Claybird49

I had asked advice on my C4 running what I thought was hot, 220-225 and was told by several that those temps. were normal. I'm old school and with that said, anything over 210 is time to get out and see whats wrong. So, okay, these Vettes ran that hot, doesn't make it normal. After pulling what Chevy called a radiator, I found that they had at least left plenty of room to fit the proper radiator in these cars. I also added the high flow water pump, which is only offered on C4's with this heat problem, and a push fan with manuel switch (haven't needed it so far). Temps running down the road in 98 degree Texas heat, 182 ! Sitting in traffic, 195 or less, as I said, haven't used the push fan yet.
Okay, now this old man feels good about cruising in this machine. Everything I did cost under $250, well worth the money ! So you guys still running 220-225, you don't have to be just because Chevy dropped the ball on these cars. Stick a S-10, 4 cylinder truck radiator in a Vette, What were they thinking ???
Thanks for all the help from everybody on this subject, now anyone know about these 700R automatics ?
Thanks again,
Claybird49

ANTI VENOM

Neither my 92 or 91 ever ran that hot. EVER. My climate is mild but the cars were modified. I don't feel that those temps are normal.
Oh, stock radiators in both cars. Standard 50/50 coolant mix.
Glad your problems are fixed..

Claybird49

Actually, I've been told that it was 87, 88, 89 models ??? Suppose to have fixed the problem after 89, who knows, all I know is mines fixed. And no, 220-225 arn't considered normal in my book !
Thanks

ANTI VENOM

SBC may handle those temps, but I'm not an advocate. If my stuff gets near that hot, I'm finding out why. Leaves in the radiator? I even sucked up a plastic bag. Damn cars are like vacuum cleaners for the street.

Claybird49

They are bottom feeders for sure. my push fan will probably be more of a shredder !!!

John A. Marker

I had my fans reprogramed to come on earlier so it very seldom gets to those temperatures. Even at autrcross, I run in the 190-195 range.

Yes, I am old school also.

Claybird49

Now thats more normal for a SBC.

rogergcam

I'm like you Claybird-220 is toooo hot-I had the same on my 94 LT1. I replaced the t-stat with a 160 deg one., and had the fans programmed to come on at 185. Made all the difference in the world! I haven't seen it above 200 since the work was done.
Along with that and some other stuff, I had it Dyno tuned-it's getting 258 HP and 283 lbs. torque. Completely stock-

playsdixie

when I joined the forum, my 1st thread was about this....got lots of guys telling me the normal crap...a new radiator wasn't that much, when I had it tuned, had the fans come on ealier, 160 t stat....even in s fl...rarely see 200....i'm a lot happier, i think the car runs better....

DanielRicany

When I installed AFR 195 Eliminator heads on my 85, my car had some overheating problems. I replaced the radiator with an American Eagle 2 Row with 1 inch tubing aluminum radiator and a Flow Kooler high flow water pump. I also installed a 180* thermostat and lowered the fan on temp to 199 degrees. Now it hardly ever gets above 200, and when it does, the max is like 205.

I changed the running temp to allow me some time to react in the event that something stopped working. These cars are designed from the factory to go up to 230* F for emissions, and at that point, you have 20* left before you do some damage. I've had it get to 245* by the time I was able to pull over and shut it off. That was a close one. Now I know if it gets above 205*, I have 45* to react until I blow something.

I have the overheating problems under control now though.

Claybird49

To everyone else that thinks 220-225 is normal, its not and for very little money, it can be running 185 and you'll get much longer engine life, period !
Thanks everyone for all the comments

Brad-Vette

Do you have part numbers for those parts? i wouldnt mind getting this done.

How hard is it to replace the water pump, does that mess with the Optispark? Kinda scared to do anything near that optispark.

Claybird49

Don't know about a C5, didn't think they had this kind of problem ? They're not a 350/5.7 are they ? But I guess a water pump can go out on anything, huh ? I know SBC's, but just learning about this C4 Vette.

Cruisinfanatic

It is normal. Fans don't even come on until hotter than that per factory spec. On a clean system, everything stock, usually doesn't get that hot anyway.
Always someone who thinks they know better than the engineers that designed it

Brad-Vette

it was for a C4 i was referring to :P

chevyc4man

I tend to hit 220 if the car is idle for long, once I pick up speed it cools down.

RollaMo-LT4

Funny how my '96 is still running just fine after all these years, and with over 120,000 miles.
Everything is still factory stock.

RollaMo-LT4

That is another good point that some seem to miss.

If the car is moving at any speed above approx. 40 mph, then the temps should not be reaching much over 195°.
If they are, then something in the cooling system isn't right.

When stopped for any length of time, there isn't any air moving across the radiator unless the cooling fan and/or fans are running.
Remember, these cars don't have mechanical fans like the old school cars.

When stopped, the temps will rise until the fan "on" temp is reached.
The fan and/or fans kick on, and the temps should stabilize or even drop until the temps reach the fan "off" point.
When the fans shut off, the cycle will continue to repeat itself as long as the car is sitting still.

The proper coolant mix and pressure has a boiling point of close to 260°F.
Anything in the 200°F - 235°F is not doing any harm at all.

Claybird49

Wow, got everyone stired up ! Don't care what anyone has to say about it now, I saw the piece of crap radiator I pulled out of my Vette and am damn glad I replaced it. Temp is where it should be at, factory specs. be damned. And again guys, it's the '87-89 Vettes we're talking about. This ain't my first rodeo ! Didn't have these problems with my '62 ! Never said there was anything wrong with anything, if those temps are good for you, certainly nothing wrong with that but there's nothing wrong with making something better either. This kind of engineering pisses me off because I AM an engineer !
OK, I'm done with this topic, thanks everyone for all the comments.

JrRifleCoach

As we've learned here, the Gen I engine runs "hot" to work with emissions control.
Just curious, why only the 87-89?
The L98 shares model years from 85-90? And the radiators are all the same.

If you really want to see everyone stirred up, start a thread on oil.