Overheating problem in a bird

[swissmopar]

Hi,
I just came home from the biggest US car show outside the USA - the Big Meet in Västeras/Sweden appr. 18'000 cars. I drove my Bird all the way to Västeras out of Zurich/Switzerland - one way appr. 1500 mls. As long as the the car can run 30-80 mls/h (in Germany even 100-110 mls/h - only short distances) there were no overheating problems. I had one incidence in the City of Hamburg were I run into "stop and go" for about 6 mls - the temperature went quickly up (gauge showing >230 degrees) I heard some boiling in the radiator and overflow of the cooling fluid - I had to park the car. I waited for 2 hours, added first the lost cooling fluid appr. a gallon and could then drive without any further overheating problems.

Is there a solution for this problem? Does anyone has a switchable additional electric fan in the nose which directs the air to the radiator in case of temperature increase?

Ps. Bridge and tunnel between Sweden and Danmark, won the long distance award (only Bird in the show field)

[A383Wing]

I have an electric fan in the nose of our Daytona, never really needed it...but it sounds like to me that you might have a radiator problem...maybe it's part plugged?

[swissmopar]

I have an electric fan in the nose of our Daytona, never really needed it...but it sounds like to me that you might have a radiator problem...maybe it's part plugged?

Has a brand new radiator and the water pump is the new aluminum pump (+30%). 

[W4ATL]

If it stays cool while moving but rises when you are stopped then you may have a fan problem. Check the fan clutch. The fan should be able to pull enough air to hold a paper towel to the radiator. The fan should also be pretty tough to turn even when cold but definitely hard to turn when hot.

[moparstuart]

yes put a pusher fan in the nose on a switch  then u can use it as needed

[swissmopar]

yes put a pusher fan in the nose on a switch  then u can use it as needed

I checked Summit Racing, they have 120 different pusher fans. Which one shall I buy (size? cfm? etc.)? Is the fan attached directly to the radiator outside?
Thanks for the help.

[moparstuart]

   If you wanna be extra safe and not concerned about the money I would get the dual pusher fan with the shroud , mine just came out of a toyota corolla here in the salvage yard but i would love to have a nice big dual set up .  Piece of mind .


mine was doing the opposite of yours it liked to get hot on the hwy above 70 mph , it would just lose air flow at high speed .

[maxwellwedge]

First - Make sure your water pump isn't the one in the bad water pump thread.  http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,60599.0.html

There was a factory change in the Bird production from a clutch fan to the solid fan/spacer combo to help with overheating issues.

And..... Does your car have all of its rad seals?

[randr]

Contests on show! 

[swissmopar]

First - Make sure your water pump isn't the one in the bad water pump thread.  http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,60599.0.html
There was a factory change in the Bird production from a clutch fan to the solid fan/spacer combo to help with overheating issues.
And..... Does your car have all of its rad seals?

Have MP alu pump
ignition timing has to be check again (could be a co-factor)
all rad seals on place

Which dual pusher fan w/shroud shall I buy? Any suggestions?

[moparstuart]

First - Make sure your water pump isn't the one in the bad water pump thread.  http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,60599.0.html
There was a factory change in the Bird production from a clutch fan to the solid fan/spacer combo to help with overheating issues.
And..... Does your car have all of its rad seals?

Have MP alu pump
ignition timing has to be check again (could be a co-factor)
all rad seals on place

Which dual pusher fan w/shroud shall I buy? Any suggestions?

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,70102.msg915831.html#msg915831

 i really liked jasons choice  ?  

[tyly]

  And this year we go to the American beauty car show to Estonia, 
   Last year two bird in the show.
   

[randr]

2 birds with one shot! 

[randr]

First - Make sure your water pump isn't the one in the bad water pump thread.  http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,60599.0.html
There was a factory change in the Bird production from a clutch fan to the solid fan/spacer combo to help with overheating issues.
And..... Does your car have all of its rad seals?

Have MP alu pump
ignition timing has to be check again (could be a co-factor)
all rad seals on place

Which dual pusher fan w/shroud shall I buy? Any suggestions?

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,70102.msg915831.html#msg915831

 i really liked jasons choice  ?  

Part number is FLX-430 they turn on and off automatically depending on temp you set. and they work GREAT! was 96 out side and never got above my setpoint of 170. without them ran about 200-210. cooler in front of fans is for my tranny.

[SBBob]

Really neat that you have the courage to drive your Superbird.  Everyone thinks I am crazy for driving mine all the time.  I used to run warm in the stop and go driving, but a couple of yeas ago I had a custom built 5 core radiator made.  It uses the original radiator top and bottom pieces and looks stock to the naked eye.  It add another 3/4 of a gallon of fluid and cured the overheating problems.

[swissmopar]

Installed the pusher fan with temperature sensor 175 off/195 on (BeCool), works great. Thanks for the help.
Picture 1: Dual fan 2750 cfm BeCool
Picture 2: Relay for each fan
Picture 3: Temp Sens in the water pump 175 off/ 195 on

[moparstuart]

 

[WINGIN IT]

So with the new sensor in , does it still read correctly at the gauge in the car?
Or do you buy the sensor to match ?

[swissmopar]

I have now two temp sensors in the water pump. The original one for the dash gauge and the BeCool one for the pusher dual fan, the readings match pretty well.

[WINGIN IT]

There was a place to install a 2nd temp sensor in the water pump?
I'm confused... 

[swissmopar]

There was a place to install a 2nd temp sensor in the water pump?
I'm confused... 

You shouldn't be confused - I am using the new aluminum Mopar water pump - see pic.
On the left side you see the additional BeCool sensor and on the right side you see the original sensor. The aluminum water pump has two openings with different thread width.

[62 Max]

There was a place to install a 2nd temp sensor in the water pump?
I'm confused... 

Most factory housings have two provisions,one in front and one on top behind the heater hose fitting.Remove pipe plug and get whatever size bushing you need for the sending unit.

[WINGIN IT]

That's what I was wondering, if there was 2 fittings.
I couldn't see it in the other pic, thanks.
Not confused now... carry on ... 

[Arnie Cunningham]

First - Make sure your water pump isn't the one in the bad water pump thread.  http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,60599.0.html

There was a factory change in the Bird production from a clutch fan to the solid fan/spacer combo to help with overheating issues.

And..... Does your car have all of its rad seals?

A number of people have asked about the correctness of solid vs fluid clutch fans on Superbirds.  Is there any documentation as to when the switch to all solid fans took place?

[nascarxx29]

I got it some where .Just got to refind it.It might have been on a service bulletin

The "earlier" 440 (U and V code) Birds all got the 070 clutch and 216 fan and then switched to the other fan and solid spacer (1.06" #1851959) as a running change sometime in early November. There must have been a dealer notice as well - I have seen a few Birds coded for the 216/070 that had the solid fans.

[pettybird]

the running change applied to U code automatics only.

[maxwellwedge]

First - Make sure your water pump isn't the one in the bad water pump thread.  http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,60599.0.html

There was a factory change in the Bird production from a clutch fan to the solid fan/spacer combo to help with overheating issues.

And..... Does your car have all of its rad seals?

A number of people have asked about the correctness of solid vs fluid clutch fans on Superbirds.  Is there any documentation as to when the switch to all solid fans took place?

After Nov 5   -  After 0A167090

And Doug is correct about the automatics only.

[Arnie Cunningham]

Thanks all,

I was of the impression that the automatics already had the 1.60" spacer and solid fan as described in the Service Manual.  So did the U code auto birds get a torque fan first and then were switched to solid fans with the shorter spacer?  Or am I reading the Service Manual wrong.  (It is easy to confuse max cooling and high capacity as being the same.)

[maxwellwedge]

Yes - They all started with the 070 clutch.

[hemi68charger]

OK,, now I'm confused.... Not sure the reason's known, but why in the world would the 4bbl's get the solid conversion but not the 6bbl's and 8bbl's? They all had inherit heating problems, no?  I understand the 6 & 8 bbl's had higher rev limits...........

[maxwellwedge]

E86 and E87's  ( U and V codes) with automatics got the change.

[taxspeaker]

For what it's worth, we also installed the MP aluminum water pump housing and found it flexed a little at temps above 175 degrees, causing the thermostat housing to spew water out. It took about 2 months to figure that out, went back to the cast iron housing, kept the aluminum high flow pump and the problem went away. We also went back to a cast thermostat housing from an after market one just in case.