I have a very mild 350 SBC in my 54 Bel Air. Currently I'm running without the hood, a Champion aluminum radiator thats actually made for the inline 6, and a small 15" mechanical fan. My thermostat is a Stewart 180* stat. I cant get the temperature above 160* Ive tried two different temp senders and both never went above 160* Ive been told its not good to run a SBC too cold. Is this true and what can I do to correct it?
Have you tried another Thermostat? Sounds like it's stuck open Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
you can put on a higher psi radiator cap which will help raise temp and lower the boiling point. there is alot of people that wish they had this problem.
Last guys thread on this ... It was the temp sender not being fully immersed in coolant. Giving the gauge bad readings. Stick a mechanical in the head to verify or shoot it with a infrared temp gun. I believe you have an root electrical problem.
Fill the radiator and warm the engine up. Now remove the radiator cap and hold a kitchen (meat) thermometer in the coolant...immerse it 1" or so, just touching the liquid. This will give you an accurate reading. (and you can wash the thermometer after, using alcohol and soap-and-water...) The thermostat to use is 190*.
Thread sealant on the sender? This will affect the total resistance of the circuit and give incorrect readings.
im betting temp sender...years ago hot rod mag or someone did test and a sbc made the most power at like 210 or 220 or something, much higher than i like to see....try different sender and or location for sender, also maybe pull the t stat and check that too
Since when does a higher pressure cap raise temperature? Is that the cure for overheating? Put a lower pressure cap on it, or no pressure, presto, no more overheating? Higher pressure caps do indeed raise the boiling point, but not the fix here.....and yes you can run a smallblock too cold. I run my 327 with a 195 thermostat.
What kind of nonsense is that? A radiator pressure cap will raise the boiling point by 3 degrees for each pound of pressure on the cap. That means it will allow the engine to run at a higher temperature before boiling over but damned well won't lower the running temp of the engine by it's self. I'm with those who say sending unit not matched to the gauge or possibly something like thread sealer on the threads causing a disruption of current flow. I much prefer mechanical temp and oil gauges to electric for that reason.
If your sender is in the head ,put it in the intake. I think out of radiator its cooler so not reading right.
Not correct. I did testing on this using my OT vehicle. Measured the resistance with tape and without with digital multimeter. No difference in resistance. The senders usually are an interference fit and cut right through the tape when screwed in. Bottom line tape does not effect the resistance.
Hotter thermostat, as mentioned. I wouldn't be surprised if no hood allows a lot of radiated heat to escape, but the cooling system is sealed and it should get up to temp just to open the thermostat. Cardboard in front of the radiator is a cheap way to test for one, if it gets hot with it but not without, it's the stat. I had one stick on me in a Chevy a few years ago - it damn near boiled over, I shut it off, half an hour later it seemed okay, I drove it that way like 5 more months and then when it got cold enough I wanted heat, no heat.
If you think no hood might be part of the problem just take some cardboard and cover part of the radiator and run the engine to see if the temp will come up to 180 to 190 if it does you know that the sender and cooling system is working. might need to put the fan on a sender to cut it on and off. Use a temp gun to check the temp while doing this, check with a parts store they might have one you can use, If the gauge still does not go past 160 then check the sender and gauge, good luck
A higher pressure cap & a hotter thermostat allows the engine to run hotter w/o boiling over. My understanding is some of the modern engines (Caddy?) run between 215 & 230 w/o problems even though that's above the boiling point of water not under pressure.
Just because you were fortunate enough for your fittings to cut the tape doesn't mean that everyone else is so lucky. Especially guys who put tons of tape on them. Teflon tape is bad advice and usually unnecessary.
Are you one of those who installs brass fittings dry that the rest of us curse when we have to drill them out?
Lmao !!!! Experts Tape or compound, correctly applied, will not alter the electrical conductivity. The mighty metal threads push the putty like Teflon into any voids and create a seal. Now I suppose there are plenty of guys who were shown incorrectly how to apply the tape and maybe there could be a problem but its gotta be a lot of tape!!!!
My 250 always read hot when the sender was in the head, I moved it to the t-stat housing to read right under the thermostat. It was 15 cooler then when it was back in the head. Thermo-heat gun confirmed this. You should be reading the temp just as the coolant is leaving the engine. Add a second cheap-o gauge just for testing and replace the t-stat with a 195 to see if the temp climbs 15 degrees over what it is now. joe
If you have a carb engine the sender goes on intake. don't put it on cylinder head. cooler water enters the head first.
If all the above has been checked, Sender location, Gauge, T-Stat works. Look for "leakage around the T-Stat".......can be how the stat sits in intake, to how your heater core is plumbed. A 5/8 hose leaking around stat can cause overcooling with low load / part load applications. Just a thought T/S' Semi's, 90% are leakage issues around the stat's.
Nothing seems to generate as much misinformation as an engine temperature post does. Yes, a higher pressure radiator cap will raise the boiling point of the coolant, but it will NOT make the engine run any hotter or cooler. And the temperature you read at the head is always hotter than the temperature at the intake, or almost any other point on the engine. Remember, the head temp point is right next to where all the cylinder firing is happening, and as close to the source of heat as you can get.
I'd say check the sending unit first. What are the pulley ratios? It is possible for the water to move through the block too quickly to cool effectively. In that case, put on a larger water pump pulley or go to a smaller crank pulley. FWIW- I run a 35lb cap on my racecars. I can run it to almost 250 before it starts to overheat. I don't want it to run that hot, try to keep it at 220, but I have the extra if I need it.
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