running hot...what can I do?
 

I can't seem to keep my engine under 200* while cruising town.
I have a 4 core radiator, flex fan, shroud and a 180* thermostat.
What can I do to keep it cooler in town?
Is it because of my .060 overbore that made the cylinder walls a lot thinner and that's why it runs hot now?

Try putting in a 2 row aluminum radiator. That'll cool a lot better than the one you have now. How high does it actually get?

It's been as high as 220* and then I have to high tail it back home and park it or do some highway driving to bring it back down.
I was thinking of going with an electric fan. I've heard the units from a Ford Taurus work better than a lot of aftermarket ones.

just curious, but do u have a trans cooler in ur setup? I noticed u had a higher stalling T.C.

Not sure if the Taurus fan works good, but I will know here this month when I get my junk yard Taurus fan installed. I would imagine the .60 overbore may be adding a little, but probably not enough to be the sole source. If running it on the interstate cools it back down, makes me think ur cooling capabilities is lacking somewhere in ur combo. I myself do not want to pay the money for an aluminum radiator and would think a four core should be plenty. Although I am sure the aluminum would help lot.
Ryan

Ryan

drill a small hole or two in the t-stat

upgrade to a high flow water pump if u dont have one

flush and clean radiator, use mostly water and a bottle of "Water Wetter"

Why does a 2 core work better than a 4 core? I thought it was definatley the other way around.

Clean out the front of the radiator. Take off all your transmission coolers and A/C cores and all other junk clogging the front of your radiator. Richen the mixture. This tends to cool the engine decently. The extra gas cools the cylinder walls. Use a higher mix of water in your radiator for better temperature transfer. Use the 195 degree thermostat instead of the 180. It will allow the fluid to sit in the radiator longer and get more cooled. Right now it is just sitting open all the time and the water doesnt get a change to cool down.

rwhite65 Yes, I do have a trans cooler.
I've heard the stock taurus fans can move as much as 2400cfm of air.

stang_racer20, I don't see why a 2 core aluminum would be any better. Both aluminum and brass units have their pros and cons.

I understand the theory behind having more water than anti-freeze but isn't that sacrificing some boil over protection?

What about the radiator cap? Would a higher pressure one be better? I have a 13psi right now.
Also, I think I'm running a little too lean. Would that add to the problem?
I'll try the inexpensive fixes first and then move on from there.
Maybe I can back the timing down a bit too.

The lean condition could cause mild overheating in and of itself. I was driving around with a clogged radiator and removing the transcooler (I use it as my cabion heatercore now), richening the mixture and running water slowed the rate of heatup so much that I could drive around for almost 30 mins before it was in the red. I was running straight water and it would only boil if I opened the radiator (like an idiot) while it was hot. Otherwise no boilover. I had no rust protection and if it freezes overnight.....

Make sure all air is out of the system.

I park on a hill and squeeze the lower hose while I fill the fluids, then fire it up/fill. Repeat a few times.

I get alot more liquid in when I do this.

A 2 core aluminum radiator (which I'm running) works better for 2 reasons. First of all, it's aluminum and disperses heat a bit better. Secondly and most important, the 2 cores are 1" tubing! The thing is huge! Most 4 cores are using 3/8" tubing. Do the math, 4 3/8" tubes adds up to 1 1/2" worht of tubing, where the 2 core is putting 2" worth of tubing in the same place. More capacity, more cooling. Simple. I also run an electric fan, along with my flex fan. A little added wind won't hurt.

Then why would anyone ever want a 4 core unit??
I don't disagree with your explaination but it would make one wonder why bother with a 4 core.

The 4 core has more surface area because of the 4 tubes. And more chance for the fins to catch some air. I personally think that getting more coolant through the radiator is more important. Just 2 different "schools of thought" you might say.

Brass actually has better heat dissipation characteristics than aluminum, and 4- 3/8" tubes will cool faster than 2- 1" tubes due to less volume per tube. Aluminums biggest advantage is the weight savings.