I've tried just about everything. I'm exhausted by this and honestly, at this point, I am about to yank the motor and replace it, as I've tried everything. The car peaks at about 240, no matter if I'm on the freeway, at idle, driving down the road at 25, 35, 45, 55 miles per hour.

I tried a high flow thermostat and water pump, no difference. I went back to a stock water pump and thermostat - no difference. I tried high flow water pump with stock thermostat then with no thermostat- no difference. I pretty much tried every combination with/without thermostats to confirm it is not a flow issue. It's not.

I tried a BECool radiator. I tried a stock radiator. I tried a fan shroud with a viscous fan, high flow fan, clutch fan, non clutch fan. I tried an electric puller fan (dual) on the BeCool radiator. No difference.

I tried running straight water, I tried 50/50 w/antifreeze and distilled water. I tried straight water with water wetter. I tried 25 antifreeze/75 water with water wetter. Nothing made a difference.

I tried changing the timing. I tried it at 38 degrees WOT with the vacuum removed. It ran like crap and pings like crazy and still runs hot. I tried running advanced and retarded timing, and everything in between. No difference.

The motor is a stock rebuild. Nothing fancy, never been bored out. Mild cam, nothing radical. I lost the specs, but it's a Mopar Purple camshaft for street/crusing. It ran hot prior to replacing the camshaft anyway. I'm running electronic ignition, I have the water ports on the water pump housing plugged as I'm not running a heater. Edelbrock airgap manifold with 750 CFM Electric choke carb. TTI headers and exhaust system. I had a 600 CFM on it previously, still ran hot.

I've tried every little trick and have ran hundreds of internet searches looking for the magic answer. Nothing I do makes a difference.

I am running an autometer gauge. It is accurate. I can tell because when I open the hood my face practically gets burned off. It's HOT. No question about it.

I gave the motor a rebuild about 10 years back, and it hasn't seen a whole lot of miles. Probably around 15K total. I can only drive it in the winter here (AZ) because the car overheats when ambient temp is over 90 or so....

Help, I've just about given up on this 440, but though I'd give it one last hurrah....

hmmm....that is interesting - i was going to say get a different gauge, but if it actually is HOT under hood, pry not that. my aftermarket gauge was always reading about 225, but it wasn't that hot - gauge was just junk.

is this a new problem or something that's been that way since the rebuild? using a fan shroud? maybe have to run an oil cooler and a deep pan...that still probably wouldn't drop the temps 50 degrees though.

"I am running an autometer gauge. It is accurate. I can tell because when I open the hood my face practically gets burned off. It's HOT. No question about it."

Have you compared the gauge readings to a thermometer or alternate gauge? I've had Autometer electric temp gauges that were very inaccurate.

Have you tried changing or checking the water pump?

Old pump? Blade good on the pump, Try a Cat high flow pump?

I wonder if there is a slight leak of combustion gasses into the coolant

With all the things you tried, I would say you would at least have to see 'some' change in temps.

Try to back up the existing tempgauge with another one to really make sure it's not faulty.

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I tried changing the timing. I tried it at 38 degrees WOT with the vacuum removed. It ran like crap and pings like crazy and still runs hot.

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Are you sure the timing chain-sprockets aren't off by a good amount, offsetting valvetiming?
An engine shouldn't run 'crap' with a fairly 'normal' 38° WOT timing IMO.

Does the lower radiator-hose still has the iron spriral springs inside it? If not the hose might collapse during driving by the vacuum of the waterpump.

Just some ideas.

Yes, I have checked these. I've been through about 4 different pumps, including the High Volume pump. Right now I'm running a stock NEW pump.

Quote:


Are you sure the timing chain-sprockets aren't off by a good amount, offsetting valvetiming?
An engine shouldn't run 'crap' with a fairly 'normal' 38° WOT timing IMO.
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You may be onto something with the timing. I rebuilt the motor a long time ago and like I said it's always run hot when ambient temp is over 90. Will this cause it to overheat? I tried setting the timing today at 38 at about 3000 RPMs today, and it pinged like crazy and ran like crap - no power. I tuned it by ear, and I think right now it's at about 25 Degrees at 3000 RPM. Runs great, lots of power, no pinging.

Not sure if it ran hot prior to the rebiuld, as I bought it from someone out of the car, and rebuilt it when I got it prior to ever running it.

FYI, I'm using an adjustable timing light.

Brand new upper and lower radiator hose (goodyear) WITH the spring. I recently flushed the system until the water ran clear and refilled the system at about 50/50 antifreeze and water.

The temp gauge is NOT an issue. It's the second one I've had in the car, and the other one showed hot. The boil over and heat from the engine is telling me the Temp Gauge is correct.

I wonder if there is a slight leak of combustion gasses into the coolant

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I've considered that too. I was going to buy a radiator pressure gauge to see if that is an issue. BUT, it doesn't blow any white smoke and the oil is nice and clear.

It's easy to check.

You can pick up a tester at the Zone or Advance to replace the cap. You can tell if you have a HG leak or other problem causing excess cooling system pressure.

take it out & get it good & hot, pull into your driveway, shut it off & drain some coolant & take off the upper rad hose/stat/housing/fan belt(for the water pump) & pour some coolant back in to just the top of the wp housing and start it up & see if theres any bubbles(or overflow) coming up out of there in several minutes max as you've temporarily disabled the WP. EDIT you've created a dead calm in your cooling system and rev it up several times also

I had the very same problem. Would go over 240 at idle.I tried every way to fix it....I learned the hard way how important a simple fan shroud is.As a test,I made a simple shroud out of cardboard and duct tape so the fan could only suck through the rad core .It went from 240+ to 180....my thermostate will open and close....almost to cool. Having a fan to far away from the rad with no shroud or out of the shroud is the most common problem.

I too have the overheating problem on my newly rebuilt 383. My Bee was manufactured without a shroud. Certainly these cars built without shrouds were engineered to operate in the proper heat range. According to a recent publication by Paul Hurd....cars manufactured with the 22" radiator only received shrouds when they were equipped with A/C or the MAX COOL option.

is the system holding presure? i noticed the open systems are very sensitive to the right water level too much and it will puke, too little and it will not hold psi.

Yeah, it's holding pressure. I had the radiator checked by a professional and he said the radiator is in excellent condition. My big question is......I've changed nothing except a rebuild and .030 over, why would it need a shroud now if it didn't need one when it was manufactured?