Runnin' Hot

[jharrison]

Here in SA TX where the humidity regularly reaches 80% and the temp is usually around 90 I have been having a hard time keeping my truck cool when I run the AC. I still have the stock fan with a heavy duty Hayden clutch, but since I had the higher stall converter put in with the ac on it begins to run over what it should. I have a 180 thermostat and it seems like the truck gets hot enough to hold it open therefore allowing everything to heat continuously. I have added a 24,000 GVWR tranny cooler and an 8" 800 cfm electric fan in addition to the stock fan. At this point I don't know what to do. I am going to add one more 8" fan, but doubt that will fix my problem. By the way both the 8" fans are mounted between the radiator and the stock fan as pullers.

Do I need to run the factory thermostat in the summer to allow the coolant to stay in the radiator long enough to cool, or is there something else wrong? I am running the March power & amp underdrive pullies, but their not supposed to slow the water pump down enough to cause problems. I even have a Harwood 4" functional cowl induction hood that I figured would help some. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[JROD©™®]

what temp does your truck peak at? is it over heating...

[blazen]

there are other things i would do before i added another fan. i think i would do a bigger radiator first (well thicker/more cores). i think a 180 thermastat would help more than the putting the stock one back on (not 100% sure on that but it does make sence). also try running a different mixture of antifreeze/water. water will cool the truck alot better than anti freeze so try more water less antifreeze. also an air damn on the front will help cool the truck. it creates a low pressure under the truck and helps draw more air through the radiator (i wouldnt do this first it wont help that much and only at highway speeds) (and i see its an extreme so its already got one).

and i doubt it but i wonder if you electric fan is actually hurting you. because you stock fan is trying to pull more air than that electric one is so the electric one could just be getting in the way. (its just a thought)

[jharrison]

From the stock gauge inside it wants to stay around 210 and a little over occasionally. It hasn't overheated cause I usually shut off the AC when I see it getting close to 210, and when I do the temp usually drops reasonably quick. Is there something else in the cooling system other than the thermostat that regulates cooling. Just curious cause it wants to stay around 210 which is where it always was stock. On a hot day its fine unless I use the AC.

Just a thought the overflow tank has a large ring of black sludge could it be possible I just need a flush? My truck only has about 20,000 miles on this motor and around 12,000 on this tranny.

[JROD©™®]

mine always hovers around 210...well 1 notch below. always has...since the day i got it. doing a flush and fill couln't hurt. if it still has the dexcool....you should be ok since you only got 20K but you know if you say its got a sludgely look to it u might want to clean it out and get some fresh coolant flowing...

[ZR1-S10]

210 isn't too bad. I'd do the flush first, being you live in TX the larger V8 radiator would be nice.

[slowzq8]

I would get it flushed and also make sure that the themistat is working correctly. If you take it out you can put it in a pot of hot water and I'm pretty sure you can see if it opens or not. Just a thought, since the truck would overheat all the time if it was stuck closed. Flushing it all out and puting in a standard 50/50 mix of antifreeze would probably be the best way to start.

[HenryJ]

I too agree with the flush, but it may also be a good idea to look into the larger Godan/TransPro radiator. Here is a mod page from the S-10CREWCAB.COM website (http://www.s-10crewcab.com/og1/crewcab.htm) that includes photos, as well as links to specs - Extra Capacity Replacement Radiator (http://www.s-10crewcab.com/og1/modinfo/rad/rad.htm)
I had similar problems in the first year that I had my truck. During the real heat of summer it would just not stay cool, even at highway speeds it would take forever to return to normal.
The stock gauge tends to read on the highside, so don't think that it is getting really hot until you take a reading with an acurate gauge , or meter.
The larger reservoir of coolant is a big help and mine stays rock soild with the thermostat now. At first I even had to remove the 180* stat since the larger amount of coolant delayed the warm-up just long enough to exceed the temperature threashold. The PCM perceived this to be a stuck thermostat and set the MIL. I was able to relocate the IAT and buy enough time to again run the 180* stat. The 2001 PCM is set really tight, so most will not have this issue to deal with.

The next problem that you are going to run into is that even though you lowered the temp of your stat, the clutch fans temperature for clutch lock-up has not been lowered to match. IMO, the stock clutch fan engages way too late to prevent overheating. My solution to this was to add electric fans for cooling allowing me to determine the temperature that they engage.
Here is a mod page for my fans - LT1 Electric fans conversion (http://www.fmtc.com/%7Ebrule/fans/fans.html).

Overall I have been very happy with the changes, and would do it again. It is nice to be able to crawl around in low range, in the desert heat not worrying about the engine temperature :D

Sorry about the "novel" , This is a complex subject and everything needs to be working together for a sucessful conclusion.

[blazen]

ok my truck had a ring of sludge in the over flow bottle. it ended up being tranny fluid leakin in so i needed to buy a new radiator. and also if you do have the dexcool (which they had problems with from the factory)you could run into problems with that. my mothers truck had it from the factory and it started crystalizing in the heater core. it pluged it up and couldnt get any heat in the truck. so yours could be crystalzing some where else in the system and slowing your coolant flow down. so if you do flush it out make sure everything is flowing freely.

[jharrison]

Henry the radiator you linked to looks like the solution to my problems. Only thing is where do you buy them? I couldn't find a link to a sales site or a place to call for sales. Thanks big time for your help. Oh, and what did the radiator run you?

By the way I flushed the system and removed the recovery tank and thoroughlly cleaned it out. The black sludge was from the tanks overflow tube picking up dust and dirt, so essentially it was mud in the tank. Still the flush helped a little but the problem still persists.

[jharrison]

Never mind, I didn't realize that Autozone, Oreilly and NAPA carry these. And they only run about $220. Not bad at all. Thanks again for your help.

[HenryJ]

Henry the radiator you linked to looks like the solution to my problems. Only thing is where do you buy them?...Oh, and what did the radiator run you?
I bought mine through a local radiator shop and paid $200 Others have paid less than I did. I guess it pays to shop around.
I took my used radiator that was in good condition to the local salvage yard where they sold it for me. I received $100, cutting my out of pocket expense to $100 for the new radiator.
Don't just junk your old radiator, sell it :D

Don't forget to replace your radiator cap as well, if you haven't done so already. The stock caps use a fiber gasket material that has an oversized inside diameter. This material does not seal very well and when it shrinks slightly it can shift to one side allowing air into the system during the cooldown. The other thing is the relief valve is not spring loaded. This too can be a problem.

There are two things that Dex doesn't get along with... heat and air. If your dex has been overheated or exposed to air, change it out.

I don't want to drag this into another Dex debate (hopefully I haven't done so already :( ) There are plenty of those threads available.

I chose to make a change to the green when I installed my new radiator.

[ZR1-S10]

My Dexcool is fine but what is needed to change to green?

[HenryJ]

My Dexcool is fine but what is needed to change to green?
If you are having good luck with it, why change? Just flush and refill every two years as they now recommend.

If you were to change to green a thorough flush is needed since the two do not agree with each other.
I fushed mine until clean with the stat removed, drained reinstalled stat , refilled and warmed to operating temp, drained again and repeated this three times just to be sure.

Then I added a 50/50 mix of green , distilled water, and some Redline water wetter. Things have been happy ever since.
:bigeyes_1 That was three years ago, I'm overdue for a change, oops.

[jharrison]

Well I made the switch, and I must say I agree with HenryJ the clutch fan comes on too late. I have already replaced the clutch fan with a severe duty Hayden model that spins faster & begins to lock-up sooner, and still it runs hotter than I want. When the fan kicks in the temp drops pretty quick, but it just comes on too late. I think it's time to go electric. I had already tried the Flex-A-Lite black magic, and it didn't cool worth a sh!t. Of course that was with the old radiator. What kind of cfm should I look for as a minimum?

[ZR1-S10]

I think it's time to go electric. I had already tried the Flex-A-Lite black magic, and it didn't cool worth a sh!t.

Really? I've got a Flex-a-Lite #60 and it runs fine, sure you had it wired right and the temp control set to the temp you want (when I first hooked my e-fan up the control was set at 240 from the box, just had to turn the knob).

[HenryJ]

...What kind of cfm should I look for as a minimum?
4000+ cfm would really be nice :D , but not very likely. I would shoot for the 3000 cfm mark.

2500 cfm will still work, but makes me a little nervous. I guess that would be my minimum.

[LEADFOOT]

I live in Tampa Fl as you can see. It gets pretty hot here too. I have the Jet under drive pulleys and when I run my A/C in the summer my temp goes up also. I also have the flex-a-lite #210 efan (I did an article on the two efans check it out in the article section) and the 180* tstat. I thinks its a combonation of the heat build up under the hood and the under drive pulleys. Mine starts to get hot when I am sitting still for about 15 min or longer with the a/c on max. I get the P0128 code (coolant temp. below thermostat) when it is cold out too. I just reset it every now and then. One time it did make the check engine light come on, on a long drive in the middle of the winter when it was cold out. I want to get a fiberglass cowl induction hood soon to maybe help with the heat. A few times the temp got above 210* when it was like 90 something last summer and I was sitting still for about 20 mins with the a/c on max. I left the a/c on and got out and raised the hood and the temp went down just below 210*. I just put the headers on a few months ago so I see if that helps the under hood temp in the summer. Its just starting to get hot again here.

********If you plan on getting an efan and you have the under drive pulleys make sure you get yourself a 1 7/8" alt. pulley, (I believe the belt size is 91.5", not 100% sure but will check) it will bring the alt rpm back up to just shy of stock rpm. Trust me you will see what I mean.************

[HenryJ]

...I thinks its a combonation of the heat build up under the hood ... I want to get a fiberglass cowl induction hood soon to maybe help with the heat....
Getting the heat out is a good idea. My cowl really moves some heat that you can see when I am sitting still.

You might consider relocating the IAT to a cooler position to prevent those MIL sets for not reaching the temperature threashold. It worked for me.

[jharrison]

I do have the 1 7/8" alt pulley, the 4" cowl hood, a 24,000 gvwr tranny cooler, the 1 3/8" Ready-Rad radiator, Jet 180 T-Stat, JBA Ceramic Coated Headers, and Severe Duty Hayden Fan clutch. I think everything is just working against me. The higher compression, the 2800 stall converter, and the slower turning water pump due to the underdrive pulleys.


Really? I've got a Flex-a-Lite #60 and it runs fine, sure you had it wired right and the temp control set to the temp you want (when I first hooked my e-fan up the control was set at 240 from the box, just had to turn the knob).

It was wired right and working, but on a hot day with the AC on I could watch the temp gradually rise until I shut off the AC. And as soon as you turn on the AC the fan comes on anyway reguardless of temp, it just couldn't keep up. I will say this though the weather here in TX is pretty severe. Not only does the temp regularly hit 95+ the humidity is typically 60% or higher. A dry heat is much easier to cool off from than a humit heat.

[LEADFOOT]

JHarrison.........I was checking out your mods in your sig....do you have a cardomain.com page? Besides the rebuilt motor you have and maybe a few other things I think under our hoods will look identical. Check out my page if you haven't already.

[LEADFOOT]

You might consider relocating the IAT to a cooler position to prevent those MIL sets for not reaching the temperature threashold. It worked for me.
I've wanted to do that since I put the K&N FIPK on but still haven't done it. What can I use to plug the hole where it is now?

[HenryJ]

I've wanted to do that since I put the K&N FIPK on but still haven't done it. What can I use to plug the hole where it is now?
An air cleaner restriction gauge fits nicely-

http://www.s-10crewcab.com/coppermine/albums/userpics/10006/airgage.jpg

[jharrison]

JHarrison.........I was checking out your mods in your sig....do you have a cardomain.com page? Besides the rebuilt motor you have and maybe a few other things I think under our hoods will look identical. Check out my page if you haven't already.

I don't have a cardomain or any other webpage, unfortunately, but I do have a hell of a lot of pics. I'll post some early next week when I can transfer them from my PC to the one here at work. Everything looks identical except for two things, one, is that I mounted my 6A box on the firewall above the distributor (difficult but looks cool), and the IAT is relocated to the bend in the K&N right after the filter. Funny thing is that I too have the filter wrap and it's in the same color to boot. And it looks like you used a different wrap for your intake. I haven't seen one like that, it looks good. The one I have has laces on it. Hey, how does the Super 40 sound, I still have the original 40 series and I have been considering making a switch.

[LEADFOOT]

I don't have a cardomain or any other webpage, unfortunately, but I do have a hell of a lot of pics. I'll post some early next week when I can transfer them from my PC to the one here at work. Everything looks identical except for two things, one, is that I mounted my 6A box on the firewall above the distributor (difficult but looks cool), and the IAT is relocated to the bend in the K&N right after the filter. Funny thing is that I too have the filter wrap and it's in the same color to boot. And it looks like you used a different wrap for your intake. I haven't seen one like that, it looks good. The one I have has laces on it. Hey, how does the Super 40 sound, I still have the original 40 series and I have been considering making a switch.
I'm going to put my 6A in the truck, like behind the clove box to keep it from getting so damn hot. I wrapped my K&N with some heat shield **** that I cut to size and then used zip ties to hold it in place. I couldn't find the lace up kind, but then again didn't look too hard. I am going to move the IAT sensor this wkend and maybe the 6A too. The super 40 sounds great. I cut the stock exhaust at the Y where it went in to the pre-cat and redid it from there. 2 1/2" all the way back, high flow performance cat and super 40 with short tail pipe. It was too loud with the turn down on it and flowmaster said I was losing torque with out a tail pipe. I couldn't talk on the phone when driving down the road the exhaust was so loud. Now it sounds better with the short tail pipe. I took the filter wrap off because I don't live on a dirt road any more. Does your intake wrap cover the entire intake? And where can I get one?

[jharrison]

This is what I bought, I cut it into two sections right at the mass airflow sensor. With the way I cut it, it covers from the rubber on the filter to about a 1/4 of the bonnet above the throttle body. Oh, I also punched a hole near the filter for the IAT sensor. Easy install, probably about 20-45 minutes, and you'll spend more time making it look good (tightening laces, Hiding the excess lace, straightening it out, etc.) than actual install time.

http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?Ntt=Thermo-tec&Ntk=KeywordSearch&DDS=1&searchinresults=false&N=0&target=egnsearch.asp

For whatever reason I cant directly link you to it. The part number is Thermo-Tec 14500. It will accomodate intakes up from 2.5" to 4" diameter and up to 36" long.

http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=145527&prmenbr=361

Jegs has it also with a kind of installed picture. Summit has a picture of the actual kit though. What I did was I found some black small diameter rope with small orange squares on it and used that instead. Matches the K&N theme. The kit came with red, blue, yellow, and I think white laces.

[LEADFOOT]

Thanx for the links buddy.