Cooling System Q&A, Moderated By Howard Stewart

Feature comparison to Edelbrock 8842

Gene — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:36:06 GMT

I am building up a Ford 347 stroker to replace the 260 motor in my Sunbeam Tiger. For v belt alignment purposes I need to use a water pump that can have the hub pressed back to about 4.95 inches between hub pulley mounting face and pump to block mounting face. I know this can be done with the Edelbrock 8842 for a 289 HiPo application. Can I do the same with either of your Ford Pumps that have the right side input design?
Edelbrock claims even/1% balanced coolant flow to both sides of the block with their pumps. (Milodon does much the same in their literature.) There is also supposedly some sort of reverse flow prohibition feature in the Edelbrock. All at least seems important but may be more hype than meaningful. Also, anti-cavitation features seem to be important in high volume pumps. How does your pump compare on these points?
Any help with all of this will be greatly appreciated.
Gene

dirt oval track cooling

dirt racer — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 11:49:27 GMT

we have 2 dirt latemodels a super and a limited....both have cooling probs....the cooling basics has helped.....but not sure of what fan to use.....also any other tips?

77 Vette cooling

Neal — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:32:15 GMT

Im having trouble keeping my car (77 vette) cool while cruising on the hwy. Ive installed a stroked 454 now 496 into the car. The engine is a GM block with GM oval port heads, the heads have been ported and the block has had 4 bolt main caps installed to improve strength. The block has been bored .060 over and the rod length increased to yield 496 CI. Im running a Lunati solid roller cam in the 260 duration, .700 lift with 112* sep. The engine has Ross pistons yielding 10:1 comp. The intake is a Holley strip dominator with a Holley 1000 CFM HP series carb. installed on it. Im using a standard HEI with an Accel coil in the cap and a MSD high output digital module with RPM limiter. The base timing is set at 16* with centrifugal advance set to come in at 1000 rpm and full in at 2800 rpm. The vacuum advance is set to 10* max and is connected to a manifold vacuum source.

The cooling system consists of a Dewitt radiator (direct fit) two 11 Spal fans, a Stewart stage IV aluminum CCW rotation pump and a Stewart modified high flow 180* T-stat. Ive removed the auto-trans oil cooler lines form the radiator cooling coil and added a separate external cooler with its own fan controlled by a thermostat mounted under the car away from the radiator. Ive also installed a large engine oil cooler in front of the radiator to help with the cooling. Im planning to move the oil cooler form in front of the radiator to the rear of the car and add its own fan to help control the oil temps. The radiator fans are controlled by a Spal PWM controller it will start the first fan at half speed when the temp reaches 160* and ramp the fan speed up to high when the temp reaches 190*, when the first fan goes to high the controller will start the second fan on high, both fans will be running at high speed until the temp drops below 190*

Ive tried 3 different radiators the first being a brass replacement 4 core design with two 12 fans then a universal Tru-Kool aluminum radiator with an 18 Mark VIII fan as a puller and two 12 fans as pushers and the engine oil cooler in front of the two 12 fans and the third being the current set-up with the Dewitt aluminum radiator and the dual 11 Spal fans.

Ive installed a Zoops serpentine drive system and originally tried the Zoops high flow pump that came with the drive system but I had temp issues form the time I installed the engine so I switched to the Stewart pump but this did not change my temp issues.

I have decent control of the temps while idling and at low speed but once on the hwy the temp starts climbing and will settle out at around 220* to 230*. Once I slow down or stop and idle the temps will slowly come down to around 180* to 190* but it takes a while.

Im running 4:11 gears in the rear so my cruise rpm are around 3000 at 60 mph.

Ive tried different T-stats to try and change the water flow rate but this does not seem to make a difference. It appears that when I installed a Stant 180* t-stat that had a 1 opening the temps did appear to take longer to climb to 220* while on the hwy but it could have been that it was cooler that day versus the day I tested the Stewart high flow T-stat. Ive even tried running without the T-stat but the temps were the same.

I have verified the temps with an IR gun, I have two temp indicators installed, one on the outlet of the intake and one on the low pressure side or the radiator. Once the engine heats up after being on the hwy I stop an check the temps, the temp on the inlet and the outlet of the radiator are the same (no temp drop across the radiator) at around 220* to 230*.

Might you have any ideas as to what might be my issue?

overheating in traffic

jason — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 00:38:03 GMT

I have a 68 mustang with a 347 stroker. The cooling system has a Griffin Radiator rated to 850 hp 3" thick. I have a 180 thermostat with Dual 12" flexlite shrouded fans rated at 2500 cfm. The car has air conditioning and a 11"x 11" trans cooler in front of that. The crate motor is not to get hotter than 190 according to the builder. Riding down the road car is fine, but on hot days the car climbs to 220 during traffic. All components are new. Can you offer any advice. Also I have not even ran the ac yet.

only 195 * ?

LSG — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:52:12 GMT

Howard, do you offer anything hotter than 195 ? I'd like a 205 or 215, ethanol seems to like a warmer engine than gasoline. Can you help out ? LSG

1960 Chevy Impala 348 water pump

Lee Major — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 23:44:25 GMT

Do you have a replacement water pump for a 1960 Chevy Impala with a 348 engine?

454 overheating

jessie baker — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:39:04 GMT

dear sir i have a 1982 gmc 3500 truck with a 454 in it on a recent trip the water pump failed and it overheated badly. it was running smooth when i shut it off and i allowed it to cool over time. i bought a new not reman water pump from a parts store and installed it the next day checked all fluids no water in the oil or oil in the water removed the thermostat started it up it ran fine but by the time i drove it 50 miles the temp guage registered 3/4 of the way hot steadily climbing. when i checked the coolant level it was totally full.so i went to an associate of the parts store totally confused and asked this guy who said he knew a lot about big blocks and he said i could have gotten a reverse flow water pump by mistake i was wondering if that would cause the steady increase in temp.i also installed a new fan clutch with the water pump witch i hate fan clutchs. any way i want to install just a sraight old fashioned fan he also said it could be a head or head gasket witch i cant believe as no oil in the water or water in the oil please help if possible any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.thanks jessie

water pump bearing

Ibrahim Cueto — Thur, 25 Sep 2008 15:41:05 GMT

Does anybody know what are the standard measuments of the bearing of the mechanical water pump for a 1957 6-cylinder Chevy BelAir?
I appreciate your help since I bought a new pump and it's got a weird noise. They say it's the bearing and I need it replaced.
Thanks in advance.

34 ford Temp creeps up

Bob Davies — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:03:15 GMT

I have a 34 ford with a small block Chev. 16 in. Electric puller fan with shroud.The temp runs around 180 for a while then starts to slowly creep up to as much as 230. Upon stopping the vehicle for just even 10 minuets it seems to drop back to the 180 and then starts the creeping again. The sending unit is in the head. This problem seems to have just started within the last year. The last couple of months the engine will puke out coolant after about 30 miles or so and then be fine.
The car is a driver in all types of weather with day time temps of 100.
Seems like I am just starting to have some cooling problem.

How Hot is Too Hot

Jim Collura — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:50:35 GMT

I have a 1940 Pontiac with a 350 Cu In Chevy motor and a Griffin Radiator. In the hot summer months in the south with the air conditioner running I'll see temperatures of 220-230 degrees F. I'm using a flex fan on the water pump and have a "pusher" electric fan in front of the radiator. The car never "pukes" even though it seems to be quite hot. I've been told, "if it doesn't puke, don't worry about it". I've also been told that since my sending unit is in the head, the temperature of the coolant is actually 20 degrees less the the Gage is reading. I'm running a 190 thermostat and in the cooler months, it never gets beyond this on the gage.
Any comments? Are the statements "Truth or hot rod fiction?"

Underdrive Pulleys

Will — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 18:04:08 GMT

There are several companies with underdrive pulleys that slow the water pump down. Is this a good idea?

Will

500 Cad overheating problem

Steve Bobst — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:18:56 GMT

I have a "built" 500 cubic inch Cadillac engine that I am running in a 1940 Chevy truck. I am running an Afco aluminum radiator to fit the stock location. I am using the cadillac 195 degree thermostat that blocks off the bypass when open. I believe the water pump is made by "Flow Kooler". I also have the stainless steel radiator hoses. I added a 4000 rpm fan and shroud from a Lincoln. It is the perfect size for the radiator and immediately brought my cooling temps down to 195, even on a 100 degree day in traffic. My problem is that I had been running a mostly open exhaust. I recently had a pair of magna flow mufflers installed. On the drive home from the exhaust shop, I noticed the engine temps rising again. 20 miles of highway driving brought it up to around 230 degrees. I also had the air conditioning system charged for the first time, but didn't run it due to cooling concerns. I may try drilling some small holes in the thermostat to reduce restriction. My two questions are: Would a triple pass radiator cool any better than the 2 core aluminum Afco that I have? Do you have any other suggestions that could help my situation?

Overheating With Edelbrock Pump

Leon — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:16:33 GMT

I have a 69 Camaro with a 383 small block, an Edelbrock water pump and 30% underdrive pulleys. The car overheats when cruising. Will your water pump fix this?

Robertshaw Thermostats

Keith — Thur, 22 May 2008 14:52:12 GMT

Where can I buy Robertshaw thermostats? Autozone used to carry them, now I can't find them anywhere.

Ford Pumps?

Robert — Tue, 20 May 2008 15:56:46 GMT

Do you have high flow water pumps for the Ford FE motor?