cooling setup

[loonibab325i]

I'm a big fan of the m42 radiator (it has the expansion tank right on it).. my only problems with it is that it takes FOREVER to warm up, some times I've been driving for half an hour to an hour with the car still not no where near "warm" levels, but.. when it does get to the warm levels the car likes to stay right in the middle, but sometimes in traffic it will want to try and get closer to the red.

Would this mean I need a higher temp thermostat or a lower one?

Again, i have a 318is radiator running a 14" electric push fan, the fan is never on untill it needs it. I currently have the stock thermostat and running no kinds of adhesives other then radiator fluid.

-Abe.

[lifeiskaos]

changing thermostat temp does not necessarily mean you will stop overheating. as long as your thermostat is in good working order and you still overheat, something else needs to be changed. first of all, where is your coolant temp sensor for the gauge? also, how is your electric fan wired and when does it turn itself on? what i plan on doing is keeping my pusher on low speed all the time, and high speed once the temp gets to whatever temp the switch triggers at. you might want a lower temp switch in your radiator

[loonibab325i]

changing thermostat temp does not necessarily mean you will stop overheating. as long as your thermostat is in good working order and you still overheat, something else needs to be changed. first of all, where is your coolant temp sensor for the gauge? also, how is your electric fan wired and when does it turn itself on? what i plan on doing is keeping my pusher on low speed all the time, and high speed once the temp gets to whatever temp the switch triggers at. you might want a lower temp switch in your radiator

The coolant temp sensor is directly on the block. My electric fan is in front of the radiator, not between the radiator and the motor, and it is pushing air in not pulling. The electric fan is just controlled by a switch, it gets controlled all depending on current weather, where i'm going, traffic or no traiffic.. etc etc.

the car has never over heated, it has never even gotten close to really touching the red but it seems like it wants to, but the funny thing is only in HEAVY HEAVY traffic is where it wants to do this kinda stuff, it's crazy how fast it goes back to normal within like 20 seconds of just driving in a straight line out of traffic.

-Abe.

[lennon]

but the funny thing is only in HEAVY HEAVY traffic is where it wants to do this kinda stuff, it's crazy how fast it goes back to normal within like 20 seconds of just driving in a straight line out of traffic.

-Abe.

from that description is sounds like its overheating from lack of airflow, right? my car (m20, not swapped) used to creep up hotter when i was sitting still or sometimes at what seemed like completely random times. turned out the aux fan switch for low speed was bad and the radiator was slightly clogged. and the clutch fan was old and wasnt turning very hard. maybe try leaving your fan on low and see if it overheats still. also i dont think lower thermostats are a good idea.