Overheating in traffic

[Icelander]

Well, the Pontiac, the family and myself made it to the camp site in Raineer this weekend. We even made it back. :)

Since DOT decided to perform constuction on every highway this weekend, I ended up sitting in a lot of traffic. I noticed that even with the aluminum radiator, the temp would steadily climb. I set a limit of 210o as my limit before I'd pull over and let her cool down. Luckily traffic would open up and I'd get some air through the radiator before I got to that point.

Stef suggested that I replace the 180o thermostat with a 165o. Do you think this will be sufficient to fix the problem or will I need to visit the fan/shroud and come up with something else. Right now she's got a five blade fixed fan and no shroud.

Kendall

[Brandon]

Hi Kendall,
Sounds like the fan/shroud is the weak link, since it is fine when you are driving, but maybe you can get away with improving the overall cooling. Are you running anti-freeze? You might try water plus Water-Wetter (by Red Line) instead.

[Icelander]

I am running anti-freeze rated for aluminum radiators. I'm running about 50/50 mix.

I tend to agree that if I could force more air through the rad it would run cooler. I guess the question I should answer for myself is whether to run a regular fan/shroud setup or an electric fan.

Any other opinions out there? I'm looking for ideas.

Kendall

[Brandon]

If the Water-Wetter product works as well as Red Line claims, you might be able to just replace your anti-freeze+water mix with water+Water-Wetter and get a good reduction in temperature.

Here is a link:
http://www.redlineoil.com/redlineoil/wwti.htm

I'm running it myself, but I don't know how well it works because I changed a bunch of things at the same time.

[theJUDGE]

Hey Kendall,

You know with an awesome summer like we are having, I think it is important not to be "Shroudless in Seattle". Sooner or later you are certain to sit in traffic again & you won't want to "leave home without your Shroud". The shroud will tell your fan to concentrate on cooling the radiator as opposed to blowing hot air all over your engine bay.

I believe the 180 therm should suffice as they work in both my rides in 90 degree heat w/ shrouds, the Autometers kick it @ about 190-195 in traffic & 180 rolling.

Make it great day. 8)

[Pontiacshack]

Hey Kendall, I've got a flex fan that may move some more air for you, but you will still need a shroud to make it work mo betta! You shouldn't have a heating problem with your application, being stock and such, but you may check the timing to make sure your not too far advanced. See ya.

[Linguini_Racing]

Kendall, I've been having a little bit of the same problem. It so happen that I ran into Lee at the "Good Guys" carshow yesterday and talked to him about this overheating problem and he recommended that redline product "water-wetter". I'm going to try it out. We have these next couple of days to try it out in some hot weather. I don't know if you have to change your fluids again for fall season, I guess , if you have to it shouldn't be to bad. Well let me know how it works or vise versa. I will talk to you soon Pietro
be cool 8)..... ;D

[Icelander]

Pietro,

I look forward to hearing from you on your results...

I bottomed out on the gravel road to the campsite. I stopped and inspected immediately and everything seemed ok. Now I've got an empty reservoir and an EPA violation in the driveway. Looks like one of my brake lines has let loose so I'll be putting my meager pittance into fixing that problem.

Stef,

I'm currently hemoraging money so I may have to get back to you on the flexfan. Any suggestions on what I can do for a shroud? Would a steel band be sufficient or would I need to have something that tapers the square radiator shape to the circle of the fan? (in other words, would I need to draw air through the corners of the radiator with the fan or just make sure the fan is pulling air through an opening that is slightly bigger than the diameter of the fan?)

Hope that question makes sense...

Kendall

[Pontiacshack]

I tried the redline w/w in the Lemans, it didn't seem to make any difference at all. Maybe in a more stock application it will do some good, but it didn't in mine. As far as the fan and shroud, I would be willing to give you the fan for now, pay when you can, and also, I have a shroud you may try to see if that makes a difference. Let me know what you want to do.

[Rick]

I found that the fan shroud helps quite a bit in stop and go traffic. I use a 180 thermostat. It's when I start hitting 60-70 mph that my temp goes up. It will top out at about 210, but if I slow down to 55 it cools down.

[JLP]

The purpose of the shroud is to use all of those cooling vanes instead of just the ones in the middle. All of them are needed or they just would make the radiator smaller. The shroud makes sure that the entire radiator is being used. Pontiac's are nortorious for overheating. It is not the best cooling design for an engine. However we are stuck with it.

I have run the same vehicles (inc. Pontiacs) with and without shrouds and would not run one for very long without a shroud.

[Icelander]

Thanks for all the input. I'm going to take Stef up on his offer.

As soon as I get the brakes finished, I'll get to work on the fan, then the dash, then ... :)

Found myself feeling very envious of the lady driving her '65 (I think) Bel Air on the way home from work tonight. Someday... :)

Kendall