Possible cooling issue

[Jaym14]

I'm currently running a 2 core b-cool rad with the Taurus fan and DCC controller and 180 thermostat on the build specified in my sig. I recently switched over from the stock style clutch fan. With the clutch fan My car used to always sits at 190-200 according to my autometer C2 gauge. Yesterday I was out for a cruise (about 60 min of driving) in 80 degree temps and my temps were between 220-230. I was not beating on the car at all, just cruising around. I decided to check the temps with an infrared thermometer and got a 180 degree reading. So now I'm not sure whats going on. The car was running fine and showing no signs of overheating, but now I'm debating trying a mark VIII fan. maybe I should put a new sender on the temp gauge first to make sure its reading correctly. What do you guys think?

 

[mob]

Where exactly did you put the infrared thermometer? I am sure the pressurized coolant inside the engine is a little hotter, then a heat soaked engine part. 220 is not really over heating but it is jut a little hot. I would try changing the thermostat and cap before you keep changing fans.

 

[67coupe]

The taurus fan should be more than adequate. I have one with a DCC in 100+ heat. No problems in rush hour with A/C.

Can you hear the fan cycling?
Is it reaching full speed?
What temp have you jumpered the DCC to cut on?
Cooling system completely burped?

Since your factory fan kept the setup cool, I would first look at the installation of the DCC probe. Make sure its pushed in completely as per the DCC instructions.

 

[Jaym14]

The taurus fan should be more than adequate. I have one with a DCC in 100+ heat. No problems in rush hour with A/C.

Can you hear the fan cycling?
Is it reaching full speed?
What temp have you jumpered the DCC to cut on?
Cooling system completely burped?

Since your factory fan kept the setup cool, I would first look at the installation of the DCC probe. Make sure its pushed in completely as per the DCC instructions.

I'll double check what you have suggested, but I'm fairly confident that everything is set correctly. The DCC is set to come on at 180.

Last night I had the car out... temps were about 70 degrees. The car definitely ran a bit cooler and even stayed at 180 as long as I was cruising. Sitting in traffic for a little while and temps climbed to about 200 or so.. which is fine... but I saw 230 during the day in a little traffic and that was only in 80 degree weather. The other thing I noticed though is that my anderson PMS was reading 216 water temps when my autometer gauge was reading 230. Also last night when my autometer read 200 my PMS was reading in the 180-190 range. So now I've had the infared thermometer and my PMS read lower temps than the gauge.... I'm starting to think the gauge is wrong.

 

[HISSIN50]

Does it cool decently when at speed?
As noted, I'd really check the fan circuit and performance over. Do you have the status LED? Does it stay hard red all the time? With your settings and readings, it should be (once you're up to temp).

 

[67coupe]

Just to add onto what HISSIN said. If you were running at 230, the DCC should have the electric fan running at 100%. This should be obvious as the taurus fan on high is very very loud. If not, check the DCC wiring and probe.

 

[Jaym14]

I don't have the status LED unfortunately...

I looked everything over and it appears correct however I'm going to pull it apart and redo it cause I dont think the fan is reaching peak RPM.... I'm going to be putting in a fresh thermostat also when I get to it.. hopefully later this week and I'll see what happens.

 

[Jaym14]

Well I'm still fighting the cooling demons... Today I installed a nice new mr. gasket 180 degree thermostat... which made zero difference. I've looked over all my fan/dcc control wiring and and I'm sure its correct and my fan is definitely reaching peak rpm.
I'm not sure whats going on..... my anderson PMS was reading 216 at one point and at the same time my auto meter water temp gauge was reading nearly 240??? Checked temp with infrared thermometer and it reads close to what the anderson PMS is reading.....

I'm starting to think that maybe I'm running hot AND my auto meter gauge is miscalibrated in some way? Has this happened to anyone? Doesn't the PMS read from the same location as the gauge?

What else could be causing me to run hot? My cooling system should be sufficient, yet its not... at least I have not blown any gaskets yet...

Anyways, I need some help here....

 

[Shakerhood]

Is the Taurus Fan from a 3.8?

 

[Jaym14]

Is the Taurus Fan from a 3.8?

YES

 

[HISSIN50]

FWIW, my ECT and mech gauge read within 2*F of each other.

Does the fan stay ramped up at 100% DC at all times, or does it cycle slow and fast?

If you have an IR thermometer, you can use it to check the inlet vs outlet radiator temps. The absolute temp isn't real useful but the delta is.

 

[Jaym14]

Well the fan is set up to cycle but since the car never runs cool the fan just stays at full speed....

 

[Jaym14]

Today I tried backing the timing down a bit... still ran hot....

 

[S&B]

I had sort of the same issue your having, my problem was fixed once i ditched the DCC controler and ran a 75 amp fuse with a switch, now it cools great. took me 2 years to ditch the DCC, i use a 95 5.0 fan with a 2 core alum radiator. so your taurus fan should be able to cool that no problem. it wont hurt to try

 

[Jaym14]

so your saying that when the DCC had the fan on high... it was not really on high?
I'm fairly confident at this point that my problem is two fold...
The first issue being that the car really is running hot... & the other being that my auto meter gauge is not accurate...... So its hard to tell how hot I'm running..... I think the auto meter is about 10-15 degrees hotter then actual.

 

[393strokervert]

running hot

(Today I tried backing the timing down a bit... still ran hot....)

what is your base timing set at? is it possible that it is too "retarded"?. Retarded timing can cause it to run hot. I had the same problem in my 91 notch & came to find out that my timing marker was bent off several degrees during the motor install causing me to set my base timing wrong.I ended up setting it grandpas old fashion way by advancing the timing 4 degrees at a time(test driving it in between) until it started pinging, then bringing it back 2 degrees at a time until it quit.& bingo problem solved. might sound crazy but just my2cents :SNSign: Good luck

 

[Darkwriter77]

FWIW, the Autometer gauge I put in my '89 was consistently not reading ANYTHING at all and then suddenly jumping up to normal operating temp ... and then later, after a few minutes of driving, it would drop off again. I know mechanical aftermarket gauges are supposed to be more accurate and all that, but this wacky behavior wound up forcing me to go back to using the stupid vague stock gauge and sender because I got sick of not knowing AT ALL what temperature I was really running.

Oddly enough, I poked in an Equus temp gauge as well and, after awhile, I got the same results. No kinks in the lines, no sticky thermostat, none of that ... just weird readings that were either WAY too low (or nothing at all), and then shooting up to normal temp, and then fading back down to nothing again, off and on, all the time. Maybe my car's just possessed, I dunno.

But anyway, just throwing it out there that aftermarket gauges can be just as weird as the stock one. If you've got a stock sending unit laying around, maybe try poking that back in there (or get a new one, the sending unit is cheap enough) and seeing if it shows anything suspicious on the stock gauge - if it starts creeping up about 3/4 of the way or so even on the stock gauge, then yeah, you're probably running a bit hot.

 

[HISSIN50]

Dave, did you have the aftermarket gauge's sender mounted in the t-stat housing? That can cause some strange readings because the stat opening and closing can affect the flow of coolant over the bulb.

For the OP, as someone above noted, I would run the fan hotwired (fused) to the battery just for comparison's sake. Just drive around the block a few times or whatever, and let it sit and compare how hot it gets vs now.

 

[67coupe]

Jaym14,

The taurus fan has three wires. One for ground, one for low speed, and one for high speed. Is the fan wired for high speed?

 

[S&B]

yeah my buddy said he has seen many autometer gauges reading wrong. I thought this was my problem as well , but my meeter and my FAST (EMS) read about 5 degres appart.

Yes for some reason my DCC controler did not send enough current to the fan, it was probably my fault, so I dont want to say the DCC didnt work b/c it did and there are many people that are happy with them. BUt with my heat soaked bastard engine just having it directly wired up to the high output of the fan it works like a charm. I even tried a pusher fan, water wetter you name it. I also dumped out some of my coolant because i could not remeber if i used 50/50 mix or straight coolant. I put a gallon of distilled water in and it also helped the temps drop alot faster than they were. it took me about 2 years to figure all this out. I also choked the bypass on the water pump down a bit so it would force more water into the radaitor.