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Old 08-18-2011, 05:41 PM   #1
TinCup
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: OKC / Tonkawa, Ok.
Posts: 1,977
Default UPDATE....Ok so a brand new radiator and it still runs hot

UPDATE*******************************
I spent the week going thru several items trying to nail down my hot temps. I spent some time talking to Gary at Bergs and Lee at Brassworks radiators. Both recommended running distilled water and a rust inhibitor vs my standard 50-50 mix. So I reset the point gap which was around 19 back to 20, retimed and drained the antifreeze mix and filled it with just water and water wetter. Took it out this morning with temps in the high 70's and drove about 10 miles at 40-45 mph. Temps stayed below 180. Driving back later in the day with temps around 95 car temps jumped to 180 quickly and settled in around the 195 mark. I installed a new SW temp gauge that I had calibrated using a candy thermometer so I could trust the readings. The motormeter never got to the bottom line of what it calls summer operating temp. This is consistent with what it was doing with my 50-50 mix. So cool weather no problems, hot weather I am really pushing the outside of the envelope. Neither Bergs or Brassworks would say whether a 10 fin or a 3 core radiatior would help my situation.
The pic below is a little blurry but you can see I am doing about 40 mph and temps are between 190-200



I had my radiator overflow tube repaired 6 years ago the shop told me that alot of the fins were separated and that it needed to be rodded out. While it ran a little warm it never got over 190. Took a nice long trip a couple of weeks ago and running between 45-50mph the temps jumped up well over 220. When I backed the speeds off it cooled down. Remembering what the shop said I replaced the radiator with a new 8fin Brassworks rad. Took it out today and same result. The only change to this motor is the HC head I installed early in the spring.

I searched all through the forum and went through the culprits. Checked timing, good flow at the top of the radiator. When I pulled into the drive way the temp gauge showed 200 and the motometer was at the top of the normal driving limit line. Using infrared themometer the top of the radiator tank was 220 and the bottom of the radiator was 150-160.

Running a mix of 50/50.
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File Type: jpg IMG00294-20110827-1320.jpg (40.8 KB, 95 views)

Last edited by TinCup; 08-27-2011 at 02:25 PM.
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