Friends car is running a bit hot?
 

A friend of mine just had a new motor put in at Gotham Racing. Well not just but about 800 miles ago. Along with the motor they put in a new radiator, fluidyne I believe. Now that he has the car back it runs at a consistant 225F to 230F, this is just around the town driving, nothing hard. Im really not sure where to start with this one, theres no air in the system, the radiatior is fitted nicely, belly pan is on, I believe its running a 50/50 mixture, and the system has been well burped. Im going to do the fan mod on his car this weekend, that should help a bit as the temps seem to be fine with the ac on full blast. Im wondering why the new radiator isnt keeping the temps down on its own. His car runs way hotter than my 7 did when it was stock, stock radiator and no fan mod. I dont think I was even running 50/50 back then. I read some crap about assemply lube getting in the radiator but I dont buy that. Seems a bit far fetched. Are fluidyne's known for running a little hotter?

sounds about right for stop and go traffic...

It should only be hitting around 210F.

Run a 70/30 mix, BTW. In fact, if you're in Texas even an 80/20 mix wouldn't be too far off if you change it enough.

this may seem a bit elementary but was the thermostat replaced during the reinstallation of the motor? Easy 10buck fix that causes many headaches after it's had a chance to gunk up after drying out outside of constant coolant flow. You can also add some water wetter to help a bit.
Art

Without a fan modification of some sort, the temps could easily hit 221F in stop-and-go driving in warm weather, which is when the stock ecu turns the fans on. Definitely should not be hitting higher than that!

Check to verify that fans are coming at properly and replace the t-stat.

I would imagine gotham replaced the t-stat when they changed the motor but I will get on the phone with them today about it.. thanks

Also..

Although I didnt see the gauge hit 230, he said it was there in stop and go at around 65F. Not hot weather IMO. I was unable to get the temp that high driving around my neighborhood but im sure hes not overstating, he was pretty scared. Rightfully so after spending 10k at gotham racing.

PowerFC or stock ECU?

Stock ecu.

do the fan mod asap (fans should be running on low at least, constantly if the temp is over 80 degrees after it is warmed up) and run the 80/20 mix if the temp is over 50 degrees. also make some heat sheilds so force 100% of incommign air thru radiator (it dropped my temps about 20 degrees!) the efficiency of fans also increase as a result of this little mod.

oh yeah, make sure there is a good 160-180 degree t-stat in there, without it, the fluid will be going thru the radiator wayyyy to fast for it too cool down.

water wetter does not do crap (i have use it in 4 cars and did not see anything happen)

P.S. are you sure he is not leaking a bit of radiator fluid? double check or pressure test the system. oh yeah, how did you burb the coolant system??? did you try vaccuming the air out of the engine and then letting only radiator fluid back in to it? even then, it is possible to get an air bubble in the water pump (it happens all the time)

He spent 10k$ on an engine from Gotham and still uses the stock ECU?

Bad idea. I recommend a Power FC ASAP.

I had no idea the bill was 10k until he got it back. New motor, shocks, fixed door handle, radiator, hoses, vac. hose job, tint, and a bunch of other random shit. Car was in bad shape when it went to them. Now that its back it is a very nice running/looking vehicle, except for the heat problem.

I know they charge by the hour but damn, I would have done all that for 6. I wish they would have gone for the koyo too. Oh well, they did do a good job. You pay to play.

skunk when i flushed the cooolant sys on my 7 and my vw put in distilled water/coolant and water wetter i noticed a solid bit of diff. mostly in how fast the coolant will cool from hot when stopped to driving.