427 engine Temperature.

[xlr8or]

I did a parade on July 4th when it was about 100 degrees out. Start to finish was just over an hour of stop and go. The water temps never went over 95C with a 180 thermostat. My puller fan was running the entire time. It's on a thermal switch and will shut off if the temps get below 85C.
Burping the system will really help with the spikes. Also there is nothing wrong with the oil temps being up to 100-110C when you are running hard or sitting in traffic. The cooler will bring it back down when you cruise at speed.

[Excaliber]

Maybe I need more fan! I'd be hitting 110 C for sure in a parade like that. Not to mention my clutch leg would one huge 'knot' by the end.

[Rick Parker]

The fans mounted in front of the radiators are not very efficient. A single 16" or (2) 8" or (2) 9" puller fans (behind the radiator) will work MUCH better. This has been discussed MANY times. Thermostat is secondary once the correct fans are installed.

[Clois Harlan]

Crack the temp gauge element after you start the engine and let some of the air bleed out until you start flowing some fluid. Then tighten your element back and you should be good to go. I like running a puller fan as opposed to a pusher fan, mine seemed to cool better.


Clois

[Automan]

Hey Guys, thankyou so much for all of your responses. Lots of information.
I did drill my 160 thermostat with a 1/8 drill bit to help me get the air out when i installed it. It helped a whole lot in getting the air out. Engine tempurature is definately interesting. Like i said i only have 360 miles on it so the breakin is probably still going on with higher friction happening. I have only changed the oil once and that was at the beginning after the first 4hrs of running. So i am going to do that with 10/30 weight with a zinc additive. I am going to find a puller fan. That Spal one sounds like it is doing the job for you. I dont have a oil temperature gage. I only have a pressure one. Sounds like i need one to compare with the cooling temp. Now ithe question s where does it go on my dash.

Automan

[Bill Bess]

Automan, all of the suggetions above are right on.

I have a FE motor and live in a very extreme hot climate (AZ), so over heating was a bit of a problem for me too.
I built a fan shroud with a puller fan (two fans -pusher & puller counter act each other). Installed a 180 thermostat, drilled it, installed a recovery system etc...still ran hot in stop & go traffic.

Guesswhat, the gauge was bad, new gauge indicated perfect temp. control..never over 205 in stop & go with ambiant temps at 115 degrees.
I found the true problem using an infered tool that checks actual temps anywhee you want to check it. $35.00 in the Summit book.
Anyway, best of luck...Bill

[mr0077]

One of the best and easiest improvements you might try is to seal around the edges of the fan shroud to prevent air from leaking out instead of going through the radiator. That one change on my last 460-powered Cobra solved the problem, and I only had about a half-inch gap.

FWIW, the T-stat only determines the opening temperature...IMHO, a 180 is better for a FE than a 160, particularly in the winter. The T-stat lets the engine warm up to target temp faster, then opens and tries to maintain opening temp as a minimum temp. If engine wants to run hotter than T-stat opening temp, putting in a T-stat that opens at a lower temp won't help control temp, and taking it out may make things worse, because another function of the T-stat is as a restrictor, so flow through the block is somewhat pressurized, to help minimize steam pockets and hot spots.

[CHANMADD]

It seems that the only people here that don't do parades or can't sit in traffic or have consistent spikes in temps are all running a 160 thermostat!!
Those that are why not, for the cheap cost of a new thermostat,try a 190.
or 180.
Why ask for advise and not take it???

[DAVID GAGNARD]

Originally Posted by Automan

OK, so again, i have a 427 centeroiler with solid lifters, 2-650cfm carbs. currently it has 370miles on it. I have a 160 degree thermostat. I have an aluminum rad ( same as Rosco)

What i am finding is that the engine temperature takes only a couple of blocks to get to 170 degrees. I have my fans running right from startup because they are manually controled. Now i only have 2 electric fans from finsihline on the front of the rad pushing air through. there is about 1.5 inches of space between the rad and fans.

So after about 2 miles i am at 190 degrees. Now going down the highway at 65 miles i stay at 190 degrees. But in a stop and go situation i am climbing to 230 degrees. Now i have never allowed it to go over that because i either head back to the nearest highway or stretch run or stop at the nearest
Tim Hortons for a coffee and wait for it to cool down. Last night after a 10 mile run i pulled into the garage at 230 degrees. Even the hood rod is hot when setting it in place. I left my fans on when i shut off the car and cooled down the water in the rad. I would start it up and bring down the temperature allowing the cooled water in the rad to enter the engine and replace the rad with hot water then shutting it off again. Kept doing it untill i got it back to 180. Took three rad fills.

I know this isn't right. Mind you it has been high ninties here in Ontario lately.

Regardless of engine size and type, the pusher fans are almost useless on the front, especially if there are 1.5 inches from the radiator and have no shroud....you just as soon take them off, they are not doing you any good....one good (curved blade) electric puller fan from 17 to 19 inches in diameter will keep your motor closer to the temps it needs to be....
I have a 351-W in a 65 Fastback and run one 19 inch puller fan with a shroud and can and do the Forth of July parade in 100 degree heat, idling for 45 to 60 minutes and my temp stays on 180 (180 thermostat) for the first 30 minutes or so, then gradually creeps up, so far it has never exceeded 195 after one hour of idling in 100 degree heat....most of the times it will not exceed 190, once back on the open road, it drops to 180 in less than one mile.....My electric fan is on a toggle switch and if I'm on the highway, I never have to turn it on.... as long as my speed is about 40 mph or more, the temp never gets above 180.....Your problems lie with your fan system and also the 160 thermostat....run the 180 with a couple of small holes in it and you'll be fine..........
Been there, done that......took me three radiators and three fans to figure it out............

David

[Automan]

I will let you all know how it turns out. Thanks again. And Chadd. I will definately use this advice.

Thanks again
Automan

[fkemmerer]

This is a great thread and jkust about all of the options have been covered here. Just a few more things to consider/check if the things already listed don't do the trick.

1) Is your ignition timing set correctly. If you retard the timing, any motor will run hot. If your headers are getting very hot or burning off the paint/coating, its often an indication of excessively retarded ignition timing.

2) Was your engine built with underdrive accessory pulleys? Can you get an overdrive water pump pulley? Engine builders often use underdrive accessory pulleys on performance engines to gain a little more power and to avoid over reving the alternator at higher PRMs. This is almost never a good idea on the street as the engine does not circulate enough collant at low speeds. You can tell if you've got underdrive pulleys as the pulley on the damper will be smaller than the water pump pulley. If this is the case, I would suggest switching to a standard setup or even an overdrive setup (water pump turns faster than the crank) if you can find one. I used this trick on a blown smallblock in a Vette (which has limited cooling capability) at it improved the cooling situation at low speeds by a noticable amount.