I built a engine run in stand recently. I just fired up the first engine of hopefully many to go on it with decent results except for it getting to warm and having to shut it down. Problem is how do i keep them running cool?

Right now, I have an A-body radiator and a small 10" or 12" electric fan on it. Its obviously not enough.

Even though I have made the investment of building the stand to my liking, I am not crazy about spending a fortune on a really limited use system, but I can't have engines overheating either.

Suggestions?

one way is just use a :total loss: system

Most dynos use a cooling tower that uses the large reserve tank for the absorber as a cooling water source as well.
I have a 1000 plus gallon tank pf water to draw from.
A friend of mine has a run stand that he uses a radiator with.He uses a flex fan on the engine,and uses a large shop fan to blow air across the radiator and he never has an issue.
Keith

A crude but effective way I've seen it done is with garden hoses and no radiator. Each open end of the radiator hoses had a garden hose adapter. Hook one up to a fawcet, and the other dumped into a drain.

Running cold water thru a hot engine might not be a good idea. It is better to have a thermostat in the system and to get the block up to the correct temp so you can actually break the motor in correctly.

A cheap solution that will be safe is to just go find a really big radiator. You should be able to mount any size radiator on a run stand so why not put a really big one on there? Something from a truck or a C body or something like that. With an engine fan running you won't have any trouble keeping it cool. Use a fan shroud also. The shroud will help pull the air thru the radiator and it will make it safer to work around.

Andy, it did have a thermostat. I just didn't mention it. Just open the faucet and fill the engine, then start it.

I have the radiator mounted not so close to the engine. I think on the big block I just did it was about 6-8 inches I'll guess from the water pump pulley. I did have an engine driven fan on it, but obviously being too far away and no shroud, its not going to be very effective. This is where I was hoping the electric fan pushing through would be enough---I guess not.

Yes, I have all sorts of room for any radiator on ther, so I will look for something big and cheap. Heck even a mid/late 90's ram has a good size unit and its aluminum. I thing the majority of the problem is just too small a radiator. Any other suggestions, I am open.

i used the radiator that was in the car. a box fan workrd pretty well.

Here is a picture of my stand before I went to a mid 90's caravan radiator fan assembly. Both motors i have run in on it have never went above the thermostat during break-in. Radiator is real similar to the one pictured above. Left over stuff from from circle track days. Jim

Not a great pic, but here is what I am dealing with. The radiator in current use was free, so I figured what the heck----even though in the back of my mind I figured it wasn't going to be enough. Guess I was right on that.

Heres a better picture with original fan set-up. Zippy, shop is kind of a mess lately, cant seem to get other peoples stuff done and out of there so i can work on the E-body thats on the hoist. My German Shepard is not doing very well at running people off either. Jim.