Will overheating stop or diminish with A/C delete ?- CLOSED!

[duh09]

I would just like the car to run cooler… 190*-200* range

Why?

 

[shovel]

When you explode a hydrocarbon in air you get co2 and h2o. exhaust is mostly la croix and nitrogen. That's why cold cars blow a lot of visible steam and why oem exhausts have weep holes. Once the exhaust pipes heat up enough the steam becomes transparent for the same reason your breath is transparent on warm days and visible when the air is very cold.

If you've ever had a cold glass of tea outside you know water condenses on cold surfaces and if you've ever boiled water in a pot with a lid you know that even if the lid is hot to your touch steam will still condense on it because it's colder than the steam.

Steam will condense on liquid too, like the surface of your ice tea where you don't notice it or on the surface of your motor oil inside the engine.

Water isn't a great lubricant and water mixed with co2 is an acid. That's why oil has a TBN that gets reduced over time, the B in TBN means base and it gets degraded over time by contact with carbonic acid from combustion blowby.

To spell it out when gasoline burns inside your engine some of it gets blasted past the rings into your crankcase in the form of carbonic acid which dilutes the oil and slowly turns it to cottage cheese.

It's your PCV loop's job to evacuate blowby from the crankcase and slow this process. The hotter the oil gets the more rapidly the co2 falls out of suspension from water and the more rapidly the water boils off the oil and gets drawn into the PCV loop & sent out the tailpipe.

So since engines and oil are engineered to operate close to the boiling point of water there's no advantage to running them colder. If your cooling system can't keep up with the engine's heat output a colder thermostat will not prevent it. Any open thermostat is allowing the same amount of coolant through it whether it opened at 195F or at 100F

 

[Daryl]

Ok, I appreciate the great info and with that this puts the issue to rest! Thank you VERY much… EVERYBODY!++

What I’ve learned and takin’ away from this:
1. leave it as is
2. now I’m Jonesing for some ice tea (Southern sweet tea, preferably!) ;-)

 

[ttocs]

what temp is it hitting? I mean this is the summertime, ac and all so it will run warm for sure, we just don't want it to get too hot.

 

[cobrajeff96]

You can set the fan target temp lower, and yea you'll generally run cooler (depending on ambient and how you're driving) but at the same time there's a tradeoff and that is a fan motor that will have its life shortened.

And also remember that oil is a gasket - the cross-hatch pattern on cylinder bores helps to seal the combustion process. If you cool down the motor too much then rings might not expand enough to seal the deal. I actually think this is kind of unlikely unless you're talking about a very exotic cooling system that is surely outside of most people's budget. Then again, as said, you're defeating multiple purposes by doing this sort of extreme cooling.

You are not going to blow the motor by intermittently getting 220*F water temps. Hell, the ECU should be pulling timing away in order to protect the motor if things get too hot and too lean in mixture.

 

[Terrorist 5.0]

I think your best bet for now if you just want to run a little cooler is change up that coolant mix. I assume you are running 50/50? Run 70/30 in favour of water. I run straight water in the summers (flush it every 2 months or so) and the car runs significantly cooler.

 

[Daryl]

I think your best bet for now if you just want to run a little cooler is change up that coolant mix. I assume you are running 50/50? Run 70/30 in favour of water. I run straight water in the summers (flush it every 2 months or so) and the car runs significantly cooler.

Yes, 50/50 with Water Wetter

 

[Daryl]

You can set the fan target temp lower, and yea you'll generally run cooler (depending on ambient and how you're driving) but at the same time there's a tradeoff and that is a fan motor that will have its life shortened.

And also remember that oil is a gasket - the cross-hatch pattern on cylinder bores helps to seal the combustion process. If you cool down the motor too much then rings might not expand enough to seal the deal. I actually think this is kind of unlikely unless you're talking about a very exotic cooling system that is surely outside of most people's budget. Then again, as said, you're defeating multiple purposes by doing this sort of extreme cooling.

You are not going to blow the motor by intermittently getting 220*F water temps. Hell, the ECU should be pulling timing away in order to protect the motor if things get too hot and too lean in mixture.

No chance, definitely not some exotic cooling system. I have hit the 220* mark which immediately concerned me. But that was before I leary(via this thread) that 220* is ok so long as the fan kicks in and temp goes down. Thx!

 

[Terrorist 5.0]

Yes, 50/50 with Water Wetter

Water Wetter is supposed to be used with straight water only. If used with coolant, it makes almost like a varnish at the bottom of the expansion tank. This can clog up your cooling system in the long run.

If I were you, I would drain out your coolant, and flush it real good. Then do a 70/30 mix like I mentioned earlier. Water Wetter is for racing only, so unless you run straight water (which I am not against doing so long as you know the risks and STAT ON TOP OF IT with regular changes and flushing), don't use anything except water and coolant.

Even if you do run only water, I am still against Water Wetter. A product like that shouldn't be the difference between running cool and hot. Plus you should notice a significant difference after the things I mentioned above.

 

[shovel]

These cars didn't overheat from the factory.

 

[cobrajeff96]

You want a little bit of coolant due to its detergents and whatnot, prevents corrosion. Otherwise with straight water you have to be changing it at least once per year or maybe more depending on how aggressively the car is driven. Maybe buy a refractometer and test it periodically.

I've run 50/50 with WW for over a decade, never an issue. Just my experience. Very aggressive daily driving (autobahns and country roads) with a minimum two-year flushing. Temps usually cycle between 199 - 215, maybe the offhand 220 during summer's worst days.

FWIW these OEM fans (or a truly decent aftermarket) should be pulling enough air out of the radiator to keep the system from boiling over, especially with these nice TIG welded all-aluminum cores (aftermarket). Keep in mind during high-heat days in summer, the coolant system once it reaches the higher end of its temp cycle may linger up there for longer than normal and take longer for temps to fall to the bottom of the range. This is also normal.

 

[Terrorist 5.0]

You want a little bit of coolant due to its detergents and whatnot, prevents corrosion. Otherwise with straight water you have to be changing it at least once per year or maybe more depending on how aggressively the car is driven. Maybe buy a refractometer and test it periodically.

I've run 50/50 with WW for over a decade, never an issue. Just my experience. Very aggressive daily driving (autobahns and country roads) with a minimum two-year flushing. Temps usually cycle between 199 - 215, maybe the offhand 220 during summer's worst days.

I've read many reports about that gunk I was talking about earlier. Maybe it is with certain types of coolant? I'm not sure, good thing that you aren't having issues though. Might be with the generic green coolant. With your Coyote, I believe it uses orange coolant?

Me personally, I flush and change the water at least once every oil change (4-6 months) and sometimes a time or two in between. Doesn't take more than half an hour, and keeps the water near crystal clear. The heater output is noticeably stronger, so strong that even on the coldest of days, I can feel my hand start to burn when it is close to the vent. Super toasty.

 

[Daryl]

These cars didn't overheat from the factory.

Many of our cars are no longer “factory”!! ;-)

 

[ttocs]

I drove my car in the phoenix summers and never had an issue in 110 degree heat, ac on, ect. You have not done enough that the stock cooling system should not be able to keep up.

 

[joemomma]

He's running a 347 if I remember correctly - do those tend to run "hotter"?

 

[cobrajeff96]

Jeez, that's a hefty maintenance interval. Every oil change?

Well, I only recently made a switch to the 'yellow' coolant, never used orange. But for the longest time I used ordinary Prestone green 50/50 with WW and never an issue. But my maintenance was strictly 2-year complete flush at minimum.

Just my own opinion, but as long as you flush the complete system at least every couple years (or maybe even sooner) you will prevent electrolysis. I do plan on breaking out the refractometer to actually do a test and get some real data but probably not any time soon.

 

[Terrorist 5.0]

Jeez, that's a hefty maintenance interval. Every oil change?

Well, I only recently made a switch to the 'yellow' coolant, never used orange. But for the longest time I used ordinary Prestone green 50/50 with WW and never an issue. But my maintenance was strictly 2-year complete flush at minimum.

Just my own opinion, but as long as you flush the complete system at least every couple years (or maybe even sooner) you will prevent electrolysis. I do plan on breaking out the refractometer to actually do a test and get some real data but probably not any time soon.

I only do the flushing when I am running water, since if you leave it, it will corrode. Plus it only takes about half an hour, and keeps everything nice and clean on the inside. I *could* leave it longer and do a flush once a year, but by then the water is brown. Not solid brown, but not clear at all. That is no good.

Everyone is always saying water will ruin and clog up your system. It will eat your water pump fins up. It will make your car explode.

Nah, just stay on top of it.

 

[Daryl]

Have had a helluva time ordering a Mr. Gasket gasket for my thermostat. Three local places show it in stock but none actually have it. Called a Mr.Gasket supplier directly and ordered it. 7-9 days to get. Got an email after 7 days, “seller cancelled order”. (expletive!)
Finally called Summit yesterday. Ordered it and the sealant. Order went out same night. Be here tomorrow. Sheesh, what a hassle just to get the damn gasket I want! Errrrrrgh!

 

[95opal]

Youve never mentioned the condition or age of your water pump. If its an older pump you may have a fin or two that haved turned to dust. Thus producing less flow. Just a thought.

 

[Daryl]

Good point, Opal. Overlooked a potential culprit. Good call. But to answer your question, I don’t know :-(

I don’t know if the water pump was replaced when the motor was rebuilt/stroked 7k miles ago or not. And when I contacted the engine builder about a year ago to get a full rundown/specs of the rebuild, they have NOTHING due to a complete and total computer dump at their office. So basically I’m S.O.L.

Not sure I want to go through the whole tear down to pull the water pump just for a look-see (though, come to think of it, I wouldn’t mind replacing or cleaning up my rusty harmonic balancer). Save that as a Plan B and see how the cooling is in the meantime.