haven’t tried that. I’ll try tomororw.
BTDT
You answered it in post #21. Was that wrong?
standup303
Well-Known Member
He asked what it does idling in park or neutral. I’ve only really paid attention when I’m idling in drive which is what I was referring to in 21.
It won't make a difference. He just meant stopped.
standup303
Well-Known Member
I’m in Littleton. I’ll have to look into those. Hoping it’s not the radiator.
standup303
Well-Known Member
Man I hope you’re wrong! But my gut tells me radiator. I’ll look into those t stats.
I would sure try the thermostat first....but I don't hold out a lot of hope.
Does the high volume pump have an anti cavitation plate
standup303
Well-Known Member
My very first thought is "I bet it has electric fans".
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No I meant ideling in park or neutral does the engine get hotter and hotter or does it level out at a temp.
If it levels out at say 200 then the fan and rad is sufficient for that aspect.
If in drive it levels out at say 210, still good.
But if it just keeps climbing then you have a problem
BTW
If an automatic it will make a difference. The trans is generating heat and putting load on the engine if it's in drive.
In neutral or park then it's negligible
I'll pm you
I get your point, but boy, that would be splittin some hairs. lol
If I ideling my 273 in drive the temp gets higher than in neutral or park. Maybe it's the extra 200 rpm that cools things better or the reduced heat production from the trans and the load on the engine?
It's entirely possible. But he says it runs hot going down the road as well.
Yep that's why I was asking about ideling, 2 bits of info helps solve the mystery
Hopefully. Internet diagnosis kinda sucks. lol
what size are your pulleys?
cheap and easy would be a high flow/hi performance t-stat.
i'll echo confirming the the operation of the temp gauge. if you're running 230 it should be puking fluid.
cheap and easy would be a high flow/hi performance t-stat.
i'll echo confirming the the operation of the temp gauge. if you're running 230 it should be puking fluid.
Well hang on now. 212 is boiling. For every 1PSI the boiling point is raised 3 degrees. So, if you have a 16 pound cap, So that's 48 degrees. But for the sake of argument let's say 15 pounds because the cap will relieve at 16, so now we're talkin about 45 degrees. 212 plus 45 = 257 degrees. Now, we have to ASSUME (dangerous, I know), that our example is running coolant and not plain water, so the boiling point is raised even further by the coolant. This is why on lots of factory gauges, you'll see 250 marked on the high side. But certainly the boiling point would be above 230.
a lot of assumptions there. but okay, i'll deffer to science, i guess
the larger issue is that, i think, 230 is too hot to be running around at.
Running at 230 leaves no safety margin. I can see a few areas that would cause hot running.
- stat not opening fully
- needs about 20* more timing, at idle & cruise
- pump pulley needs to be smaller than crank pulley [ overdriven ] by 10-20%.
- finally look at the impeller in post #37. If there is a large gap between the blades & the housing, you are providing an escape route for the coolant. Instead of the coolant being captured to be sent through the engine, a big gap here just allows the coolant to be churned up, not sent through the engine. I have fixed many o'heating engines over the years by closing in the impeller.
- stat not opening fully
- needs about 20* more timing, at idle & cruise
- pump pulley needs to be smaller than crank pulley [ overdriven ] by 10-20%.
- finally look at the impeller in post #37. If there is a large gap between the blades & the housing, you are providing an escape route for the coolant. Instead of the coolant being captured to be sent through the engine, a big gap here just allows the coolant to be churned up, not sent through the engine. I have fixed many o'heating engines over the years by closing in the impeller.
The radiator you have looks to be a Proform that has an integrated electric fan/shroud. It has two 1" core tubes. The picture of your spark plug shows you may be a little lean on the carb tuning. Could not tell from the picture where the timing mark is on the strap. Assuming your engine tune is close, two things contribute to overheating. The first is airflow across the radiator & the second is water flow. I have a 72 Challenger with a big block & high flow Stewart Components thermostat with a Flowkooler pump. I was running a clutch fan & shroud but had pulley alignment problems so went to a serpentine setup. Doing that I could no longer run the mechanical fan so went to two electrics with aluminum shroud. Before the change the engine would run at the thermostat temp of 180-185 on the highway. Lots of airflow at that speed & plenty of water flow. Idling stuck in traffic the engine would start to run hot at ~ 220 until I got moving again. After the change to electric fans the highway temp climbed to around 195-200 driving at around 65 MPH. If I go faster, the engine heats up more. I attribute this to the restricted airflow caused by the shroud/fan setup as well as the engine making more heat when it is making more power. Idling in traffic the temp would stay around 195. I am running the high flow (smaller diameter) water pump pulley.
Edit: I run my Challenger with the A/C on, so that adds to the heat load the cooling system has to deal with!
Edit: I run my Challenger with the A/C on, so that adds to the heat load the cooling system has to deal with!
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