o'malley_808

I'm trying to figure out a minor cooling issue. I never had these issues before so ill start off with what has changed.

SCE headgasket
top mount equal length setup as opposed to bottom mount
full blown radiator
mishimoto thermostat
precision 750hp intercooler blocking the entire front grill

So im not overheating but my car is just running hotter than normal. My aem data gauge is out to lunch as far as the accuracy of the temperature itself but I know the numbers it usually runs at. For instance my factory fan switch is still installed and turns the fans on at 221 and brings the temp down to 208 (this is what my gauge reads so you can equate that to whatever the factory fan switch turns on and off to.

Top and bottom hose are hot when I check them but its almost as though the rad cant dissipate the heat and you cant even touch the rad its so hot.

Even on the highway I can get in and around 215 degrees on my gauge and higher which is nearing the fans kicking on when driving on the highway.

I have even installed a small air deflector on the bottom of the rad support to channel air into the rad. It made a small difference but not enough.

I have tried both oem and the mishimoto thermostat and both cant seem to get rid of the heat.

I have narrowed it down to 3 things I believe:
-The 3" core of the FB rad is too thick to adequately allow air to flow through to cool
-I need to cut more around the front of the bumper to allow more airflow (although I have already channeled more than enough air into the rad)
-The dreaded headgasket is blown but it passes leakdown test and is not blowing over into the overflow...

Thoughts?

20002point2l

run a higher percentage of distilled water will make the temps drop alot

o'malley_808

yeah I tried that when I swapped from the mishimoto thermostat to stock then back to mishi. Still no difference...

passmans2kny

maybe lower the temp when the fans come on? hopefully its not the head gasket, but if nothing fixes it, then u most likely popped the hg

o'malley_808

I'm really not concerned if its the headgasket. I literally have a oem HG sitting beside my computer which I'll gladly throw in within several hours. I just want to make sure I am eliminating the correct issue.

I just dont see any signs of the HG being blown. No smoke from the tailpipe. No mixing fluids. Coolant system doesnt rise when I do a leakdown.

I wish I didn't sell my oem radiator so I could just swap it and see if my woes go away. I'm hoping you guys can help me reach a conclusion as to what the issue is so I can correct it. I'm not really sure what other tests to run. Both compression and leakdown tests pass.

Oh also if I beat the crap out of the car my temps don't go through the roof so that gives me some indication that the HG may be fine...

redboost10

Do you have a fan shroud? You can try and make the fan come on sooner

Topillogic

I had the same issue with my Mase kit which comes with a fully rad blocking IC (200+ on the highway, 215+ when in traffic afterwards). I worried about HG and all sorts before I took it in to T1 and they just cut a big strip of the bumper trim out above the IC, there's about 3 inch gap there. Now it wont break 190 on the highway in 95+ ambient. Cheap thing to try in addition to the ducting you did, see if that sorts it out.

s2000442

Do you have a pic of what your talking about? Hard to visualize what and how it was cut.

spectacle

First things first, fix that gauge so you really know what's going on

dales2000

Do you have a pic of what your talking about? Hard to visualize what and how it was cut.
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curious to see this as well