How hot do y'all get?

[Orange]

How hot do y'all let your engine get to? Highest I've been is 210 but I got a 1 hour trip in 85° weather tomorrow. Just going to play it safe by asking y'all.

 

[Shorty81]

My BBC runs 185-190. That's with a 3 core radiator, direct drive 7 blade fan and no a\c. Modern engines run a bit hotter, but this old big block runs cool and that's ok with me.

 

[mtnmankev]

My goodwrench 350 runs 170 to 180 with a 2 row aluminum radiator.
The 383 stroker in my other truck runs 180 to 200 with a 3 row aluminum.
A lot of folks don't realize that with a good 50/50 coolant mix, the boiling point of the coolant is raised 3 degrees for every pound of pressure in the radiator.
A 15 pound radiator cap will raise it 45 degrees, so it won't boil over until 257 degrees, so even if it runs at 210 I would not be seriously concerned.
I will admit, that's a tad warmer than I would want, but I can live with it.

 

[C10MixMaster]

How hot do y'all let your engine get to? Highest I've been is 210 but I got a 1 hour trip in 85° weather tomorrow. Just going to play it safe by asking y'all.

210 is getting a bit hot. you should look at your cooling system. if it gets hot on the freeway you might have a plugged radiator. if you get hot in slow traffic around town you might have a fan, clutch, air flow issue. 210 is not the end of the world your not going to boil over with a good cap. But SBC heads are known to crack so its best to keep them closer to 180-190. hopefully you are running a thermostat. removing a thermostat can actually cause an overheating problem to.

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

195* at the head. That’s what open-closed loop command systems like to run so most GM cars 81+ and most trucks 87+. An older motor is fine at 180*, but the sweet spot is right there at 190-200*. You want it to be nice and warm but not too hot. You also want the cooling system right for the sake of your transmission.

 

[Orange]

210 is getting a bit hot. you should look at your cooling system. if it gets hot on the freeway you might have a plugged radiator. if you get hot in slow traffic around town you might have a fan, clutch, air flow issue. 210 is not the end of the world your not going to boil over with a good cap. But SBC heads are known to crack so its best to keep them closer to 180-190. hopefully you are running a thermostat. removing a thermostat can actually cause an overheating problem to.

What about a radiator flush? I opened the cap this morning and there was alot of brown gunk on it.

 

[Paladin]

My BBC runs 185-190. That's with a 3 core radiator, direct drive 7 blade fan and no a\c.

X2 My BBC does the exact same with the same setup!

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

What about a radiator flush? I opened the cap this morning and there was alot of brown gunk on it.

You should probably do a radiator flush every three years to begin with. The corrosion inhibitors in the coolant break down over time, and that’ll rot your cooling system from the inside out. Tee in a flush kit, backflush it, fill it with water and two bottles of the Prestone flush and clean, or you can use CLR or Zep, but I prefer doing the long term flush cycle using the Prestone liquid. That CLR stinks, and I found it extremely hard to get out of the cooling system. After you do the long term Prestone flush per the instructions, reflush it real good, and fill it up 50/50 coolant to water. I think the instructions say 60/40, flush again, and then 50/50, but I skipped the 60/40. All the stuff you need to do this job is at Walmart in the TLE section.

 

[82sbshortbed]

If that flush doesn't help you I've got an extra radiator at the house. I noticed you're in Houston and I'm about 20 to 25 miles south of Houston. LET me know if you'd be interested in it.

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It's in great shape. Here's a couple of pics of it.

 

[CoggedBelt75]

195 on 100+ days. SB with aftermarket heat pump on top, factoring radiator 50/50 mix with Water Wetter, 16” puller & 14” pusher, Flow Kooler water pump

 

[Goldie Driver]

If that flush doesn't help you I've got an extra radiator at the house. I noticed you're in Houston and I'm about 20 to 25 miles south of Houston. LET me know if you'd be interested in it.

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It's in great shape. Here's a couple of pics of it.

Damn , Dude, you still have that ?
I had my old one done to a 4 core- still sitting in the garage, awaiting install.

When the mood hits ...

 

[82sbshortbed]

Damn , Dude, you still have that ?
I had my old one done to a 4 core- still sitting in the garage, awaiting install.

When the mood hits ...

Yeah I haven't put it up for sale yet. Mine has a good one so if someone else wants it they can come get it for a fair price.

 

[HotRodPC]

My Fo Fitty Fo also runs at 210 on hot days. With that big ass radiator and heavy duty factory cooling system, I honestly feel it's likely the guage not being 100% accurate. It's got a 195 degree Tstat in it, so that's only 15 degrees and not much further of a sweep to get tot 210. I figured it's probably actually more like 200. Even if it is 210, doubtful it's hurting anything though 180-195 is best. I'm probably going to drop to a 180 degree T stat being that BBC like to run warm by nature.

 

[HotRodPC]

If that flush doesn't help you I've got an extra radiator at the house. I noticed you're in Houston and I'm about 20 to 25 miles south of Houston. LET me know if you'd be interested in it.

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It's in great shape. Here's a couple of pics of it.

Does it have the Auto Trans cooler tank? What about the Oil Cooler tank for BBC on the other side?

 

[C10MixMaster]

What about a radiator flush? I opened the cap this morning and there was alot of brown gunk on it.

you can try a flush. if its real dirty and scaled over a trip to the radiator shop to have it rodded out might be in order. If the brown gunk is is just rusty water you need to do coolant changes more often (3yrs with green coolant) . if the brown gunk looks like a strawberry or chocolate milk shake you might have a bad trans cooler check the transmission fluid just to be safe.