The test I ran was to start the engine cold and put a thermometer in the radiator while the engine was warming up. With my old thermostat the water in the radiator was the same temp as the engine temp. With the new thermostat the water in the radiator stays cold until the engine gets to about 170 and then a little bit of warm water starts to circulate into the radiator. Once I did that test it was obvious that my thermostat wasn't working properly even though it appeared to work fine when I tested it in a jar of hot water.
Starting a BB Duster project
- Thread starter AndyF
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72Duster440
Well-Known Member
My big block has also ran very cool the entire time I’ve owned it. I’ve tried multiple stats and no stat, and it never really gets above 170ish. It’s peaked at 200 sitting in traffic on a hot day before, but doesn’t happen very often. My issue is that my EFI goes into closed loop at 180, so it never really self learns running at 170, I’ve got it dialed in good, but it could be better.
72Duster440
Well-Known Member
I had it fairly well dialed in, but just updated the software, which wiped all my settings. When I set it back up and re-load my old parameters I’ll tweak the closed loop temp. 120 isn’t too low? I was thinking more along the 150 mark.
If your engine runs at the lower temp let it learn there...
Are you talking closed loop or learn? On a Holley system I'd have closed loop come on when the engine starts and then learn comes on as soon as the choke (enrichment) comes off.
72Duster440
Well-Known Member
I guess I took them as one in the same. I'll have to go back through and see what settings there are. It's just a cheap FiTech unit, but has been working great!
You would need to read the instructions. On a Holley system closed loop is different than learning. I've only tuned one FiTech system and that was more than a year ago so I don't recall exactly how they do things.
Fixing the thermostat on the Duster also fixed the coolant recovery system. I had noticed that the level in the coolant recovery system was never changing and that seemed really odd. Now that the engine is coming up to temp the coolant recovery system is working. When I bring the car back in from a drive the bottle is full but after several hours the bottle is down near the low level. So the hot water is expanding and pushing into the bottle then as the coolant cools back down it shrinks and pulls in fluid from the bottle. I'm not sure why it wasn't working before since the water was getting hot. Maybe there was some sort of air bubble in the system?
Old Man Mopar
Righteous Dude
Andy, One of their tricks is to fully rollerize all of the pivot points (bushings) in the suspension system so that when you nail it, it rocks right back and plants itself. Witness the accompanying photo of the Duster on bias plies lifting the front wheels. Supposedly stock 340 runs 10's.
It was 86 degrees here today so I got the Duster out for some warm weather driving. The coolant temp stayed right around 185 to 190 the whole time. The car is running pretty good but I'm still working on the tune. I've had a couple of parts bite the dust so that messed up the tune for a bit. A PCV valve went bad and then the MAP sensor started acting up. Good news is that with the data logger in place I can figure out the problems pretty quickly.
That’s good that ur getting some miles on it. Bad about the sensor and pcv valve. Ur thread is very informative. Kim
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PRH
Well-Known Member
When are the tracks hoping to get opened up out there?
I've heard that people have been renting the track for private events but there is no posted schedule for opening to the public. Might be sometime in June or July based on the schedule for other similar things.
I installed a set of Koni shocks up front and they keep the nose of the car under control a lot better than the 90/10 drag shocks that were on there. That was a welcome improvement. I've also ordered a set of 4.10 gears from Doctor Diff so that will be the next project.
famous bob
mopar misfit
What gears were you running/ Guess I missed it -----------
The car has 4.56 gears in it now which are too steep with the 512 that I decided to go with. The car was built from a collection of parts that I had and I figured the 4.56 gears were too steep but the rearend was already built and so I just thought I'd see how it worked. It works but gets a little old after a while on the freeway. The 4.10 gears will help.
famous bob
mopar misfit
No wonder it feels good, I have 3:73`s in mine and it runs good but doesn`t really impress me much !
Working on a new fuel cell for the trunk. Had one sitting on the floor in the trunk but it ate up a bunch of space and it didn't work very well so I designed a tank that would fit on the shelf between the tubs. It is 20 gallon capacity with a 3 qt sump for the EFI pump to sit in. I designed a venting system as well as some internal baffles so it will work well on the street. We'll see if my design is any good shortly. I just need to finish some details and then the lid can be welded on.
That’s pretty dam slick. Kim
Total badass build, Andy. How much street use will it get?
Kendog 170
Let the boy go !
Nice design.
bluefish
mopar dave
I like it. Should work real nice.
famous bob
mopar misfit
I`m wondering what ur MAP readings are , along w/ ur cam specs , I had to go to a smaller cam to get mine down some .
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