When my car sits in traffic, drive thru window, and long lights the engine temp goes to 270 and stays there for awhile. I was wondering if this is normal with the setup that I have and if so I guess I will have to install an electric fan.
Too hot. If you're running the stock mechanical fan, it's possible that your fan clutch might be dead and your fan isn't turning fast enough to pull air through the radiator. Pop the hood sometime and spin the fan by hand; if it spins more than 1 full rotation, it's probably time to invest in a new one.
Those underdrive pulleys probably aren't helping things, either. Slower-turning water pump = less coolant flow = engine runs hotter at idle.
Also wouldn't hurt to invest in a new temperature sending unit or upgrade to a mechanical temperature gauge, if you're still using the stock gauge.
fan clutch is only 6 months old but will check it. Normally drive on the freeway so it would never go about 200. Just started going above that when the heads were changed out. So an electric fan is not needed
my money is on the clutch fan. especially if you dont have a fan shroud. with your radiator being a 3 row its and aweful lot of water for a stock fan to cool down just sitting in traffic. and not to point out the obvious but check your thermostat. i had a big problem with mine.
If you are staying cool at freeway speeds your radiator is doing its job. If you are stopped and you are overheating, your fan isn't pulling enough air. This is common with underdrive pullies. Not only is your waterpump not pushing much water at idle your fan is rotating less too. I would suggest getting rid of the UD pullies or going to an electric fan so your fan speed isn't governed by the motor. 270 on an aftermarket gauge is way too hot... especially for AL heads.
Kevin
How old is the coolant? Is it 50/50 mix? Did you add water wetter?
I have U/D pulleys on my car and even sitting in traffic my temp gauge will never go past 190* with the e-fan on. SHut it off and it takes a while for it to creep up.
It's also possible you have an air pocket in your system.
What type of waterpump do you have. I had a milidon that would drive my temps up pretty quick when stopped. This was before my efan and I had UD pullies too...
Kevin