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Oh boy..here we go again. Running hot only in summer?

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EagleTalonTim

15+ Year Contributor
833
13
Jan 10, 2007
Brighton, Tennessee
Well, the winter seems to be over where I am and the temps are getting up to the upper 70's here. I am starting to see an old problem come up again and I am not sure what to do....

Basically to sum things up, I have a problem with my engine running up to 210 to 230 while driving normal just during the daytime. At night when things are cooler, I don't have this problem. The higher temp only happens when driving under 50mph which sounds like an air flow problem to me. At 60mph, the temp stays about 200 to 205. Before anyone starts saying to replace the radiator, water pump, thermostat, or radiator cap, I have already done all those in the last 6 months. Twice on water pump thinking that was my problem and I had gotten a defective one, 3 different t-stats (180, 192 "failsafe", and standard OEM 192 which I am running now), and replaced the cap 2 times thinking I also purchase a defective one. Last thing I replaced was the turbo with a brand new EVO III 16g thinking the water ports were messed up some how since the old one was going bad anyways.

During the day, I will not drive hard since the temp goes up really quickly after a 3 or 4 second WOT pull. I have a single slim fan from Autozone, which takes up the entire height of the radiator, that runs all the time when the ignition is on. It is located to the left of the turbo since the heat from the turbo would melt the plastic. I have also flushed the entire coolant system 2 times and replaced the coolant with a 50/50 mixture the first time and a 70/30 mixture the second time. I do have a FMIC which may block some of the air flow but I keep it clean and blown out of bugs or debris. I did not have the overheating problem when I first installed the FMIC....it was about a year later. The over heating actually started after I replaced my oil pump and bottom end bearings with ACL bearings. The car was down for about 3 months waiting for parts and time to work on it. I did clean out all water and oil ports with pipe cleaners as I have always done when rebuilding engines.

A couple questions....
Would installing a "pull" style radiator fan on the FMIC be any help?
Should I replace the "pull" style slim fan with a "push" style so I can mount the radiator fans on the other side of the radiator possible pushing cooler air through the radiator?
The radiator that is in the car is for an A/T which I do have, but I have an external transmission cooler. Would replacing the radiator with a M/T radiator make any difference?

Any help is greatly appreciated!
 
It is for sure a airflow issue. Install some air cowling to force the air passing through the intercooler to go through the radiator.

Also, those hayden fans from Vatozone are complete crap, they do not flow crap for air. Get a real fan from Spal.
 
Do you have any recommended links where to purchase that type of fan? What kind of material would be good to use for the cowling? They sell acrylic sheets at Home depot, but I don't think those would hold up. I do have some tin sheeting at the house but it is really thin.
 
Your problem sounds like what I was going through last summer. I had just switched setups and needed a slimfan fast, so I grabbed one from Autozone. It was fine while moving, but as soon as I stopped temps just shot up. I bought a SPAL from E-Bay and it solved my problems.
 
i have 2 mishimoto fans, a 180 t-stat, and since i took out my a/c i re-wired the snowflake button to turn on the fans no matter what speed I'm going, and the setup works great.
 
As stated, it is a airflow issue. The fmic is blocking a lot of air that gets to the radiator. Grab some fans.
 
Our cars run hot normally. I would run on average around 220* cruising around. Just install a Stant 14077 170* thermostat. It can be picked up at Autozone for around $12. It will be fully open before the stocker would begin to crack open.
 
Our cars run hot normally. I would run on average around 220* cruising around. Just install a Stant 14077 170* thermostat. It can be picked up at Autozone for around $12. It will be fully open before the stocker would begin to crack open.

I had this exact issue once a fmic was installed on my car. Its common sense if you block airflow to the radiator, the cars temos will be effected. Especially in a hotter climate. The fact that he sees lower running temps at night and hotter temps during the day proves this. A different t-stat will not eliminate the problem.
 
I had this exact issue once a fmic was installed on my car. Its common sense if you block airflow to the radiator, the cars temos will be effected. Especially in a hotter climate. The fact that he sees lower running temps at night and hotter temps during the day proves this. A different t-stat will not eliminate the problem.

Yes it is common sense bud. Just saying what has worked for me and a few others. My temps dropped when installing the 170 and I'm using a VRSF core running a single fan.

:cool:
 
Thanks for the ideas guys! I will try the cowling when I get home tonight if I have time. I think the tin sheeting that I have will work. Any ideas if putting fans in front of the radiator vs. behind will make any difference? I have heard that fans are more efficient when pushing air through something rather than pulling air through it. Didn't know if anyone has tried this or not. I found this out when I was working with an experiment for an energy efficient heater / cooler....yeah, I experiment a lot!
 
Like everyone else has said those autozone fans suck. Try some water wetter it will help keep your temps down I bought my slim fans off ebay as well and i never even see my temps get to 210 unless its super hot out and im mashing on it. Maby your coolant lines have a bubble in it? just a suggestion.
 
Like stated water we're helps. I like it alot.

I am also wondering about a push vs pull type fan. I want to put my ac side one in front cause I think I just melted that one! :(
 
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