Massive heat in the engine well

[pauls340]

My slightly built 340 in the Demon is very hot even on short runs. Temp idiot gauge reads midline normal but why so much heat when I pop the hood? I got a bottle of Water Wetter to try for this weeks Woodward Dream Cruise but could a high volume water pump help? I have a 5yr old three core stock radiator. Any help is help

 

[72bluNblu]

First item of business should be to check the accuracy of the temperature gauge. Because if the temperature gauge is correct you car is operating at the correct temperature and there isn't much to "fix", since there's nothing really wrong. And of course if the temp gauge isn't accurate you want to fix it and figure out how hot the engine really is running so you can figure out what you need to do to correct it.

 

[TrailBeast]

Might be used to little cars with the engine all covered up.
These baby's can radiate some heat, but I would say a good way to decide is ask if the car ever overheats (as in boil out coolant)
If it doesn't boil coolant even after it's shut off then I would have to decide it was a normal amount of heat.

No tools or cash was abused during the creation of this post.

 

[magnumdart]

Cars with tube headers can give you this impression.

 

[1970dartcustom]

My slightly built 340 in the Demon is very hot even on short runs. Temp idiot gauge reads midline normal but why so much heat when I pop the hood? I got a bottle of Water Wetter to try for this weeks Woodward Dream Cruise but could a high volume water pump help? I have a 5yr old three core stock radiator. Any help is help

I would make sure you have an accurate aftermarket temp gauge and oil pressure gauge...

I think they're very important just for my information... They put me at ease, and let me know if somethings up...

 

[RustyRatRod]

First item of business should be to check the accuracy of the temperature gauge. Because if the temperature gauge is correct you car is operating at the correct temperature and there isn't much to "fix", since there's nothing really wrong. And of course if the temp gauge isn't accurate you want to fix it and figure out how hot the engine really is running so you can figure out what you need to do to correct it.

Puzackly.

 

[Mopar92]

My 70 small block Dart gets quite hot too but only runs 190... Headers can really warm it up.