cooling the engine down

[miketyler]

The fan my car came with was a fixed 7blade fan. Am not sure if that was original or not. I was going to get a 7blade clutch fan first and see if that improved things.

Did you check your timing to make sure that you have enough?

I'm pretty sure my timing is correct, it turns over nicely when its hot. Is that what you meant? 

[moparnut]

Any substantial benefit to getting a third core added to the radiator?

Only 33% more cooling ability.............

[miketyler]

I am all about bang for the buck here; if all its going to do will increase the capacity of the radiator then I would probably forego it. Any idea what that would cost to have done?

[moparnut]

Probably around 250,give or take

[Bullitt-]

 Mike, Have you ever actually tested the temp. of the coolant when above normal? You could have a bad sending unit or out of calibration gauge. Seems to me before you spend any serious money this it would make sense to do.     
   Here's a thought that probably is NOT your problem BUT a restricted exhaust will cause overheating.

[ShelbyDogg]

The timing question was about advance. If you don't run enough, the engine overheats. Unburnt gasses coming out of the exhaust valves will turn everything cherry red which comes right back into the cooling passage then to the water. Initial timing shold be from 7 to 10 initial advance, then kick above 20 something after you hook your vacuum advance up to MANIFOLD vacuum. See where it is now and let us know.

Your 7 bladed fan was a flex type right? The rigid 7 blade with spring clutch is what came with mine.  33% more cooling is huge.

Rob

[miketyler]

My sending unit is new. I havent had the gauge calibrated and would have bought an aftermarket one if I could find one that would work with this Mopar performance manifold. I dont believe I have any exhaust restrictions but I will keep it on my list. A guy on Moparts suggested using a digital cooking thermostat. Not sure how I could wire it up but I may need to look at that 

Timing could be something for me to review also; I set it by the book initially but will recheck it. Will also ck my vacuum source for the dist. My car had a rigid 7blade fan with a spacer block and no clutch.   

[Bullitt-]

here is a cheep digital thermometer with a remote probe. I could see puting the probe inside the upper radiator hose & leaving the wire ouside.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170011980794&ih=007&category=43421&ssPageName=WDVW&rd=1

[ShelbyDogg]

Mike, If you already had a 7 bladed rigid fan on a spacer with a fan shroud,(you do run a fan shroud right?) a clutch fan will not pull any more air. All it will do is free up some horsepower by slipping when it isn't needed for additional cooling. It will not add additional RPM.  Before you add another core to your radiator, didn't your after market one have a cooling rating? You can compare those to a new 3 core to see how the numbers match up.  I don't see why your new radiator didn't help unless it was too small.

                    Check your Timing first.

If you need a temporary place to hook up a mechanical sending unit, go to the local Home Depot or Lowes, and get some brass fittings to "T" up your two heater hoses, with the sending unit in the middle of the T fitting.
Rob

[moparnut]

It will not add additional RPM.  Before you add another core to your radiator, didn't your after market one have a cooling rating? You can compare those to a new 3 core to see how the numbers match up.  I don't see why your new radiator didn't help unless it was too small.

                    Check your Timing first.

I think he was looking the stock Rad so he could mount up the fan shroud

[miketyler]

My previous setup was the original 26" 2-core radiator with the Mystique/Contour shroud and fan assemblies. The current improved setup is the same radiator but now has the OEM shroud installed and OEM non clutch type 7blade fan.

I am going to ck the timing; keeping an engine temp down shouldnt be this hard. Would insufficient timing advance also translate to higher exhaust gas temperatures?

[ShelbyDogg]

Yes, Not enough timing can make your exhaust manifolds glow cherry red. Hotter than normal red.

[miketyler]

My timing light is loaned out at the moment but I advanced the timing marginally and it did seem to be an improvement. The needle stayed in the lower half of the op scale and only peaked just above horizontal a couple of times. It would appear that my timing was behind. I will have to ck it with a light when I get my gun back. Thanks for urging mr to recheck that - I had eliminate it as a possibility early on.

I felt pretty good about the improvement and set out to drive the car to the paint shop to get the fender painted (another story). The paint shop is about 10miles NW of my home and most of it was on the highway. Temps crept right up to the top end of the operating scale as I got off the freeway but never peaked above it.  Temp stayed there and didn't drop much in the remaining stop and go traffic to the shop. OAT was around 92 degrees

I thought I had read that the fan only works at speeds up to 35mph. 10miles or more at freeway speed should remove airflow from the equation right? So high temp on todays freeway run might indicate a need for a larger radiator? I am running a high flow WP (8blade impeller) and a 180 tstat. 

[ShelbyDogg]

Yes, it is either plugged or too small.

[Bullitt-]

Mike, ran across this at Mancinni, a 22" radiator on clearance, for some reason there was no order link
   Aluminum Radiator - 22in.

MRE price: $185.95
Sale price: $139.95
http://chucker54.stores.yahoo.net/garage-sale.html