Thread: Problem with radiator cooling
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12-20-2006 01:47 PM #1
Problem with radiator cooling
Well this problem is opposite of the usual problem.My truck is not coming up to temp. During the summer months (110 degrees) I am fine ,no problem.Now here it is winter where the temp is 65-70 or lower,down to 20 degrees.I can drive my truck for about 1 hour (65 degree day)and the temp gauge does not even get above 120 degrees.I dont think thats good for the engine and milage.Where can I start to fix this problem?Thanks
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12-20-2006 01:58 PM #2
Of the same degree ? or should I go higher or lower?
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12-20-2006 02:08 PM #3
Well the theromstat is not that old ,does not mean its not bad I know.I have also switched to a BB radiator .The truck is a 89 suburban 350 with tbi .
Dang ,I just hought of something .I just did a replacement on the heater core and I might have the wrong mixture of anti freeze and water.Its possible I am running close to straight anti freezeWell I know the block is not going to freeze over.Last edited by BigTruckDriver; 12-20-2006 at 02:14 PM.
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12-20-2006 04:36 PM #4
Do you think I need to drain all the fliud out and start over?I think straight anti freeze could also keep it from getting to the right temperature,right?
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12-20-2006 04:39 PM #5
HMMM, your right . I just looked a LMC catalog and the thermostats they offer say
160 summer
180 standard
195 winter
Thanks for the help you know your 89 350 tbi's
Now, do I need to drill hole in the plate,or close off the by-pass hose?Last edited by BigTruckDriver; 12-20-2006 at 04:51 PM.
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12-20-2006 04:44 PM #6
Straight antifreeze is not good at dissipating heat very well.I run 20% antifreeze,1 can of Be Cool additive and the rest distilled water.Seems to work very well.Can't drive it up here in the winter so can't tell you the differance between winter and summer.
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12-20-2006 04:54 PM #7
How do you get to your 50/50 mix ,do you know exactly how much your system holds?I have no idea what mine holds Let me see if I can research and see how much a suburban holds.I have always mixed until the dark green became half of that ,then called it good
Now I we be able to get the heater to blow some HOT air.Last edited by BigTruckDriver; 12-20-2006 at 05:02 PM.
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12-20-2006 06:42 PM #8
Everyone needs balls...
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12-20-2006 06:52 PM #9
Exactly. ...........
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12-20-2006 07:01 PM #10
Colored balls???Charlie
Lovin' what I do and doing what I love
Some guys can fix broken NO ONE can fix STUPID
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12-20-2006 07:38 PM #11
Bigtruckdriver...You do not need a differant thermostat for every season, just install the 195 thermostat as per Dennyw said, and leave it in. I live in Canada and it gets extreamly cold in the winter and hot in the summer, and I use the same thermostat year round. With the engine running at 195 it also helps stop that little bit of oil sludge build up in the engine.
Like Dennyw said, the proper mixture is 50/50 as there is more than one reason for the antifreeze. First reason is for the coolant not to freeze during colder weather, second is that the antifreeze acts as a lubricant for the water pump, and also helps keep the inside of the block and heads from scaleing with rust, and thirdly it raises the boiling point of the water by about 15-20 degree's so it doesnt boil as fast as it would with straight water.
Running pure atifreeze in your engine is defentetly not a good thing, it will turn to jell when it gets cold. I am wondering if the engine not heating up has something to do with having to much antifeeze and not enough water. I have never run straight antifreeze so i do not know if that would cause the engine to disipate to much heat or not. You posted that your thermostat is fairly new, and since you have to drop 1/2 your antifeeze anyways, try doing what Dennyw said and just add the water to get your 50/50 mixture, then see what happens, if its ok, then great, if not, then as Dennyw said, change the thermostat. ( dont mind me, im just curious to see if to much antifreeze will cause the engine to not warm up so i will know for next time i come across that problem.. )Last edited by maxed_out_rpms; 12-20-2006 at 07:40 PM.
Rick
Get Er Done
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12-20-2006 07:51 PM #12
Ok, so there,s my answer, the antifreeze will not stop the engine from building up heat. I didnt think so, but was worth the thought...
Rick
Get Er Done
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12-21-2006 01:07 PM #13
WOW, still confused on this cooling system .I replaced the thermostat and found that something with the thermostat went real bad.I pulled the housing off of the intake to find the thermostat was rusted and got sucked up into the housing WTF!I got some needle nose pliers and pried it out and replaced with the new one.I put it in the way it shows in my book.Temp comes up to 190 now.???
At this temp I checked the mixture with the 5 ball tester ,all the balls stay at the bottom of the tester.???? I can see the plus and minus signs and now how to read that ,but dont know if 1 ball is supposed to rise ,all 5 ,the instructions do not say.
THIRD, now I was inpspecting the thermostat and the old one shows that it went in the opposite way of the its shown in the book.The book shows the sring going into the intake.The old one says (to rad) showing on the spring side .
I jsut pulled the thermostat back off and the new one shows also (motor to radiator) stamping on the spring side.I guess I will install it with the spring faceing up.
Thanks for any adviceLast edited by BigTruckDriver; 12-21-2006 at 01:20 PM.
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12-21-2006 04:06 PM #14
Thanks for the help .the tester did not come with those instructions .Thats wierd ,I know i have put 2 gallons of antifreeze when the fuild was allready green.dont remember when I put water ,just anti freeze.Last edited by BigTruckDriver; 12-21-2006 at 04:09 PM.
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12-21-2006 04:24 PM #15
Ok wait a second, you said the spring was facing the rad????....well...in all the years i have installed thermostats the spring and sensor always faced the intake/engine side..but then again, thats just the engines ive worked on over the years.
Ok wait...now im confused also.... You said you installed it with the spring facing the intake, it heated up to 190 ( like it is supposed to ) then you took it apart and installed it in the other way?????
Ok, am i missing something here???...Didnt it work good before you switched it back around?
Rick
Get Er Done
Neither, it’s in a friend’s hot rod and we’re curious
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