Ideal motor temperature

[nawlins-tim]

seems that at 2500-3000 rpm I am getting plenty of water flow. And actually a friend said that what is happening is that the coolant is moving too fast and doesn't stay in the radiator long enough to cool down before rerouting through the motor. Kinda makes sence. With that in mind , I dont' know if a higher volume flow water pump would do it. I was thinking going with an under drive pulley set, which would slow my coolant and give it a chance to exchange the heat in stead of zipping through the radiator. And I do have a good stock fan shroud...What ya think about that??

you are correct about the airflow. if you were overheating at idle/low speed it's a fan/airflow issue. at speed there's more than enough.
but, with 3.42's and a 350 you're turning, what? about 3krpm at highway speeds? if you have a stock radiator and water
pump they just aren't capable of flowing enough coolant to keep the temp fully suppressed.
not that this is a problem at your temps. but if you were to want to drop them down, i'd start with an aluminum high volume water pump.
actually that's not true. just in case i'd start with flushing the coolant system if it hasn't been done in a few years.

 

[jrm81bu]

You might want to upgrade to an aluminum radiator rather than try and slow down the flow(and possibly create other/more problems, never been a fan of underdrive pulleys). The alum rad will be able to dissapate the heat faster at your current flow rate.
Another question, does your radiator hoses have the springs on the inside to prevent them from sucking shut?

 

[megaladon6]

your friend could be correct, if you had a performance coolant system and no thermostat. but you have a standard pump and a highly restrictive radiator, and i'm assuming the t-stat is in place.
plus i think you'd have to go up towards 4-5krpm to flow too much coolant. there's no way you're pushing the coolant too fast.
let's say he's right. when you come 0ff the highway and slow down to say 30mph and the rpms drop to 1k the temp should spike hard (heat soak) and then cool at a normal rate.
if it's flow restriction you'd probably see a slight increase in temp with a rapid decrease, or just a decrease.

 

[pontiacgp]

One thing not mentioned is your air/fuel mixture. If it's leaning out at higher rpm's that would cause a higher combustion temperatures...and what the mixture in the rad, if you have too high water ratio that will cause the temps to raise

 

[shotgun]

175 is the best balance spot, performance vs. engine life.

Go higher, to a point, performance drops, engine life increases.

Go lower, again to a point, performance increases and engine life decreases.

 

[nawlins-tim]

Now that is something to look into. I've been meaning to re-adjust the air/fuel mix since I just added a MSD 6al Ignition box and wanted to see where my vacuum reading is. I'm not great with Carbs(at all). And I have been having this slight bog on heavy throttle just under 2000rpm.But thats another topic. I could use some extra coolant though.
So you think it is still not enough flow guys and Not TOO much? I've never had this problem before even running lower gears. Probably should start by getting a pro radiator guy to give me his 2c's on my radiators condition. Summer is a huge SUPER b*tch in New Orleans.
.

One thing not mentioned is your air/fuel mixture. If it's leaning out at higher rpm's that would cause a higher combustion temperatures...and what the mixture in the rad, if you have too high water ratio that will cause the temps to raise

 

[pontiacgp]

have you removed your rad cap and taken a look to see how the flow looks?....