HELP!!!! Sometimes overheating....

**97LaserRed** · 09-25-2010, 02:01 PM

OK sometimes my car will over heat driving normal and after beating on it. really depends on the temp outside...(i think) not exactly sure what it could be.. looking for some help or ideas on what to check because I DONT WANT TO THROW PARTS AT IT. Here is what I know.

The fan is working. If i were to just turn the car on with a/c on the fan will turn on. So that means the CCRM is working right? the heat and a/c in the cabin are perfect. I have the fan temps to come on at 180* low speed 200*high speed.

The coolant level is full. no air pockets. Ive check numerous times. Now I did put a new coolant res cap on it (pepboys) because I heard the Ford cap leaking one day when I turned the car off. I could hear a very slight hiss from the cap. maybe the pepboys cap is garbage.

Now yesterday when I got home I checked under the hood and noticed coolant around my pepboys cap.

Now one reason it could be heating up is because i have a big ass space heater that puts out 80 million BTU's in between the motor and fan!!!! but I wouldn't think it would affect it that much?????

It has a cobra radiator and all the cobra cooling elements. Now should I put a 160* t-stat in it?, Turbo blanket?, bigger rad?, new cap? like I said I dont want to throw parts at it so help me diag it so I know what to do.

Thanks!

My temps usually would stay about the "O" on the "NORMAL" but lately they would go to about the "M-A"

**97LaserRed** · 09-25-2010, 02:03 PM

I know some people are going to tell me to get a new fan right of the bat but why? makes no sense. If my fan is turning on how could it not be working correctly? The fan is from my v6 motor. I am 99% sure. Everything else is cobra equip

**bgblockelcamino** · 09-25-2010, 03:31 PM

personally i don't think you would go wrong with a turbo blanket. i run them on all the customers car more less. and the underhood temps drop dramatically. but need the good type what is held on with wire ties sold through modular turbo and places liek that.

does the temp climb gradually? or spike?

slower speed driving? do you have the front air dam under the rad support? that will affect your cooling a bit without realizing how miportant it is.

**somethingclever** · 09-25-2010, 03:44 PM

Jeff has some good points...

I agree on the turbo blanket....not saying that is the only problem, but think about how hot it gets and it's location.

Installing a real coolant temp gauge with numbers is a good idea as well. In fact i would consider both of these a necessity.

Reinstall the air dam if it's missing...

Borrow the res cap off of Bo's car and try his...you're throwing parts at yours for free.

I bought a res off you a while back because mine had a leak that was really hard to find. It would only leak when driving the car (could idle all day long not problem) and I finally figured out it was where the two res halfs come together...it would expand when hot and the coolant would leak out there.

You said cobra rad....03/04? I ran that on my 99 and it's a nice piece compared to a stock 99 cobra rad (which I believe is the same rad as 99-04 GT's).

**SK@StreetLethal** · 09-25-2010, 04:25 PM

Wrap that piping and turbo. All of that underhood heat is what is most likely causing those issues. We still have the stock radiator in Craigs car and it works great. Although I would'nt rule out a sticky thermostat. Oem ford thermostats are the best out there it seems. Even with stants we have had issues. I won't even talk about the autozone brand...

**bgblockelcamino** · 09-25-2010, 04:31 PM

truth about thermostats. i forget what they said the fail rate is?

if nothing is wrapped it will generate tons of heat. i wrap all the hot parts, the DP till it exits the motor. take whatever precaution i can to keep the heat out of the engine bay. even if it doesn't fix the problem it cannot hurt to take precatuionary measures.

**Silverhatch** · 09-25-2010, 06:57 PM

Originally Posted by bgblockelcamino

if nothing is wrapped it will generate tons of heat. i wrap all the hot parts, the DP till it exits the motor. take whatever precaution i can to keep the heat out of the engine bay.

X2. On my '95 with twins before the wrap, I could barely touch the OUTSIDE of the hood because it was so hot. After I wrapped the pipes, I could grab the exhaust pipe. It was some stuff I bought from Summit. DEI I think.

**97LaserRed** · 09-25-2010, 07:01 PM

ok maybe ill grab a turbo blanket and a 160* t-stat. Any brands I should look for on the turbo blanket??

**SK@StreetLethal** · 09-25-2010, 07:45 PM

Darrin at rps and vs racing both have them.

**biminiLX** · 09-26-2010, 02:42 AM

Before:

After:

Car obviously ran HOT without anything done, so I added a VS racing blanket, wrapped the DP with HEI large wrap and covered it with a reflective sheild as its under the water line, wrapped the headers with HEI 2" wrap (messy job but not hard), added the lower air dam, and had Scott Rod do a nice shrowd. Made a HUGE difference, I'd say you really need to wrap the headers, crossover and early DP before adding/changing parts.
4V mod motors can be hard to purge but it sounds like you tried that.
Good luck, turbos are great but they do run HOT.
-J

**97LaserRed** · 09-26-2010, 12:56 PM

everytime I try to add a turbo blanket to "my cart" from VS racing it wont let me. anyone else having troubles!?

**Black Vert** · 09-26-2010, 01:22 PM

DEI makes a carbon fiber looking turbo blanket, looks cool, but cost a bit more than the VS Racing one. Both probably do just as good a job as the other. If you care about looks its an option. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/DEI-010144/

**Josh00 GT** · 09-26-2010, 11:35 PM

i recently had overheating issues myself. now granted Ive got a 4.6 with no force induction. I had the fan turn on about 20 degrees sooner than it originally would and it worked wonders for performance and overheating issues. but with you running that turbo like the others are saying it would defiantly have a major impact on the underhood heat in your car

**ModularMike** · 10-04-2010, 04:35 PM

I really haven't read this thread but also make sure the cooling system doesn't have air bubbles in it, these cars are notorious for it.

**Ron89** · 10-05-2010, 08:44 PM

A really good guy I know just started selling some special coolant that I've heard a lot of good reviews about. He deals with custom turbo kits but it's mostly Subaru related.
https://mooreperformanceparts.com/Hi...e_Coolant.html

I can't personally review it because I have yet to use it but maybe it's worth a shot?

**White5.0** · 10-06-2010, 12:09 PM

i would get a 160* tstat since you are turbo and you said you saw coolant near the cap? try a new cap as well. and obviously the turbo blanket will prob help a lot but might not be necessary. do you still have stock rad?

**biminiLX** · 10-06-2010, 01:35 PM

Also, a higher than stock pressure cap can decrease overheating. My rad and AN lines can handle that, not sure about your stock stuff.
-J

**RSbeast** · 02-15-2011, 08:17 AM

I'm assuming there's a bigass FMIC on there. In the past every FMIC I ran caused lots of cooling problems for me. It's never been so much underhood heat rather than airflow. Aside from the usual; I'd see if I could snake a slimfan infront of the radiator set to push.

In the 8yrs of turbo cars; it's always been airflow that really stopped the problem..not ambient heat.