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1980 Corvette Running Hotter than Desired
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Dprestridge
I watched Corvette Summer
| Posts: 1
| Joined: 08/09
Posted: 08/08/09
03:14 PM
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My 1980 corvette runs hotter than expected. I have replaced the radiator with an aluminum one, out in a 160 degree thermostat, and put a high performance Fan blade on the car to try and bring the temp down. It runs on the edge of the RED or just below roughly 225 degrees
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waynep712
I watched Corvette Summer
| Posts: 24
| Joined: 05/09
Posted: 08/11/09
10:38 PM
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go back to a 180 or a 195 stat... over 50% coolant... somewhere like 70 percent mix... 70% coolant/ 30% water
make sure any air dams under the car are intact... and that any rubber matting or foam seals that keep the ram air coming into the radiator...
when the air dam under my sisters 85 TA got knocked back.. the car would overheat on the freeway at any speed above 50... i actually got out the HVAC pressure gauge i got surplus and rigged up the PITOT tubes... at speed even with the fans on.. the air pressure was lower in front of the radiator than it was behind it... the air was moving forward ... the fans were pulling it backward.. so the engine got hotter and hotter and hotter.. i am talking 275F when it would turn on the check engine light.. seems gm had a 35 buck rigid plastic replacement.. bolted to the bottom of the core support.. it was about 5 inches tall.. where the original was about 3 and a half... this cured the overheating problem... and had enough proper fasteners to really bolt it tight to the bottom of the core support...
one more thing... make sure the radiator cap holds pressure... i have had some .. even brand new caps... that the little disc in the center just hangs loose... while the part number next to it... are spring loaded tight against the rubber seal...
the caps with the loose disc rely on the splash of the coolant to push the disc up to seal it... this just does not happen every time... so the system never builds pressure.. without pressure the heat around the exhaust ports and chambers can reach over 275F and boil the coolant in that area.. letting steam move towards the top of the motor and the thermostat... a downward spiral.. except on the temp gauge... that has an upwards movement to it when this happens...
why am i bringing this up????? both your 80 and the 85 trans am are bottom breathers... they get their cooling air from under the car... not straight through the grill
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