Still getting hot...to me.

A while back I had overheated my system and thought it was time for a new one. I got a CSF 3 row radiator water pump, heavy duty fan clutch, a 195* tstat, B&M tranny cooler. Now it has gotten really warm here in Denver around 90 I would guess. But its been getting to the line right before the red and the electric will be on and hold the temp there and slightly lower it, but never to the point where it will turn off. Once I hit speeds of around 25-30 it will slowly go back down, but it takes a while. Should I get a flush or just live with it?? I ask because when I go side street speeds or idle for a while it will get that high, and I dont want that to happen when I wheel, because Ive already gotten vapor lock a few times from it wheeling (with the old system).

Is it the closed system, or the open system? I know that on systems with a radiator cap, if the cap is old it won't run as cool as it should. On my ford Taurus I was having a slight overheating issue and when I replaced the pressure cap, I noticed a 10-15* reduction in temp.

Hope this helps

Pat

Sorry, its the open system...on a 1996

So it uses a pressure cap on the radiator? If so, I'd pick up a new one, they run about $7 where I live. After spending a couple hundred bucks on various cooling system parts and still having an overheating issue, I felt pretty bad when my problem went away over a $7 cap

Pat

Is it possible to find a cap that holds a higher pressure like 24 psi instead of 16 of the stock?

Bichi said:

Is it possible to find a cap that holds a higher pressure like 24 psi instead of 16 of the stock?

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A pressure cap rated higher than 16psi would NOT be a good idea. At that pressure, the coolant's boiling point is already ~260*F.
To answer xjrrrdx's question, try a new 16psi radiator pressure cap.

Heating up when idling or going slow in traffic, and then cooling back down when you get the speed up higher, is the classic symptom of a faulty fan clutch.

why not try a 160 degree thermostat. It'll open sooner and let the coolant into the radiator sooner.

I installed some Hella's that partially blocked the radiator. I had troubles overheating so i installed a 160 and a 3 core radiator and its been perfect even since. 100 degrees sitting in traffic and no worries.

dmillion said:

Heating up when idling or going slow in traffic, and then cooling back down when you get the speed up higher, is the classic symptom of a faulty fan clutch.

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This is not always the case. Mine did this and actually got up in the red before the fan kicked on, now it rides just below the 210 mark which is about halfway. All I did was replace the cap and thermostat-in that order and now it holds steady all the time. Yes the fan clutch can provide the same results as above, but I have seen other problems besides the fan clutch do this, and yes it can also be the culprit-best way to tell, start out with a cold engine-turn the fan by hand, it should have a little resistance to the turn. Then get the engine up to operating temp-drive it a few miles, then repeat(WITH THE ENGINE OFF) The resistance should change-if not fan clutch is bad and it should be replaced. I agree with the earlier poster that you should try the cap first-it is almost always the cheapest and most often the only component that is overlooked. And even if you replace it and it still doesn't fix the problem-your not out that much money. I personally don't like any aftermarket caps from anywhere. I go OEM. I have had nothing but problems from all brands of aftermarket caps. Never had one problem with an OEM one though-and I have bought well over 10 different caps for several different vehicles. Just my $0.02.

Jeff