Cooling crossroads

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71Duster

71Duster

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Like the title says I'm at a crossroads with my Duster. Its a mild 340 but at .060 over now it runs hot.

It had the a/c 8 blade water pump, Mr.Gasket 180deg t-stat, water wetter, New Viscous Fan package, shroud and the rad was recently checked a cleaned.

The issue is traffic. On a hot day I cringe at the sight of traffic. The car will run 180-185 down the highway in 90deg heat but the first read light sees 200 in a heartbeat and 205 if the light is more then 5min long. I've never seen what happens after that and didn't want to.

I see my options as this:

Pusher fan in front of current setup to help

Having my current 3-core rad recored with larger tubes -rad shop says it will help-

Aluminum rad with existing fan and shroud

Aluminum rad with a Mattson style electric fans and shroud.
 
How far in the shroud does your fan sit? It should be half in and half out of the shroud.
 
I played that game already too, its about half and half.

I was worried before about the fact the clutch fins sat so close to the rad -see 1/4"-

So after reading here I bought a clutch unit most bigblock guys use from a Jag. It had a short shaft and gave me 1" or better clearance and the car ran even hotter, even on the highway.
 
That sound just like mine only a 360.
I had my factory 22 inch radiator upgraded to what the rad shop called a "High Efficiency" 3 row core. It was a definate improvement and it never fully overheated, but I still wasn't happy with the climbing temps in stop and slow Phoenix traffic. As soon as I got moving to a steady 15/20 mph it begins to cool down so mine has to be an airflow issue.
I went to a Spal Dual 11" elec for my new setup and that seems to be working. But that required some wiring changes with relays to keep elec system under control.
More $$$.
Do you have anyone that might be able to loan you a pusher for a test?
I have one for cheap but with shipping included you might get one at a swap meet for less.
 
To me that does not sound that hot.I am not a expert but may be you should see if it might go up and then stabilize.It might go to 210 and stop which is not that bad.JMO.Thanks Kevin.
 
Doesn't seem that hot to me either. My car runs 210 in traffic but doesn't get any hotter. Runs about 190 on the highway. I am running a 180 thermostat with stock radiator, CSR electric water pump and 14" electric puller fan. .030 360.
 
I always thought it was too hot, the car gets very sluggish above over 200 and will hesitate and bog a little if punched.

Wasn't sure if everyone else was able to keep their cars cooler.
 
It did help, it runs cooler on the open road then it did before and can drop heat quicker, before it took a lot longer to disapate the heat.
 
try running a 160 thermostat. also drill a 1/8 in. burp hole in the flat flange to let the air bubble bypass and the coolant to get to the thermostat when you fill it.
normal running temp is bout 10 degrees OVER the thermostat temp.
the temp on the thermostat is the opening temp, when it hits that temp, it will cycle open and closed until all the water in the system is about 10 derees higher then the stat temp, then it will stay open.
another thing to check is the solder connections between the tubes and the fins on the radiator. i have seen wher a radiator will break the solder loose and the fins can't transfer heat away from the radiator Doug
 
I'll try a stat, I ran the 180 as a lot of people told me the 160 would let to much coolant flow through the rad and not allow it to transfer the heat.

Thinking this winter for the cheaper of the options to have the rad re-cored with the bigger tubes. Rad shop did one for a guy with a 440 and he claimed it's never run cooler.
 
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