temp

[flatheadgary]

hey guys, my brother has a '65 satellite with a 400 motor and is wondering what the normal running temp of these motors is. he is having odd running temps. sometimes it runs 185 then boils over. he has an aluminum radiator and a 5 blade steel fan plus an electric fan in the front, no shroud. he thinks he has a 165 deg thermostat in it now. i think that's a little to low for a big block. my experience with big motors is, they usually run closer to 200 deg. what kind of temps do you guys run?

 

[terzmo]

all my big blocks run a 160 stat with a 6 blade steel clutch fan,aluminum rad and shroud. On hot days ,down the road I run at 188 and it seldom goes as high as 195 in heavy traffic. On days of under 80 degrees..I might see 180 if running hard. 472 stroked hemi. I like a 160 stat so it opens early...cools and lets the rad and motor do their thing

 

[mentor70]

i recently discovered that if your engine has vacuum advance, and you disconnect it your engine will run hot. i had a 68 GTX like 15 yrs ago with what i thought was a mild build, .509 mopar cam, six pack, hand ported iron heads, and a 9.0 440. i had disconnected the vacuum advance becuase everyone eles i knew did as well, after warmed up, it was always close to or over 200, id come home from work in the summer, it was at 220 sometimes.

if you dont have close to 30* at idle, the engine will run a lot hotter that it should.

 

[440roadrunner]

Some electric fans are junk and actually act as a restriction. I say put a shroud on it and remove the electric

CHECK THE TIMING. If you are not running a re-curved distributor, and are not running "lots" of initial timing, you probably don't have enough.

"Generally" and for starters with a "road runner" type cam or a little hotter, you want 15 degrees or so initial, 18-20 or so "crank" degrees in the dist. and 35 -ish total with vacuum disconnected.

Run vacuum, although there should be none at idle. (FBO disagrees, some guys run manifold vacuum advance which requires a different timing strategy)

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Also, "how" are you checking engine temp? I would "rig" an alternative gauge, either infra red, or even a thermometer, insulated, and taped to the top hose.

How clean is the engine / water pump internally? Try a different "brand name" stat, like Stant