Sounds like a diesel, seems like exhaust leaks.

The cooling system stock has pretty poor coolant flow. Inline fixes that. Stock with 180 works great for everything besides heavy traffic in 90 degree plus weather with front and rear a/c blasting.

 

Exhaust leaks? I was thinking valves but everything on this engine has been re-done. Still in the break in period with 10w 30 rotella. I wonder if the oil is thin, Engine is running pretty hot here in florida.

I will tighten the exhaust manifolds and bleed the coolant of air tomorrow and see if it improves.

 

I fought exhaust leaks for a while after the new engine... and yeah, 10w30 is a little thin. Most of my exhaust leaks were at the down pipes but actually every possible place needed tightening again.

 

Ok so I bled the coolant this morning. There was air in the system. While I was out there I thought I would check the oil level because my drain plug has a slow drip. Turns out my oil level was down 4 quarts (no errors or lights on the dash). Apparently the oil drip is a lot worse than I suspected. I was planning on finishing out the beak in period before fixing the leak but now I am going to get that fixed today. I think I dodged a bullet but I don't like the fact that I let it get so low - especially during the break-in period.

Good news is there was air in the system when I bled it this morning using Disco Mike's method. The bad news is that I am still running between 217-221 during idle and not much better than that under load. Ironically, if I have the AC on full blast while driving on the highway, I can get the temps down to 197. So my question to you all is, what about running the AC full blast is dropping my temperatures on the highway? Why doesn't it help during idle? What's the next place I need to look?

CollieRover indicated I might have some unrelated exhaust leaks due to the engine sounding like a diesel during acceleration (thanks!). I will be tightening the exhaust down as soon as I get the oil leak and temps behind me.

 

Running your heat on full blast will help with temps not A/C.

If it is getting hot at idle I would guess that your viscous fan clutch is bad and not engaging the fan at idle. Causing low air flow thru the radiator. Try a new clutch and fan, Best has a recommendation for that.

 

I’m thinking this is a good time to do an electric fan conversion. Looking at these guys (see attached).

 

I have the Flex-a-Lite electric fan, works great.

Keep bleeding your system when the engine is cold. Not sure what Disco Mikes method is but just look in the bleed screw for air and top off if needed, may take up to four tries before you get all the bubbles out.

 

I put in fans out of an ‘05 GTO. With trimming the shroud fits on the radiator very well, and I made brackets for the radiator. Eventually I would like an all aluminum radiator, and weld on brackets, but I have had no issues with how mine are attached for on road driving.

I highly recommend a Ron Francis Controller, mine has dual fan function, but that is not totally necessary. The controller is much more heavy duty than flex a lites, is beefy, has relay and fuse so I feel 100% confident in it. I mounted it next to the BCU on the bracket. Works incredibly well.

I have a thread on my electric fan adventure and temps. The real limiting factor on the cooling system is the bypass design. I had the same temps with a flex a lite fan, Taurus fan, HD viscous clutch fan and my current setup.

 

Thanks - I am not as "handy" as most on these boards so I would prefer getting a complete kit that I can drop in versus pulling something from another vehicle, fabricating brackets and modifying the shroud. I am in awe of people who can do this kind of thing - I'm just not one of them! Any suggestions on a drop in kit that only requires basic automotive ability?

 

Is the Flex-a-Lite electric fan a drop in kit or does it require modifications of the radiator, shroud, brackets, etc?