350 standard temp in Arizona.

[Nick87]

Hey guys. So I was wondering if any of you lived in Arizona or a hot place like it and if so what does your truck run at? I have a little 350 in mine and it’s running 190-210 and sometimes a little hotter. Its also a crew cab so it pushing a lot of weight around. It’s about 107° -111° In Tucson right now and it’s only going to get hotter. I’ve got a new radiator in the truck (bigger) and that’s about it. I don’t want to go with electric fans because it’s one more thing that could break when I’m out in the desert. Any other ideas on keeping the thing cool?

 

[Frankenchevy]

That’s not bad considering the ambient temperature.

I have a sbc, diesel rad, clutch fan with Hayden HD fan clutch. The other day, with about 1000lbs of tools and lumber up a long slow climb stuck behind a log truck I got to 200. It was about 100 degrees out that day. I wouldn’t worry about it.

Just keep fresh fluid in it and make sure your system is holding pressure and you’ll be okay. If it gets much above 210 come back to the drawing board.

 

[yevgenievich]

I put a bigger radiator in my suburban and temps became good. With stock radiator would run 190-210 and higher if loaded. Now 180 and up to 195 towing 7-8k lb

 

[donnieray]

When it's 100 and humid and ac running mine will run 180-190 going down the road, in stop and go city traffic it creeps up to 200. 350, stock clutch fan new radiator and 180 degree tstat.

 

[DoubleDingo]

Stock rad, fan clutch, runs at the first mark above "C" on the gauge no matter the temperature outside. And it gets in the triple digits here all summer long.

 

[Obwonkonobe]

I’m in AZ too and never see above 200, but I’ve got a whole new cooling system with oversized radiator, but before that 210 wasn’t crazy, I panic after 220. Does anyone know what the official word is about switching to a 170 or 160* tstat for the summers?

 

[Frankenchevy]

I run a 195 t-stat and that’s where it stays pretty much. Hotter engines are supposed to use less fuel.

 

[Nick87]

Thanks a ton for all the reply’s!
I had a few ideas for the system and you all gave me even more. It was 108° today and the hottest I saw was 205 on the temp gauge. I’m planning on putting a 5 blade flex fan on with a deeper rad shroud. I have a pretty nice aluminum rad in it rn but it’s stock size I think so I might look into bigger. To the guys who do have bigger rads in there trucks or burbs, what size are they? Anddd how many cores.
Another thing about my rig is it’s a 4 speed with 4.56 gears so it’s high Rpms all the time and it has the original motor with 250k on it.

 

[yevgenievich]

I am using 4 row big block style radiator. Not the extra width one that supposed to be better

 

[Frankenchevy]

Mine is an OEM squarebody diesel radiator.

 

[75gmck25]

I was running a Stewart Stage One high flow water pump and 195 degree thermostat, Hayden HD fan clutch, stock fan and shroud, and a stock 3 row radiator, and my temps maxed at about 210-215 with the A/C on and temps at 100 degrees outside (lived in San Antonio then). It was fine, but made me a little nervous.

I damaged my stock radiator last year and switched to a Champion 3 row aluminum radiator from Jegs. My temps now max out at about 190-195 regardless of temps outside. It is incredibley stable. The aluminum radiator seemed to really make quite a difference. I made a switch to aluminum heads at the same time, so that may have been part of the cooling improvement.

I do not recommend switching to a flex fan. The stock steel fan works much better, and will perform well if you have a good fan clutch.

Bruce

 

[MikeB]

If you are running 50/50 water/antifreeze, try using less antifreeze. Water is better at absorbing heat.

Or try 100% water with an anti-rust additive, and then in the winter add the minimum amount of antifreeze you need. In AZ that's probably around 10%-20%. (The red box below was already in the chart when I copied it. And I'm not sure what the system pressure is to get those boiling points.)

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I also read somewhere about plumbing in an additional heater core in the engine bay (or wherever) to use in the summer. You could isolate it with valves in the winter. Kind of a last resort deal, but should work.

 

[yevgenievich]

I am using hd fan clutch and a newer fan with more blades

 

[DoubleDingo]

If you are running 50/50 water/antifreeze, try using less antifreeze. Water is better at absorbing heat.

Or try 100% water with an anti-rust additive, and then in the winter add the minimum amount of antifreeze you need. In AZ that's probably around 10%-20%. (The red box below was already in the chart when I copied it. And I'm not sure what the system pressure is to get those boiling points.)

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I also read somewhere about plumbing in an additional heater core in the engine bay (or wherever) to use in the summer. You could isolate it with valves in the winter. Kind of a last resort deal, but should work.

The extra heater core would probably be more effective if mounted in front of the radiator. Definitely an outside-the-box-idea to have an extra heater core.

 

[Craig 85]

With 454's in '81 and up trucks the factory added these aux fans. There is a temp sensor (ground) on the passenger side of the block that turns on the fan above a certain temp and when the A/C compressor is on. I would second not using a flex fan.

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