Hello,

I had a question for those smarter than me, how can I find out and how to check for a possible overheating issue?

351w roller, holly ecu, 7875. The holley shows it getting hot pretty fast imo. Car isn't run often and doesn't have a hood. I have the basic holley cts and mat sensor in my oem lightning intake positions. I know the sensor would likely be better right before the throttle body but it doesn't look good there on the sbf and I didn't want to risk yet another boost leak.

How do I diagnose if my issue is the aftermarket radiator, two medium sized electrical pusher fans in front, the on3 intercooler(base one with kit), my Napa 170 deg thermostat? I also have the lisle burp kit for the coolant. I have had issues where it is not full to the brim but a half inch under the cap. The coolant also has an air pocket where I have the vortech pipe from radiator to thermostat housing.
I believe the fans are underpowered but they fit in a tight spot.

Any ideas and way to test? Thanks guys

 

Thanks Ken. I do have a weird water pump and alternator belt setup on the mustang I believe the water pump is a standard reverse rotation and belt only touches the right side of pulley up to the alternator. Holley usually shows the car running rich and needs to take away with the cl compensation.

 

Make sure you have a spring in the lower radiator hose.
My experience has been, if the fans keep up at idle and low speed but dont at highway speeds, then the fans are arent enough.
Timing at cruise is all too often an issue. Particularly under timed at cruise will cause an engine to run hot.
Typically need 35-45 deg to run cool. Some are fine at 30ish. 20s is no bueno.
But, the fueling and timing go hand in hand at certain point. Lean wont cause a hot running motor by itself.
Lean cruise burns slower so more timing is needed to complete combustion.

Work on getting it cruising clean at 14.0-14.5 afr with 40 ish deg. timing.

 

Cooling the water that is in the radiator requires air to enter the cores then exit. IME, most cooling issues stem from improper airflow. Make sure all air is funneled directly into the front of the radiator and cannot go around it. Also make sure that air can escape out the back AND out of the engine compartment. Running w/o a hood may be causing a high pressure area so air is not being sucked out of the engine compartment good enough causing air to pile up behind the radiator.

You didn't mention what type of car it is but newer car bodies use vacuum under the car to suck air through the radiator and out the bottom of the car. Adding cowl hoods that are open in the back or removing the hood greatly affects the designed air path to get air to flow correctly.

ks

 

It's a foxbody sir. I currently don't have a hood that fits and I'm just trying to use what I have.

 

Maybe you should post some info on how/when it's getting hot. And how hot?

 

I need to try and look over the holley screen recording.

 

Post some pics of your set up.

 

#ad

 

Does your car have the original air deflector below the rad?
Does your car run hot all the time or does it cool down highway driving?
For sure burp the air out of the system. Pusher fans are not the best.
I am not yet to that part of my build but if you move your rad forward and down where the condenser sits you should be able to fit your fans so they are puller fans, if they are to big get a set of ford contour fans they are only 3.5” wide.

https://www.npdlink.com/product/seal-radiator-air-deflector-original-e7zz-8349-a/165149/150241

 

Fan spinning the correct direction?

 

Yes, they are both medium size pusher fans. I can barely feel the air coming towards me when one of them is turned on.

 

Pushers aren't particularly effective. If you can barely feel them that may be your main issue. Any chance you could fit some slim fans, maybe a junkyard Taurus setup?

 

Its a very tight fit in the front for the pushers. I assume previous owner put them there due to very limited room in the back of radiator facing the car for pullers

 

I don't see why you wouldn't have a puller fan setup.

How much timing does it have at idle? How much voltage?

 

whats the cfm of the fans, they may be blocking air flow while moving, I never run pushers unless I have no other choice. I had 2 fans setup on a car, 1 pulled and 1 pushed, if i left the pusher fan on while going over 35 mph it caused the engine to heat up until I shut it off then the temp cooled off to normal. The puller fan was a black magic fan, 15 inch, that was rated at 3000 peak cfm, the pusher was a cheap 14 inch from pep boys that I added for sitting in traffic, they were staggered mounted with no overlap, i also had a 31 inch aluminum radiator.

 

Let me please try and get my laptop tp check the holley data logs and car in garage. Most of my setup was from previous owner. In all honesty sir, im sure many things were done half assed. Im just trying to improve what I have and try to spend my limited funds on what i can. I appreciate the help and opinions of those more knowledgeable than me on here. Thank you.

 

I look forward to hearing what you find out. What temperature are you calling hot? Mine runs warmer than I would like with the AC on at highway speeds. 75+. But with 4.10s it's almost 3k RPMs. If I slow down it will cool off.

My radiator has a good coating of rust on the inside. My first goal it to flush it.

 

Make sure if your front cover/water pump setup calls for it, that you have the separator plate inbetween the pump and front cover.

I believe only the sn95 and explorer fead doesn't use the plate.