Engine Temp

[Old Skooler]

My car had had issues with it running hot since I built the motor, using the electric fan the PO had in place.

Over the winter I installed a black magic 3300 cfm fan and today I tested it. The temp at idol is around 170 but when I rev it up the temp goes to 190. Driving the temp is around 180 in traffic it starts to climb to 190.
What should be an average temp of a 347 W/ AFR heads and a 3 core radiator? I've used the black magic fan before without issue. The manual pump is spinning the right direction and I've checked the T stat twice.
My concern is today is only 58 degrees this thing is going to run hot on an 80 degree day.

Thoughts

 

[madspeed]

190 is not too hot. These things ran hotter than that from the factory. What t stat you running?

 

[rbohm]

m is right, in fact you should be running right around 205-210 for best results, especially if you are running EFI.

 

[Spaz]

The factory t-stat is a 192 degree t-stat so it should climb to 190. Even when it warms up your setup should be fine. Figure this, the factory could easily have put it a 140 or a 150 degree t-stat if the cars would run better that cool. But according to studies I read in a mechanical engineering book in college, engines running between 180-200 degrees show less wear on bearings, cylinder walls, etc. than engines running above that range and below that range. 190 is the "sweet spot."

 

[Mustang5L5]

200-220 is the range most modern fuel injected cars run at. I think my 2003 GT ran around 210 most of the time when it was new.

I wouldn't worry about 190-200 degrees.

 

[84Ttop]

Exactly as the others have said! Agreed!!

 

[smkshw]

wish i read this last year,would have took some stress away,my 331 is running around that also,has an electric fan already,i put in a aluminum rad and i was about to buy a dual fan set up to try and cool it down some more...good to hear its normal!....guess im just used to looking at the stock set up temps all these years...

 

[Old Skooler]

This makes me feel a little better, I have a 180 ford motor sport Tstat.

Anything higher then 190 I start to get nervous and can't stop looking at the temp gauge. Not sure if it matters but my motor is carburetor not efi.

 

[smkshw]

i do the same thing...!....but i feel much better now also....

 

[Mustang5L5]

Running too cold can have adverse effects on the engine internals. The engines are designed with a specific operating range in mind. As said, with fuel injection is usually around 200-220 degrees. Each component in the engine has it's expansion under heat calculated out at that temp range. Now when you slap in too cold of a thermostat and try to operate the engine at say 160-170 degrees, some of those parts do not heat up properly and you can get abnormal wear and such on bearings, journals, cam, etc.

That's why running too cold of a thermostat can be harmful. It's an old hotrod trick from the carb days to get more HP, but its outdated in the age of fuel injection.

 

[2000xp8]

This makes me feel a little better, I have a 180 ford motor sport Tstat.

Anything higher then 190 I start to get nervous and can't stop looking at the temp gauge. Not sure if it matters but my motor is carburetor not efi.

I'm with you. I like a solid 180.
If it's only 58 when you drove it and it climbed past 190, you probably aren't going to like where it goes at 90 degrees.

I had my car setup and it ran 180 all the time.

I know that feeling about obsession with the temperature, my modular setup will run up to like 210 and it doesn't thrill me. I think this summer i'm just going to get a really big radiator.

 

[rbohm]

I'm with you. I like a solid 180.
If it's only 58 when you drove it and it climbed past 190, you probably aren't going to like where it goes at 90 degrees.

I had my car setup and it ran 180 all the time.

I know that feeling about obsession with the temperature, my modular setup will run up to like 210 and it doesn't thrill me. I think this summer i'm just going to get a really big radiator.

dont try to make the engine run too cool, that is as bad as it running too hot in many ways. if you get the engine running too cool, you will lose fuel economy, increase wear, and likely run in open loop mode most of the time.

one more thing to understand, when designing a cooling system, the tstat doesnt always set the temperature the engine runs at. if your cooling system is designed to run at say 210 degrees, and you install a 180 tstat, your engine will still run at 210 degrees. if you set the system up to run ar 180 degrees and you run a 205 tstat, your engine will run at about 21o degrees.

 

[2000xp8]

dont try to make the engine run too cool, that is as bad as it running too hot in many ways. if you get the engine running too cool, you will lose fuel economy, increase wear, and likely run in open loop mode most of the time.

one more thing to understand, when designing a cooling system, the tstat doesnt always set the temperature the engine runs at. if your cooling system is designed to run at say 210 degrees, and you install a 180 tstat, your engine will still run at 210 degrees. if you set the system up to run ar 180 degrees and you run a 205 tstat, your engine will run at about 21o degrees.

No worries i'm aware of how it works.
I've ran the same cooling setup for about 20 years on the same car.
A mr gaskets 180.
180 is fine in a fox, a 160 (which i also used), is the t stat that screws things up, especially in the winter.
I've also always used an autometer mechanical temp gauge.