The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Normal Temperature Range

Last night I noticed that my vehicle got as high as 230 degrees running in park, as soon as I left the eatery it went down to 165-170 degress. Is this of concern or is that normal? It was at 190 for the longest then jumped to 210 for the longest then slowly inched to 230.

not normal for a stock 59 configuration - what's the details?
if you have the engine [283?] positioned as original there should be a fan shroud, otherwise there's too much room between the fan and rad for proper cooling stopped or very low speeds .... could also be a malfunctioning thermostat, which should be a 180*

and what's 'normal' would be always within 5-10* of whatever temp the thermostat is once completely warmed up, unless it's workin real hard

Bill

Yes I believe I need a bigger fan seems to be pretty far from radiator. This is the first time it did it, so I just picked up some new collant and thermo and will replace, thanks for the feedback.

not a bigger fan, a shroud, which 58/9's originally had - if the fan blades are more than 1/2 - 3/4" from the rad you'll have overheating in slow traffic all summer without a shroud

Bill

Got it darn man I knew you were a nice guy

Bill my fan is approx. 4 inches from the radiator, do I still just need a shroud only? Or do they sell fans that are longer?

Like the man said,- - - -get- - - -a- - - - -shroud! The V-8 models had the fan several inches behind the radiator because the engine was much shorter than the 6-cylinder. The distance was filled by a fan shroud that extended from the back of the radiator core to exactly halfway back on the fan. To work properly, the fan blade must enter the shroud only as far as the hub bolts, not all the way inside, and the shroud should be no more than 3/4" or so larger than the fan blade diameter. That allows the fan to pull all the air it possibly move through the radiator core, instead of pulling the air in from the sides.
Jerry

yes, that's about where the fan would be with the stock setup, which is why the V8 came with a shroud [the 235 is longer] - there are spacer blocks that go between the fan blade and the pump, with longer bolts, but I don't think you'll find one thick enough .... most of the vendors sell molded plastic shrouds that fit and do the job, like this one on a 350 in a 56, which does have a spacer about 1/2" so the blades are just inside the edge of the shroud

Bill

I hope you had 50/50 coolant in it when it went to 230. Otherwise you had steam instead of coolant instead of the heads. Did you leave the motor running while you were eating? Even with a shroud, you can't let the old timers idle for very long in Texas heat.

If you have any decesnt salvage yards in your area that still have older vehicles, try checking out '55-'59 School Busses for a factory type shroud. They tend not to get stripped out as much as regular trucks do from my experience. That's what the shroud I'm using came from, along with a matching OEM 5 blade fan.

OK I will look for one of those trouds i saw one at LMC Trucks for $89 I assume that is the original shroud for my 59' I will pick one up. Yes I mix 50/50 Ichanged out coolant and thermo yesterday and it still overheats. I let it sit in park and just watched it rise in driveway. Slow rise but rise at that , takes about 20-25 mins to get to about 210, it just started doing this though thats what I dont get. Once i get trucking it goes down quickly. Man im hoping its just the shroud

I got on here this morning to post an almost identical question. The difference is that I have a '46 and the 216ci. When going to the store the other day the truck temp was right at 180 and then I stopped at a couple of lights and by the time I got to my destination (only a few miles/minutes away) the temp was bordering on red. In the parking lot I revved slowly and brought the temp down until it stayed down (took a few minutes), shut it down and went about my business. Was also starting to get warm on the way home so I revved for a minute or two before shutting down and going inside. After a couple of minutes I checked and the temp was way in the red, so I fired it up and revved until cooled down.

What is my best plan of attack to figure out the cause?

The PO recently (a couple hundred miles ago) overhauled the engine. He also has a 49 Chevy that he put a 235 in (my point is that he is familiar with Stovebolts). I have not changed any fluids yet. The radiator fluid is a much darker green than I am used to seeing, is it possible that a non 50/50 mix and more like 1:0 coolant to water could cause this?

The theme for the original poster related to the fan and shroud, I don't think this is an issue with mine, but here is mine just in case. Perhaps a longer shroud?

Overgripped,

Best plan of attack: First things, first:

Are you sure you have a thermostat installed (and it is working properly - step 6 an onwards)?