XS-Style

hey guys, i know its been a while, but things have been hectic. Alot of things are finally comming together for the 7, and its almost ready to really get started. But first theres a overheating issue to overcome, and thats where I could use some advice. It only overheats at low speed driving.

When you first crank up, it goes through the warm up and comes back to idle on its own most of the time. (Other times you have to help it hold idle for a minute or so, but thats another fix for another day ) Once it holds its idle, the idle is smooth at just under 1k rpm. There is a little smoke, but that only lasts a minute or two. The idle temperature is right in the area it should be, between 1\4 and 1\3 of the gauge (86 model). Once its out on the road the temps go up while Im in downtown trafic. After I hit about 45-50 mph, the temps go back to where they should.

My question to you guys is what am I overlooking? After searching on here, Ive replaced the thermostat, radiator cap, 2 hoses that were soft, and the fan clutch. Im not losing any coolant as far as I can tell. Im kinda worried the smoke is an indicator of a coolant seal problem. If it was a coolant seal wouldnt more than just the slow drive temps be effected though? Ive tried pulling the egi and doing the spew test. It passed that one, no problems there. From what Ive read, coolant seal issues can cause a loss of coolant, or go as far as to make the car not even start. Mine starts fine, idles smooth and runs well at normal driving speed. Its just that slow driving thats giving me a fit. Another oddity about this is that the 'add coolant' light doesnt and has never come on. (Ive replaced both the cpu and the idiot lights.)

So guys, your smarter than me, what am I missing? If you can help me figure it out, I promise Ill post pics after its polished. I finaly got the new 17" torque 5s on

XS-Style

Ive been doing a little more research, trying to find some obscure something that just might work. I have 2 questions

1 - Could my radiator be clogged? I had previously passed over this, because aarons site said it was more a cause of high speed overheating. I just got to wondering if the radiator could be just clogged enough to restrict the air comming in from the fan.

2- Would a water pump cause low speed overheating? The site only mentions it as a cause of high speed problems, but the fan clutch and the thermostat have already been addressed. The water pump and the radiator are the other man parts of the coolant system.

At this point Im ready to try anything

XS-Style

Could an off brand thermo be the problem? Most of the things that were done to the 7 were done here at the house, but a few things were done at a shop. I got to looking back in my reciepts and the thermostat was one of the things I didnt personally do, so Im not sure of the brand they used. If they didnt use an OEM stat, would the problems of an off brand one be immidiately apparent?

XS-Style

Another theory: Ive found the electric fan in front of the radiator isnt moving while idle. Im not sure if this is supposed to move at idle or not. I was wondering if this fan is supposed to be on. My thought was that since my fan clutch is working now, that fan is enough to keep it cool at idle. When at high speed the radiator keeps things cool enough. If the electric fan isnt running, this could explain the low speed problems. The one fan that is running may be enough to keep it cool at idle, but could both fans be nessisary to maintain low speed temps? Any ideas would be apprciated.