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350 small block engine overheating

18K views 14 replies 8 participants last post by  eric32 
#1 · (Edited)
i have a s10 chevey pick up sum one squezzed a 350 small block in it and its running hot changed radiator,water pump, thermostat what do i do next im so clues less and have no type of help can sumone please help me
 
#4 ·
ok i have cam,headers,high rise intake ......when im driving long as the wind flowing thru its ok just for a little while but the temp is constantly rising more so when im just sitting it never run at 210 and stay it always rising what do u suggest i do and i appreciate your help 2
 
#6 · (Edited)
Your Hot Ride

That's funny. Picked your handle from your crappy radiator. It's hard to say what is wrong w/o any information, but you should try as you can to make sure your fan is working. If you have a flex fan or a metal fan. if you have a heavy metal fan, go get the factory clutch for the fan and use it and it works, so i have heard, better than a flex fan. maybe a bigger fan, maybe you don't have the fan shroud on. that helps it pull air thru the radiator too. maybe restricted air flow thru the grill, i can't say. maybe he filled the holes somewhere or maybe filled have of the block with block filler. try to answer those questions. if nothing is weird like that, i hate to say it but you can get a new cheap-o radiator from summit. any cross flow radiator will outperform an up and down tubed radiator. in the mean time, you can always take off the hood! haa haa.

ps you said you changed the t-stat, try removing it altogether and see what that does, it should stop your engine from getting very hot at all, so much so that the heater will suck and the motor might not even run all that good because of it not getting warm enough. at least that should tell you that the water is flowing thru the block ok, if it does that. Speaking of water flowing, you should see it cruising by the top of the radiator when you remove the cap (do when engine is cold only, before you start it. if the stat is in, you should only see flow when the stat opens).

Good Luck with your HOT rod! Buuuuha ha ha!

i just read your duplicate post. they are talking about the fact that running too lean will cause overheating.
 
#8 ·
what do u mean by running too lean?i tried taking the t-stat out same thing its not enough room 4 the clutch fan so i went wit the flex metal fan the fluids are flowing fine do timing have anything to do wit it ?am i gonna need a bigger radiator?the on i have was working fine wit a 350 regal i had to do sum frame cutn 2 fit it in just give me the run down on everything u would try...............thanx
 
#11 ·
myhotride said:
is u gay or sumthin im tryna find out sumthin about my truck if u not gne tell me wat i need 2 kno please leave me the **** alone
wow grow up. acting like that is not gonna get you any help on this site.... especially to a moderator. I recommend you change your attitude if you want anyone here to continue helping you. This message board has rules and guidelines.... follow them or go bother someone else with your problems.
 
#13 ·
Not sure if this will help ..
Had a V-6 chev and the motor ran cool .
Motor got bad and put another V-6 in and that motor ran hot .
When I say hot I mean if you drove on the road it was fine .
If you were sitting in stop and go traffic it would over heat .
Put in a bigger rad and all was good .
Same size motor . same rad etc and one motor just ran warmer .
I would say you need more rad .
Years ago there was a guy with a Gran prix and had the 301 in it .
It ran hot on hot days but was fine on cooler days ; or OK even when the sun when down and it was cooler on the hot days of summer .
He put a four core rad out of a one ton truck in it with the help of a set of cutting torches to make room .
It was fine then .
 
#15 ·
I hope this will help you out as I have two chevy s10's with 350's in them both. One is a mild build and the other one is a wild build. First thing first make sure your timing is set right for your camshaft size. You never stated how big your cam is as if you have a big cam and not enough timing it will get hot.

I am running flex fans on both of mine ( it spins all the time) and they sit very close to the radiator and my radiators are the aftermarket aluminum ones with two row cross flow design and they do an excellent job keeping my engines cool.

My 86 s10 has a 32x16 size overall and my 96 has a 29 x 16 overall size and both run under 200 in the summer regardless if driving through town or during highway driving.

I have a home made shroud and it's not as good as a factory type one but it does the job and helps for air to pull through my radiator pretty good. Also on your thermostat you have two options you can use a regular style thermostat or a non restrictive high flow thermostat which has three bypass holes to allow coolant to pass even before it opens and it does help during hot months but will make your engine run to cold during winter months so you will have to take that into consideration.

Also try to run your vacuum advance on full manifold vacuum and not ported if you have not already tried that as well. My 96 truck ran cooler running my vacuum advance off of full manifold and helped with other things as well.

My 86 s10 would always get hot like yours as well but during town driving and it was because I did not have enough timing for my engine and after putting my vacuum advance to full manifold and more initial timing it helped it to run just fine.

State also what size your radiator is and more specs on your motor that will help. If your running a v6 size radiator that will never be enough for anything performance wise for a 350. You will be better running a thermostat then not having one as it does have its functions.

Eric
 
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