engine and drivetrain 2002 sacriledge... My story and hidden desire

[Conserv]

17 minutes ago, jtgillsteamboat@msn.com said:

The M20 in my 1976 02 with a 323 radiator and electric fan runs great and can stay cool all day even when hammered...the 6 pulls great, sounds great and has the smoothness common to I6 engines. However, at city speeds in traffic the temp gauge immediately begins to climb until the temp gauge is almost buried...by that time I'm home I unfortunately have to shut it off just before it boils over. My question is should the 323 radiator with an electric fan be enough cooling capacity to keep the M20 cool or do I need more radiator or more fan or both? I'm a bit uncomfortable that there may not be enough space under the hood with this engine for the air from the fan to flow through the radiator properly...since the engine stays cool at highway speeds, perhaps I just need more velocity through the radiator. I know the fan is working and is set to suck air into the rad.

What radiator are others using with M20 conversions and does this problem sound unique?

 

 

Today’s award for bringing back the oldest thread goes to.....

 

jtgillsteamboat@msn.com

 

Bravo!

 

But there’s not a lot of your issue in the 2005 thread and you’re hereby stuck with the thread title that tells us... nothing! You will probably get more traction from a new thread entitled something like “Cooling Issues on M20 Conversion”. There are also some very good threads with detailed discussions of M20 conversions. Perhaps one of these discusses a similar cooling issue.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

 

 

Edited August 10, 2019 by Conserv

[jtgillsteamboat@msn.com]

Steve

Thanks for the award and sorry for my mistake...I'm old (75+), technically illiterate and not very familiar with the protocol for this website. As you suggested, I'll try a new thread for my issue.

Regards,

Jim

[Simeon]

If the engine stays cool at speed and under load then there is nothing structurally wrong with your cooling system. More air through the radiator at low speed is required. 

 

I would say that you need more fan (you didn’t say what size fan you have). Also, how sure are you that the fan is running the correct direction to push air?

[jtgillsteamboat@msn.com]

Simeon

Shazzam!!! I'm living proof of how easy it is to overlook the simplest and easiest solution to a problem. It turns out that the capable guy who installed the M20 engine in my 2002 overlooked the fact that PermaCool, the company which supplied the electric fan, always ships their fans out as puller arrangements expecting that they would be mounted on the engine side of the rad core to pull cool air through the core into the engine compartment. With no space in front of the M20 engine in my 02, the new fan got mounted on the front side of the core but remained in the puller arrangement. So, whenever the fan came on it was immediately pulling hot air out of the engine compartment and through the rad core actually heating the coolant. Further, the force of the air coming out the front prevented much cooler air from entering the core, even at speed thus my overheating. Switched the wiring yesterday, fan rotates the opposite direction, problem solved!

Thanks for reminding me of what turned out to be a reasonably simple solution.