The rust bucket runs just below 190. That's running it on the highway at 3k rpm, stuck in traffic and stop and go. Might go to 190 but cools right back down. Why? Its got a good, 3 row radiator that was cleaned out and flow checked, the right shroud and a 20" 7 blade fan that fits the shroud correctly . I run a 180 stat in that car. I suspect a lot of these issues are just gunked up old radiators that are heavily restricted or mismatched parts. Or a combination of the two
It’s not rocket science! I use a NAPA cheapie 160 stat, CU-161 radiator (not sure on how many rows, probably 2), stock fan and likely a NAPA fan clutch (been on there so long a can’t recall). No vacuum advance. ♂️
https://www.autopartswarehouse.com/sku/Spectra/Radiator/SPICU161.html One row, but it obviously gets the job done.
Bob, changing your thermostat won't do a thing unless the thermostat you have is defective. Here's why. Thermostats are rated at their opening temperature. A 160 stat will open at 160*. It won't be fully open until 180*. For most thermostats, there is that same 20* spread between opening, and fully open. The thermostat opens just enough to control the running temperature of the engine coolant. Once it is fully open, that's it. If temperatures rise above that, the stat has lost temperature control of the system. There is another factor or factors that are causing the engine coolant temperatures to rise. The engine should run at no more than 5-10* above the stat rating. Do you know what stat you have?
OK - well I just checked the chassis manual and it says the standard thermostat is a 190* and it is fully open at 212* Even under high ambient temp and stop start driving the car is maintaining, an albeit high, temperature. So I'm guessing that while a lower rated thermostat would induce cooling earlier once fully open temperature control will still be limited by the efficiency of the system as a whole. So what is this 'Water Wetter' stuff I read about and does this magic potion really: "Decreas(es) engine temperature by up to 30 degrees" as the blurb claims? If so would this be a suitable stop gap measure ahead of a planned engine rebuild this coming winter? Any drawbacks to using it? Cheers! Bob
Bob, Have you owned the car since new? I doubt you still have the 190* stat. It might be a 195* It would be worth it to take a look. If it is, swap in a 180*. Water wetter is a great product. it can definitely help. It works best with less anti freeze. Anti freeze does not conduct heat as well as water. The higher your concentration of anti freeze, the less heat transfer. You can actually run 100% water with one bottle of water wetter. That would be the ultimate for summer driving. Water wetter has the anti corrosives so you can skip the anti freeze. Just add in anti freeze before the weather changes for winter.
I run an Alumitech (No longer made) 2 row, fan clutch with a good shroud and a Mr Gasket high flow 180 thermostat. I was running at 170 while driving and it would "creep" to 180 while sitting at long lights. It goes straight back as soon as I got some speed in about 1 minute. It was mid 80's in temp
Yeah, that’s it. “We” have 4 of those in use - one in my convertible and white GSX (9-sec power), one in Ken Montour’s 9-sec ride (both of these see limited street use too) and Ken Malette’s fuel-injected 455 wagon, all with no issues and plenty of capacity. If your cooling system/radiator is marginal, once you get to the “heat-soak” point, you’ve reached the point of no return.
Look at it this way folks. All front wheel drive cars on the road today with a travers motor have a electric cooling fan, and that fan only comes on at very low road speed or at idle! When traveling down the road above 30 Mph the fan in these cars never comes on and the motors run temp wise just a tad above the 195 degree stat that most of them are fitted with. If your V8 crusing down the road runs hot then these are the main possible issues, either separate or in combination. 1) poor coolant flow by means of a pump issue or a rad restriction. 2) not enough air flow thru the rad. 3) hoses getting sucked closed. 4) air pockets in the system. 5) retarded timing by means of Distributor , timing chain or both. To all you folks on the street ,You would be surprised what even just 6 degrees of vacuum advance can make in motor temps when just tooling down the road!
Electra Bob, why would you want to “band-aide” your cooling system and then rebuild the engine in the winter? Sort out the cooling system now, as the rebuilt engine will do nothing more than add more cooling requirements. Why risk cooking the new engine?
A cooling system upgrade would go hand in hand with the engine rebuild. I got the car a little over a year ago and lost a lot of good driving days to sorting out the brakes and suspension. Figured I'd get in a good summer of enjoying the car before using the winter layup getting the engine sorted. Bob
Bob, the top hose connection on that CU161 rad is 1.3". How do you deal with that? A lot of the late model rads are like that. Do you use a different hose, or just clamp it tighter?
I use the stock hose. On both my cars, there wasn’t a loose fitting hose situation, nor did I use one of those sleeves. That radiator may have been consolidated, and if so, they will likely supply a sleeve with it. Too bad. It works well.
More observations. Took the Electra out on back to back days with day one having 60* ambient temperature and day two 90* Welcome to New England - it will likely snow tomorrow. On the 60* day peak temperature held at 200* On the 90* day peak temperature held at 220* Oil pressure was 50 psi cruising and 20 psi idle at peak temperature on both days. My conclusion is that it simply demonstrates the ability of the system to cool given the old, possibly original, system components. On a journey of any distance a lower rated thermostat is not going to make any difference. A good system flush and a new radiator would probably result in lower running temps. Bob
Are you sure it's a 20"7 blade? I thought all 7 blade fans were 18" and the 20" fans had 5 blades. If there is a 20" 7 blade, I want one!
You know, you may be right Rob. Typo on my part. I think your right and it's an 18". Not sure why I wrote 20".
The 70 shroud opening is 20" across. The 71-2 opening is 22" across. The 18" 7 blade fan is a perfect fit for the 70 shroud, but it gets lost in the 71-72 shroud. The 5 blade 20" fan is a much better fit for the 71 and 72 cars. IMHO.
There are many 20" 7-blade fans. Just need to look for one from a mid-70's B-body GM or mid 70's Mopar
