Ok guys I need some help I have a 54 chevy 3100 running a chevy 350 pushing about 450 horses I have the biggest radiator from summit that I can run I'm also running a 16inch fan pulling air through it I have a 160 thermostat in it running down the road the truck runs about 180 but when I'm sitting still temp jumps up between 220 to 230 any advice would be great thanks in advance
I have a 305 V8 in my '51 and have installed 350s in hotrods. Have also battled 'heating problems'. I have found that air flow is the best fix to keep them cool. An electric fan solved most of my problems. I have an electric fan (a pusher) on my '51 with a sensor that will turn the fan on about 170-180 degrees. It does very well at idle. I also installed a 'heavy duty' water pump and oversize pulley on the pump. I'm also using a 'stock' 1951 radiator and it works great. If it only heats up too much at idle, then I would recommend first an electric fan. Roger
Yea I'm running an electric fan with the temp relay on it once it hits 180 to come on I guess my next step would be to install a high flow water pump its like an oven in the truck with the hood closed
There is not mch airflow out of the engine bay. My 350 is bored .080 over, it gets hot. In the shop, we have cured heating issues with aluminum radiators, a Flowkooler water pump and a Black magic electric fan from Summit. I am having an engine built and have a Flowkooler on it. Also check your fuel mix. Lean runs hotter. Read a sparkplug to see what is going on in there.
I didn't hear anyone mention a fan shroud. Your 16" fan is the only thing moving air through your radiator when you are stopped. And it is only working on 200 square inches of your raditor (remember Pie Are Square??). The radiator is probably around 20" wide and 25" tall, give or take a little. That's 500 square inches of radiator. A good fan shroud will cause a stock, water pump mounted fan to use all 500 square inches of the radiator at idle.
Checkout water cooling system. Have a look at the thermostate if it opens when it should and look inside the house if there is any sludge or water (CA02) corrodation wich could implicate that the water block channels should be cleaned out ? A liquid you can buy anywhere to clean out the block or you could use acid citrus added to a hot engine and let it stay fore some days doing its work. Check the temp gauge indicator in the block and the line to your gauge aswell. Hope this is of any help Martinius
Engine Temps Assuming it runs fine off idle and the timing isn't retarded for SMG test etc. , the air flow is the key ~ an electric fan , pusher or puller will set you right , as mentioned , using a shroud makes it vastly more efficient . If you go the E Fan route , remember to use a relay and wire it live to it comes on after the engine shuts down and heat soaks . People who don't grasp 7th grade physics will try to convince you a puller fan is better than a pusher , they're wrong plain & simple .
We have a large squirrel cage fan with about an 18" square exhaust opening that puts out a tornado. This lets us verify whether a heating problem at idle is or is not do to air flow. Bill, gave the very best advice on having a shroud. It's good for at least a 15 degree drop at idle and usually more than that. About 40 years ago we did a 51 GMC with a 500 Cadillac in it and the factory 51 radiator modified to take a 15-17# cap. We tried several things to cool this heat monster but it was a shroud that let air be pulled through the entire core that did the trick.
