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Hill Climb Overheating?


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I have an 87 EA82T that will overheat every time I climb continuously for more than 1 or 2 kms. It did it once last year as an auto and twice this year as a DR.

The speed is approximately 20 kph, about 2000 RPM in 2nd low. I drive this car all the time and it never overheats, not on the highway, in traffic or just sitting.

The rad, 180 thermo and water pump are all new, and the coolant is fresh. The temp can be kept below the red by putting the heater on full. Rad fan thermo is bypassed.

Is there a design flaw or a mechanical reason for the overheating? I have been up both mountains many times with carburated and single port cars with no problems.

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I hope it's intercooled. Water injection really help a lot too.

You did flush the coolant system right?

 

I would wire the a/c fan to a toggle switch inside. Or ditsh both stock fans in favor of a dual electric unit. GM put some serious fans on their early 90's cars. I would also run the GM alternator to feed them.

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Does the 180 degree t-stat have a pinhole and a makeshift check valve like oem? I had problems without that little hole burping to a tight air free system. I also learned later on, certain angled hills make the bumper deflect air away, right over the top of the hood, instead of through radiator. Even uphills, it seems, the air knows parallel to sea level :rolleyes:

Front air dam is very good for this. I even went extreme in boredom , and went right through the bumper with 2 holes :grin:

http://93loyale.com/front.html

 

http://93loyale.com/fskirt.html

 

I did both of these out of frustration. The 4wd is much better at air flow, my 2wd was bad. Sits low, etc.

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I have an 87 EA82T that will overheat every time I climb continuously for more than 1 or 2 kms. It did it once last year as an auto and twice this year as a DR.

The speed is approximately 20 kph, about 2000 RPM in 2nd low. I drive this car all the time and it never overheats, not on the highway, in traffic or just sitting.

The rad, 180 thermo and water pump are all new, and the coolant is fresh. The temp can be kept below the red by putting the heater on full. Rad fan thermo is bypassed.

Is there a design flaw or a mechanical reason for the overheating? I have been up both mountains many times with carburated and single port cars with no problems.

 

If you have A/C, pull out the grill and check the condenser in front of the radiator. Mine was full of mud and bugs, since my A/c wasn't working anyway, I removed the condenser and it mad a huge difference in cooling........Roger

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If you have A/C, pull out the grill and check the condenser in front of the radiator. Mine was full of mud and bugs, since my A/c wasn't working anyway, I removed the condenser and it mad a huge difference in cooling........Roger

 

Also, if you just clean it out good, not with a regular hose, but a pressure washer, it should help. The garden hose has only enough pressure to force the debris deep into the radiator or condenser so that you don't see it. A good soaking with castrol super clean when the radiator is hot is good for breaking everything up before you pressure wash it all out.

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The fan is wired direct, the thermostat pin has been replaced by a 3/16 inch hole and I have no AC. The idea about the air sounds interesting, but the other cars I took up the same mountains had the same body styles, with no noticeable increase in temperature. There is little or no boost at 2000 RPM and you barely have your foot on the gas. I just putt along because I am usually hunting. I'm not blasting up the mountain with rocks flying everywhere. Thanks for the quesses though. Maybe the turbo needs an intercooler at those low speeds.

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The fan is wired direct, the thermostat pin has been replaced by a 3/16 inch hole and I have no AC. The idea about the air sounds interesting, but the other cars I took up the same mountains had the same body styles, with no noticeable increase in temperature. There is little or no boost at 2000 RPM and you barely have your foot on the gas. I just putt along because I am usually hunting. I'm not blasting up the mountain with rocks flying everywhere. Thanks for the quesses though. Maybe the turbo needs an intercooler at those low speeds.

Do you have a boost gauge? 2k rpm and a steep grade should create plenty of load for the engine to make boost. My turbo Legacy can make boost around 2k rpm with its tiny turbo and a 3" turboback so I am sure that whatever teeny-tiny turbo they put on the EA82t should be making boost even at those rpm's.

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Try replacing the thermostat with a new one, this time leave the air vent pin alone. Is the electric fan spinning in the correct direction? Why did you replace the radiator? Was it a one row or two row that was in it, and what is in it now?

I had plenty of overheating problems with my 89 turbo untill I replaced the radiator with a 2 row unit.

Also, what's your coolant mix, all antifreeze or 50/50 water/antifreeze? I know your in the great north but water transfers heat better than antifreeze. That's why 50/50 is recommended.

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The rad is a 2 core. I put in a new rad because this is my own car, and I had the engine out anyway to switch the auto to DR. The antifreeze is 100%, only so that when you get a leak and have to fill your rad from a nearby creek with a coffee mug, you are diluting the mix towards the optimum, not away from it. I once blew a heater hose in -10*, filled the rad by stuffing in snow, and still had enough of a mix for it not to freeze before I made the 200 miles home.

This problem may be maddenning result of a bunch of little things, like maybe the winch on top of the bumper. But it did the same thing last year as an auto without the winch. Thanks for the input.

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That's right! The boiling point is higher at higher pressures. say 13 lbs compared to 9 lbs.

or in my case 13 lbs compared to 0 lbs hehehe... im gonna fix it this weekend i hope.. gotta get out the torch.. good thing me pops a plumber... comes in handy ya know!

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i'm having similiar issues with my XT6 AWD Auto. new radiator, water pump, radiator caps, thermostat, radiator hoses and the fans work fine. only really did it when it's above 85 degrees outside and the a/c was on. turning the a/c off would typically make the gauge drop back to normal. climbing mountains at highway speed it would do it as well. now that it's late in the year and cooler it stays pegged normal, but it'll surely return next summer.

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