Cooling System Upgrades Part II: Radiator

[mason10198]

I don't remember, but if you buy a Derale one (or maybe others), most of them come with a couple of different adapters. Like this one here: Derale 16731 Fan Thermostat https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C7YNWYI/re ... CBbH1A0N5Z

[Flyingfischer5]

Oh perfect! Thanks!

[Trail X]

Did the additional coolant help your overheating issues Mason?

[mason10198]

Did the additional coolant help your overheating issues Mason?

Yes, actually adding ALL of the coolant got her running normal. "normal" meaning a ~195° idle operating temp, and nothing over 215° daily driving in 90° weather. Trans temps seem to max around ~190°, which is normal for 35s & 4.56s if I remember correctly. (all max temps including w/ AC on)

I can tell the PCMofNC fan/shroud combo sucks, more so than when paired the stock rad. This fan was underpowered to begin with, but it REALLY is for this thickness of radiator. Plus, it's undersized and the extra airflow vents are small, so even at highway speeds air is having trouble making it through. Of course, I have a 3" body lift, which puts the rad/condenser/fan even farther down, where half of it is blocked by the big steel bumper. I was going to cut the rad mounts off the frame and re-weld them higher up to account for it, but the AC lines on the 4.2 engine are too stiff to raise the condenser more than about an inch without further modification, and I just didn't have the time to come up with a way to do it between finishing the bumper, the rad, and trying to get it all done before the semester starts. I have it on my to do list.

I towed our ~3,000lb ski boat around for about an hour for test purposes, combination of city and highway. No long massive hills to test it on, but enough to get an idea. Still got it to start going up towards 230-240° when I pushed it pretty hard, but I'm willing to bet she'd be fine if you babied it. Besides, that boat is heavy. Trans temp holding max 200°, with aux cooler.

I still plan on upgrading to real fans and a real controller on the future.

Oh, and all temps above came from ScanGaugeII.