I'm hot how about you?

[Poppop]

I'm not realey mad, I just like that flaming face. Does anybody have a cure for the overheating Cavaliers & Sunfires? I've got the fiberglass screen to keep the dirt out of the radiator and it's doing a pretty good job but there must be something else that some of us are missing.

Poppop

[gutter7]

What kind of water are you running in your rad ?

[Poppop]

Tap water, is there something else that's legal?

[EnduroFromDE]

Ive never had a problem with over heating...maybe take off your bumber cover and cut the bottom of the hood back some. The only problem I have is IF the car stalls, the location of the starter makes it overheat the starter and could be hard to start again.

[Poppop]

How about getting us some cooler weather Steve. About 72 degrees for the whole day sounds good. I did notice that the cars without a bumper cover were not overheating. You might have something there.

[Danger83Ranger]

I dont think its the air temp. thats the problem, it does assist in the over heating but I think you might have some internal problem causing the over heating. Even if it was 105 degrees out that thing shouldnt over heat very much as long as your moving consistently. You said you took the thermostat out so that shouldnt be it. A few things I would check would be...

1. Is the radiator clogged? id flush it just to be sure.
2. Make sure there are no air pockets in the system.
3. Ive heard a bad heater core causing over heating when the heater is running, forces hot air into the cooling system? thats a new one to me
4. Is the oil kind of milky? if so, sounds like a headgasket/warped head problem.

thats all I can really think of, let us know how you make out.

[Poppop]

The head gasket is definitely blown now but it overheated first. I'm picking up a new junkyard motor today so I should be ready for next month. Meanwhile, I'll sweep the pigeon poop off the old 1987 #47 and try 150 laps but a little slower.

[richardpetey]

Don't feel lonely Poppop, many cars were running a little hot last race......................
Most overheating/running hot problems, that aren't a direct result of that grandview slop stuck in your radiator, can be attributed to shroud, fan or lack of air flow through your radiator................................
Most front wheel drive cars have an overcrowded engine compartment(engine, transaxle, etc.), and less air to dissipate the heat........................
Even on my big car I have to seal the entire area around the front of the radiator to force the air through the core....................
I relocated my trans. cooler, made sure my fan is properly placed inside the shroud, put a spring inside the upper rad. hose, installed a washer with a 5/8" hole in place of the thermostat just to name a few......................
UNCLE PETEY........................

[mcstockcar]

My car got hungry last race and ate the trans cooler, lines, shroud,and belt. It ran at 210-220 once I got rollin. I had an electric fan to put on when we went to a red flag. I put my thermostat back in. It ran hot with a restrictor with5/8 or 3/4" hole. Of corse it went to 270 when all heck broke loose

[RICK16RACIN]

not running a thermostat is no good once the car gets hot it will continue to get hotter!!! you need some type of resrictor plate to slow the water down so the air in the radiator can cool it !!!! it sounds funny but there is a fine line in this process if you slow it down too much it will overheat from the block and if it is not slow enough the air coming thru the radiator wont be able to cool it . hope this helps ( iwould start with a 5/8 restrictor plate in place of the thermostat and run the car at home and see if it overheats , and if it seems stable then block 1/3 of the radiator and see how fast it goes up and just experiment from there)

[Poppop]

That makes sense to me, I'll try it when I put the car back together.

[richardpetey]

Jack! If your running the 400ci motor, don't forget to drill the steam holes in the heads, the stock 350ci heads don't have'm........................
If your upper hose is the highest point in the cooling system you will cavitate the system and the water pump sucks the upper hose flat restricting the water flow........................
Back in the day, I used to drill a 1 3/4 freeze-out plug with a 3/4 hole and glue it to the inlet of the water pump and double clamp the lower hose................................
If you don't have a mechanical problem (blown headgasket, thermostat, etc.) and you have a healthy cooling system then its a problem gett'en the air throught your radiator........................
UNCLE PETEY...........................

[Philter39]

Perhaps if you had the A/C turned on your car would have run cooler. phil

[mcstockcar]

I got a/c, but mud keeps coming out of the vents and i got to use more tearoffs.
I tryed the 5/8 hole, too hot,3/4 too hot, 180 t-stat ran the coolest...200.
Changed to a larger rad...made a difference.
The 400 block was modified....No more steam holes. My machinest explained to me why he closes them off. He does this with all his 400+ ci in blocks and theres never a problem.
I think the wire is missing in my lower hose that keeps it from colapsing. The first race we ran that motor ran at 185-190 the whole time. Now the weather is hotter its not. Im ready to throw in the towl and stick to illegal street racing and drag racing. At least theres not mud on everything, no dents , and FLATS!

[Poppop]

Does anybody know if there is a bigger radiator available for a Cavalier. I looked on one replacement radiator site and they didn't have anything listed for Cavaliers.

Poppop