Cooling Issue, Need Some Advice

[Wknd_Warrior]

This issue is regarding my Dart Iron Eagle 347. I got it running a few months ago and haven't really driven it that much after I raced it. But I noticed when I was racing it that it would get hot at the end of a pass. I had a 180 thermostat in it and it would climb to 190-195 at the end of a pass.

Today I changed the thermostat to a 160, and it was seemingly fine (running around 160 deg) 'til I shut it off at the gas station and it heat soaked to 195 while it was off. I fired it, drove it, and it only recovered to 180 degrees while cruising at about 45 mph. Then it slowly started climbing temp.

I just put a brand new Motorsport radiator in it, the new thermostat today, and the water pump is an Edelbrock (new with the motor a few months ago). It has a black magic fan. No condenser in front of the rad.

I have a couple ideas, but I don't know how feasible they are....

1. I don't have that plastic valence under the front bumper anymore... maybe the air isn't being directed correctly through the radiator.

2. Maybe I need to route the water to a different spot on the intake (this is the Spyder EFI intake). I routed it as similarly to stock as a I could without the heater core pipes. The two lines from the pump go to the same place on the intake. Could this be incorrect for a carbed intake? How are they run on a carbed engine?

3. Maybe this engine just runs hot...

ANY IDEAS?

 

[vristang]

The temps you listed are not that unusual.
Coolant temps will always be slightly higher than the stat rating.

 

[Grn92LX]

My 347 runs warmer than my 302 did. I attribute that to the 2 full points more of compression (9:1 vs 11:1) My car will hit 195-200* if I don't keep the fan on. It will cool down to 180-190, not an issue at all.

 

[trents99]

I agree with both posts above. Also a lot is mentioned about not having the air deflector being bad. I'm not sure how a GT reacts but my coupe hasn't had it on there for the past 6 months and it has no problem cooling itself once the car starts moving.

 

[Wknd_Warrior]

But the thing is the temperature will keep climbing. Not just stay at 195. I just took it out, was steadily climbing til I shut it down at 225.

 

[feifong]

mine seemed to just climb all the way to *260 swapped to 2core rad now it stays at *210...

 

[vristang]

If the temps keep climbing like that I would guess it still has some air pockets in it. Especially since you did some major work in the last few days.

Burping the system again would be the next step to take.

jason

 

[HISSIN50]

If you have an IR thermometer, you can shoot it at the inlet and outlet of the radiator (once the stat is open) to note the amount of heat rejection you're seeing via the coil.

Otherwise, I'd wanna make sure the stat is actually opening all the way (air pockets can damage the stat, in and of themselves). I like Mr Gasket stats, if you happen to be swapping.

I couldnt help with intake questioning - it's a nice lookin piece but I dont know much about 'em.

Good luck.