mystery overheating

[leggomieggo10]

you mean its cooled by the coolant radiator? so a rise in either motor or trans will cause the gauge to rise???

i went an bought a thermal thermometer, here are the readings, please read carefully an compare

ok before i left an the car was idling, everything is in F lol, car gauge was at normal
front head-171
h2o pump-174
rad-120
trans pan-136
trans-157

after being on the interstate an it overheated three times, i took the temps
1st time it overheated car gauge red line was on the thermometer symbol
front head-180
h2o pump-195
rad-180
trans pan-149
trans-152

2nd time it overheated, car gauge same spot
front head-167
h2o pump-188
rad-176
trans pan 140
trans-163

3rd time it overheated lol, car gauge same spot
front head-187
h2o pump-197
rad-180
trans pan-150
trans-180

an after the highway idling in my drive way, when the gauge was almost back to normal (1-2 ticks above normal)
front head-160
h2o pump-180
rad-140
trans pan-122
trans-160

[GTwizard]

That,s a bad radiator. And just feel if the fans blow toward the motor or out the front. bepending on how the fans are bent if they will be clock or counter. With you fans hot wired, they shoulkd be moving a ton of air.

[Alex3000gt]

That,s a bad radiator. And just feel if the fans blow toward the motor or out the front. bepending on how the fans are bent if they will be clock or counter. With you fans hot wired, they shoulkd be moving a ton of air.

My bet is reversed polarity. You can't really 'feel' if air is flowing one way or another, you just feel random air blowing about, haha.

Use a sheet of paper and hold it to the fan, if it sticks - your polarity is reversed.

[leggomieggo10]

can i ask why you think its a bad radiator???

i tried just feeling the air, but with both fans on it just feels like alot of air lol so thats why i said they both spin towards the drivers side,

[Alex3000gt]

can i ask why you think its a bad radiator???

i tried just feeling the air, but with both fans on it just feels like alot of air lol so thats why i said they both spin towards the drivers side,

Use a sheet of paper, hold it to the fan. If it sticks, BAD. If it blows away, GOOD.

Report back results, I can't help you if you don't try these things.

[Deathstrike]

had the same issue in my 93 sl. Idle in the driveway temps are fine, drive it and it would overheat. Tried everything even went to a radiator shop and had it flow tested, changed the rad because nothing else was was fixing it and then it was fixed,it was just old and needed too be replaced

[leggomieggo10]

alex, i stuck a piece of paper down by the fans an both of them pushed the paper towards the engine, so i guess thats right.

does anyone know or sure if you put a manual trans rad in a automatic an than hook up a aftermarket trans cooler?? i dont have money for a new rad but i have a rad from a manual, i could afford a 30 dollar trans cooler. would this work the same?? in theory it should

[speedy25]

your radiator can flow just fine and still be a piece of crap.

-SP

[BaadVR4]

Just because you don't see any fluid on the engine or ground doesn't mean you don't have a leak. Many times the coolant simply evaporates before you see it. I had a car that would never overheat except after 5 or 6 dyno pulls. A year later I find a "pin hole" leak in my Koyo radiator (right by where the AC stud would hit it). Replaced the radiator and went back for tuning after a turbo change. Did 15 pulls, no issues at all. I never saw any water on the ground. Maybe once a month, the temp gauge would start to go up and I'd have to put coolant in the engine, typically about 3 quarts. The coolant had slowly leaked out the pin hole in the radiator and the engine then pulled a small amount of air back in the hole. Eventually, enough air gets in to form an air pocket in the top of the engine and overheating starts. So, even if you don't see any leak and even if the overflow tank level never gets low, you CAN have a leak which causes overheating when the system is stressed.
You can install the manual radiator and use an aftermarket trans cooler, but I wouldn't do that for long. Even the big trans coolers won't cool like the stock radiator tank. Just my .02.

[leggomieggo10]

well its a na, that never goes above 3rpms. i drive it like a sissy.

ive always heard the stock trans coolers are crap. that you should always just go with a aftermarket trans cooler.

i have a extra coolant temp sen im gonna change out today before i do the rad swap