Cooling issue with my FOX

erniet17 · Jul 4, 2009

Hey everyone. I have a 93 notchback and I'm having some cooling issues. When I first bought the car it would overheat in traffic. It had an Edelbrock water pump and a Fluidyne radiator with the stock fan. I changed the heads, timing chain, water pump (heavy duty) and changed to a 160 themostat. I also installed a Black Magic Extreme electric fan. Oh, and I installed a turbo. Now the car hits 200-215 degrees on the highway yet it stays at about 180 in the city. That's with an Autometer gauge. I ceramic coated and wrapped the headers and downpipe. Still nothing. I took the radiator out today and it looks very clean inside and the water flows easily. Any ideas??? Again, the only thing that I haven't changed is the radiator and shortblock. Thanks.

fox-gt · Jul 4, 2009

I switched to a three core radiator, made a little difference. It has always run hotter since I switched to aluminum heads.

erniet17 · Jul 4, 2009

I have had aluminum heads on 2 other stangs and never had a cooling issue. I know it can't be the turbo kit cause I know 4 other guys running the same setup but with regular radiators and they have no problems.

HISSIN50 · Jul 5, 2009

Do you have the little air deflector under the radiator support?

erniet17 · Jul 5, 2009

HISSIN50 said:
Do you have the little air deflector under the radiator support?

Yeah, it's still there. I'm swapping out the radiator today. I highly doubt it's that but I want to narrow it down some more.

84Ttop · Jul 5, 2009

do you have a shroud around your radiator? you may not be pulling all the air through the radiator at speed on the highway.

Cobra912 · Jul 5, 2009

HISSIN50 said:
Do you have the little air deflector under the radiator support?

84t-top said:
do you have a shroud around your radiator? you may not be pulling all the air through the radiator at speed on the highway.

These are definetly the two biggest things that would lead to city = cool, highway = hot.

Dino Dino Bambino · Jul 5, 2009

erniet17 said:
Oh, and I installed a turbo. Now the car hits 200-215 degrees on the highway yet it stays at about 180 in the city.

There's definitely not enough heat being exchanged through the radiator at speed but I don't think the radiator itself is to blame. You have the air deflector and a fan shroud isn't going to make a difference on the highway.
It's possible that your AC condenser fins are clogged up with dirt/insects and preventing air from flowing through to the radiator. A pressure wash should take care of that. The only other thing I can suggest is to install an intercooler for your turbo if you don't already have one. Reducing the air charge temp. will almost certainly drop your coolant temp. but it'll also improve performance (cooler air is more dense) and allow you to use more boost without detonation.

erniet17 · Jul 5, 2009

The flexalite extreme fan has a shroud and the turbo is intercooled. I'm baffled by this. It makes no sense that it heats on the highway and not the city.

ScratchinFerTra · Jul 5, 2009

Since the cooling system seems sealed up with shrouds, etc, It's possible at highway speeds the engine is at a much lower rpm pushing less coolant. In town you would likely be 2-3k between gears and such, and with most tunes at a little richer than stoich cruising mixture. Try taking it out of OD on the highway, just a thought?
Stan

erniet17 · Jul 5, 2009

Thanks Stan. I have 3.73 gears so the RPM's are at about 2000-2500 on the highway. The weird thing is that I know a few others with the same setup and they don't have this problem. I doubt it's the radiator but I am going to switch it out anyways. The turbo definitely increased the temp under the hood but I would've thought it would cool off on the highway.

84Ttop · Jul 6, 2009

What kind of total timing are you seeing on the highway. I've seen cars time and time again w/ too much timing overheat. It's possible w/ a power adder and the increased intake air temps to have too much timing while crusing. What type of tuner are you using?

erniet17 · Jul 7, 2009

I have no idea what the timing is. I have a Diablo chip in there right now. I might throw it on the dyno and check that out. Thanks!

erniet17 · Jul 7, 2009

Well, I went out and bought a Be Cool rad today. Ofcourse, it didn't fit properly. It was the Eliminator line which was $300 but it is too tall. They perfect fit one is $500.

Anyways, I was taking the old Fluidyne rad from the back of my truck and I heard pieces moving in there. I shook it well and turned it over and a ton of small rusty looking bits came out. I am assuming that those bits were restricting the waterflow. Needless to say I am still going to change it out. I can't get my hands on another Fluidyne for 1 1/2 weeks. I can't even seem to find a 3 core brass one.
I was supposed to run at the track tomorrow but I guess that won't be happening.

I'll update the forum when I install the new rad.

7-UP BILL · Jul 7, 2009

I've heard that the Edelbrock water pump flows the water too quickly thru the system whereby causing the radiator to not extract the heat thoroughly. Just something to maybe look at.

mob · Jul 7, 2009

Are you losing any coolant?

5literPwr · Jul 8, 2009

Mob, why do you ask about coolant loss? Like to original poster, my 93 gt runs hotter than usual lately, and I do have coolant loss. I get the low coolant warning light every other month and have to fill it up. I dont mean to hijack this post, just addressing a question to Mob, thanks.

erniet17 · Jul 10, 2009

Okay, I installed a new 2 core radiator. It helped a bit but it still hits 200 degrees if I sit in traffic too long. One thing that I didn't mention is that I have a lot of blow-by. I installed a catch can and it gets half full in a week. The rings seem to be shot. Can blow-by cause an increase in temperature?

HISSIN50 · Jul 10, 2009

200* is out outrageous. If it only runs "hotter" than you desire while in traffic, your fan might need to be upgraded.

erniet17 · Jul 10, 2009

HISSIN50 said:
200* is out outrageous. If it only runs "hotter" than you desire while in traffic, your fan might need to be upgraded.

I took it on the highway today and it hit 180* with the A/C on but then again it hasn't been too sunny today. I have the Black Magic fan that is supposed to push 3300 CFM. The turbo does put out tons of heat. I hit the exhaust housing on the turbo the other day and it was 600+ degrees. I think a cowl hood will help as well.

Cooling issue with my FOX

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