Its coming along...

Quick advice please..Runs hot in traffic..not a daily driver but on a cruise. Will adding an additional fan on front of radiator help bring down temps drastically? Also, when should I be nervous? I get nervous when I see it at 210 degrees.

 

get a black magaic dobble ellitric fan that will help you out alot nice car

 

Whay kind of fan do you have now,are you running a fan shroud,what size thermostat are you running,what size radiator are you running(3-4 core),is the radiator clean

 

definately go with dual electric fans with shrouds

it will definately help because not only will it not put any load on the engine, it will create more cfms

it helps a lot also if you have a larger radiator (aluminum is best, higher specific heat capacity)

and how often do you check your water level? does it stay at the same level? does it leak on the ground? if it drops level without leaking on the ground, your water jacket is leaking into the cylinder through a gasket or (hopefully not) leaking through a crack in the cylinder

do you have a big block or a small block? if its a small block, its probably one of the above. if its a big block you probably just dont have big enough cooling sysytem unless it was upgraded, if it was upgraded, then it is probably one of the above

 

also, you dont need to worry until you hit 240 degrees

 

Thanks for all the replies...

To answer some questions, its a sbc 350 crate, not stock, just rebuilt. It has just the water pump fan with shroud. Not sure about the thermostat, or radiator condition, or type; need to check. It looks pretty clean, but stock nonetheless.

As far as running an additional fan, i was just thinking of an electric between the nose and radiator, as a pusher (pushing air through the radiator).

So far I've drained the 50/50 and am running just water with Water wet, and it runs cooler, but still jumps up in traffic. I think the timing may need an adjustment as well.

 

look at the basics first. there is no way, with that engine combo, you should be running that hot. you have other issues

since it's a crate and probably came witht he thermostat already installed, I will say possibilties are bad radiator, fan too far away from the radiator, air bubble in the system, or even a bad gauge or sending unit.

but then again, what it the thermostat? it could have come with a 210 thermostat, and your cooling system might be more than adaquate and just can't keep up with the thermostat

putting more fans are just masking an underlying problem with a mild engine like that

also, you might have gotten more hits with a thread title that have to do with your problem

ALWAYS LOOK AT THE BASICS FIRST!!!

 

True with the title...

Anyway, put it this way, was in traffic the other day, gauge read around 230, and when I turned it off I could hear the water boiling/bubbling...Not liking it. I think I may need to adjust the timing maybe as well?

 

I agree with 1969 SS. Something is wrong. By in traffic do you mean a lot of idle time? or just constant stop and start. If you orginal motor had a long water pump and the crate motor had a short one it could cause this. Also as stated above lack of a shoud can cause an issue along with fuel mixture and timing.

If it is an orginal radiator you might want to replace it for two reasons. After all these years it could be gunked up and you orginal radiator was design to support a 165 HP v8. If you crate motor 300+ ponies that is almost twice the max heat. You may need a bigger one. But it should be fine in low load condition if everything is working right.