running hot

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lightweight

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So I've been driveing my dart a little bit not much, at idle it will not over heat sitting in the driveway, but when I take it out, for a spin it gets hot and over heats. It never had any problems before I put a 4 inch stroker kit in it. It still has the original radiator the car came out with, it's a 318-68-270 dart. I will be getting rid of the automatic and installing a 4 speed real soon, just need to gather up the parts for the zbar and yoke for a larger 727 trans as mine is a a-904. I am wondering if getting rid of the automatic will help the radiator cool better as there wont be warm trans fluid flowing through it. If anyone else has come up with a fix for this please post. I am figuring a larger radiator and a higher flow water pump and high flow thermastat will be what I need to do. Will a larger radiator from a mopar that had a big block in it work? Or will I have to get a aftermarket radiator and fans $$$$$. I was hoping to make it to my first car show this summer, to hang out and drink some beers, with some good car guys but the drive is to far to make it the way it's heating up.
 
lightweight said:
So I've been driveing my dart a little bit not much, at idle it will not over heat sitting in the driveway, but when I take it out, for a spin it gets hot and over heats. It never had any problems before I put a 4 inch stroker kit in it. It still has the original radiator the car came out with
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Sorry dude, kinda funny!! Yup, your new stroker will need extra cooling! A big block Mopar one will require mods to install and not to mention different hose locations, a PITA. In my Valiant I have a stout 340. I run a original 22" 2 core in my 66 Valiant, I wanted a stock rad so I had it recored with a "high flow efficenicy" core and it works great, even with the stock 4-blade fan it never gets above 180, even in traffic and 95 degree heat! I do run a 4-speed, not sure if that helps cooling but I would think it should. I also run a "Flow-Kooler" water pump, stock 180 thermostat, & 4.10 gears :glasses7:
 
Maybe a good new or used thermostatic clutch fan and factory shroud.
Nothing remotely cheap will cool as well.
Factory 6 blade thermo-clutch fan pulls 5500 - 6000 cfm when the thermo-clutch kicks in.
Plus it dis-engages when not needed, leaving you with all that horse power free to haul butt.
Amazing 1970s technology that has yet to be bested.

May be possible that a volare / 5th avenue radiator fits in there. Rock auto appears to have nice aluminum / plastic modern version of this radiator for a good price. 170.00

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=271912

.
 
theres a guy i know who sells a aluminum rad 3 core a duel fan set up new located in lake elsinore ca for 420 for all of it and it fits nice and u never have to worry about it again..if ucan get the funds together
 
my 340 runs cool until summer, then i remove the thermostat and it drops the temps 10 degrees.

yeah yeah, removing the thermo is a no-no many claim but it cost me northing and it works for me

my guess is less restriction--more coolant flowing over even a 160 stat
 
motor oil is designed to operate at 180+ so by removing the thermostat you reduce the lubrication. look it up if you doubt that.

for the thread starter... get a 180 thermostat, an HV water pump setup, a rebuilt radiator that doesnt have a bunch of sediment in the tubes, you will be good to go. get a water pump from hughes or mancini, for a radiator get a rebuilt/mopar one from radiators.com or someplace inexpensive. whatever size radiator you have now so that your shroud fits.

a clean radiator + good water pump = works wonders
 
p.s. if you dont want to use distilled water + prestone just get the premixed antifreeze that you dont mix with water. premix is sold just about everywhere nowadays
 
Get your original rad re-cored(probably past due)and run a clutch fan.Irace with my 410,318 rad,clutch fan and some water wetter additive.Runs 10,s without overheating.

Oh throw a trans cooler on it too!
 
i had the same prob with my stroker what we did to fix it is 1st we cleaned the rad with C.L.R. let it soak for a bit and put on a schroud and a 6 blade fan i have no more heating problems and it cost less than 50 bucks.
 
If it overheats while driving (steady cruise at 55 mph for example), the problem is a lack of cooling system capacity and or coolant flow.

It's not airflow related. (fan, shroud and such).
 
moparlover said:
motor oil is designed to operate at 180+ so by removing the thermostat you reduce the lubrication. look it up if you doubt that.

for the thread starter... get a 180 thermostat, an HV water pump setup, a rebuilt radiator that doesnt have a bunch of sediment in the tubes, you will be good to go. get a water pump from hughes or mancini, for a radiator get a rebuilt/mopar one from radiators.com or someplace inexpensive. whatever size radiator you have now so that your shroud fits.

a clean radiator + good water pump = works wonders
Click to expand...

Don't believe everything you read. Motor oil protects at all temps, its very cold and very hot temps that are no good. Oh sure the engine will burn more fuel running 160 vs 180. By the way my engine runs around 175 with no thermo in the summer heat.

Is the media gonna to tell all these folks that their $40,000 car would be better off running cooler, heck no. It does get better mileage and emissions, why new engines run so hot. Engines last longer cause of overdrive and less rpm's

Look at the semi rigs, they use no thermostat, they cover their grills in cold weather. I sometimes stick cardboard over the rad on cooler days if its got no thermostat. Those rigs last 500,000 miles

I will agree a new rad and a shroud is the best but $$$ its cheaper for me just to remove the thermostat and spend $$$ on more fuel, lol
 
Adding a cooling fan can be fairly cheap and easy. My 64 Valiant slant had a Mercedes fan in front w/ no water pump fan. I got another Mercedes fan from the junkyard (~1990 300D? I recall, ~$30) and used the cross-arm w/ 2 horns that came with it. I will use the 1st Mercedes fan as aux cooling on my Dart or Newport. For control, you can find a fan relay & wiring for ~$15 new on ebay (former GM dealer fix). I bought 2. Most expensive is the thermal switch. Only a few models work for 195 F. Most switches are over-temp warning.
 
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