norcal_ryan1966

Good morning guys. Was hoping that you guys could help me diagnose my overheating issue.

History: My car was not running for some time (year or so). Car is now running.

What was done to my car to get it running:
New t-stat 160 degree
New upper and lower radiator hoses
Replaced radiator fluid
Rebuilt carb
Replaced head gaskets
Drained tranny & replaced fluid
Topped off rear end fluid
Bleed brake lines
New spark plugs

Car currently has
Electric fan
Shelby racing front apron

Yesterday I picked up my car from the shop. The mechanic said that he had driven my car around town and the car had no overheating issues. When I was driving home yesterday (stop and go traffic), the car was running from 180 - 190 degrees. About 30 min into the drive I noticed that the car shot up to 220 - 230 degrees. (I was averaging from 10 mph to 65 mph throughout the drive) I immediately pulled over. Once my car cooled down, I opened my radiator, and the radiator was still full. I did notice a tick in the valves. (mechanic said that the valves needed to loosen up, and then he would readjust the valves shortly).

Any ideas guys?

My thoughts would be:
Valves not adjusted properly causing the car to overheat
T-stat isn't working properly
Water pump isn't working properly (water pump was new, about a year old)
Aluminum radiator (may need to be flushed, radiator is about a year old)

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

teeeeg67

What's your motor and fan set up?

norcal_ryan1966

289. Edelbrock intake, carb, mad ignition, edelbrock hi flow water pump. Rest of engine is stock.
Aluminum 4 cor radiator.
Believe the electric fan pulls 2075 cfm

teeeeg67

Is the issue when you are sitting still? Cruisin at like 3 thousand rpms or just all of the time?

norcal_ryan1966

When cruising at 2500 rpm (65mph) I was ranging from 180 - 195 or so. Lower speeds 30mph and below was when the car temp shot up and I had to pull over.
You can hear the electric fan running. Didn't loose any radiator fluid. Car was pushing 220 - 230 though.

norcal_ryan1966

I was in stop and go traffic. But cruising thru town not hitting lights I thought the car should be running lower temps than 180 - 200(max)

Gun Jam

can you post a pic of you fan setup?

fastbackford351

What kind of aluminum radiator is it? Is it a quality piece or a Chi-Com special?

teeeeg67

Yeah sounds like to me it's a fan issue not a coolant flow issue

norcal_ryan1966

The radiator is a champion. It was like a $250/300 chepo radiator. Always kept the car cool previously.
The electric fan kept the car cool previously. Would you suggest I switch to a mechanical fan (flex-lite and a fan shroud)