What is your average idle temp?

[Surf Charger]

Curious what you guys are getting as your average idle engine temp?

[Dans 68]

187^oF with a 383 4-bbl 4-speed, in neutral, radiator cap off, 75 degree day, original 043 radiator. I have three confirmation points. 

Dan

[doctor4766]

187^oF with a 383 4-bbl 4-speed, in neutral, radiator cap off, 75 degree day, original 043 radiator. I have three confirmation points. 

Dan

That bottom pic. Is that really where 187* is?
Mine typically sits just over the 170* mark in neutral, but cruising,while stopped at the lights, it creeps up to less than your gauge is showing there, and I get a little worried then.
If so it looks like I've been panicking over nothing for a long time.

[Dino]

Mine just creeps past the 170 mark and stays there no matter how long I drive it.  Haven't been stuck in traffic yet though, I'm sure it would go up a bit more if I do.

[tan top]

 before i stripped it down for the resto , it use to run  180 no matter what ,  even idling  in the garage on a summer day  with me messing around with the timing ,  go out for a blast , come back let it idle for a hour , or get stuck in traffic ,  would still sit at 180 , that was with a/c water pump pulley , but no A/C , flexi fan , no shroud .
after resto  with correct  none A/C pulleys  180 to 190 , i like a leanish idle mixture , timing12*at idle & it did start to creep close to 200 maybe 195ish  in traffic , then a few years back i put yet another  set of heads on , this time !, milled ,  gasket matched /ported/polished  452 heads &  a HV waterpump from milodon , with still a flexie fan & now fan shroud  ( prefer it to the stock 216 fan ) runs cooler , ! back to 180  degrees ,  no matter what ,  let it idle in a hot garage , for a hour or more ,  after a long run may go up to 185ish , increase idle speed to 1200 revs , drops back to 180 , oh stock 055 radiator & 180 degree thermostat too  

[Tilar]

Right about here is where I kick back and start idling.  


I'll let ya know about the car when I get it to that point. 

[Dans 68]

That bottom pic. Is that really where 187* is?.

On my car, it is.     Meaning I know it is off. The gauge could be tweaked to get the needle slightly more to the left, but that is low on my priority list.   

Dan

[Musicman]

Right about here is where I kick back and start idling.  


I'll let ya know about the car when I get it to that point. 

[tan top]

Right about here is where I kick back and start idling.  


I'll let ya know about the car when I get it to that point. 

 

[Surf Charger]

Thanks everyone. Just got my Charger up and running and noticed the temp gauge was getting up pretty high (getting near 220)...checked the upper radiator hose and it was cold. So my guess was that the brand new thermostat that I installed was faulty or not opening for some reason. (no I didn't install it upside down...  )
Water pump is new as well as the radiator. So the thermostat was the only thing I could think of.

Re-installed a different Stant thermostat and gonna give it a try. Now I'm having issues with the ignition switch so whenever I get this thing consistently starting up, I'll check the temps again.

[jaak]

After I got my Charger running, mine was showing around 230* on the dash gauge, just idling in the shop. I knew that wasn't right, so I hooked up a mechanical gauge, when the dash gauge shows 230*, the mechanical gauge reads around 175*. I'm assuming my dash gauge is off, or I need another sending unit.

Jason

[Surf Charger]

After I got my Charger running, mine was showing around 230* on the dash gauge, just idling in the shop. I knew that wasn't right, so I hooked up a mechanical gauge, when the dash gauge shows 230*, the mechanical gauge reads around 175*. I'm assuming my dash gauge is off, or I need another sending unit.

Jason

Thanks Jason. I may give that a try just to see. Hoping its just the gauge.

[A383Wing]

Mine on the stock gauge in the 70 sits just about a needles width to the right of the 170 mark....I got a mechanical temp gauge under the dash that is way more accurate than the stock gauge....

as far as temp goes....if I idle for a long time in hot weather, it will creep up, then I turn the electric fan on....but that was with the OE style 3 core radiator, I put in an aluminum 2 core lat year I think....I have not really had an opportunity to test it out again with all that's been going on around here

and with gas prices going up, I may not get a chance to test it this year either

Bryan

[resq302]

187^oF with a 383 4-bbl 4-speed, in neutral, radiator cap off, 75 degree day, original 043 radiator. I have three confirmation points. 

Dan

Dan, just curious you running shroud on your 22" rad.  I know my 053 can get up to 220 (on the gauge which who knows if it is correct) when I am idling in traffic but once I start moving it drops down drastically.  I ended up getting an original shroud for my rad even though the factory didn't see fit to include one on the 383 4bbl 4 spd cars unless you got an axle package or a/c in which case you got a 26" rad then which was way more than enough cooling capacity.

[Cooter]

Depends on the outside temp. I Assume your talking bout when it's 100 degrees out and idling for long periods of time.

In that case,
"Christine" = 200-230
"General Lee"= 175-185
"Dart" 200-240
"Challenger" 170-190
"66 plymouth" 180-195

[KWS]

Funny I should come across this thread. I'm currently struggling with my temp in the Lee. I can let the car idle for a while and it slowly creeps up until it hits the 230 mark and I shut it off before it pukes, so my answer to your question is 0F-230F!!

[Dans 68]

187^oF with a 383 4-bbl 4-speed, in neutral, radiator cap off, 75 degree day, original 043 radiator. I have three confirmation points. 

Dan

Dan, just curious you running shroud on your 22" rad.  I know my 053 can get up to 220 (on the gauge which who knows if it is correct) when I am idling in traffic but once I start moving it drops down drastically.  I ended up getting an original shroud for my rad even though the factory didn't see fit to include one on the 383 4bbl 4 spd cars unless you got an axle package or a/c in which case you got a 26" rad then which was way more than enough cooling capacity.

No shroud, Brian. I stuck it in last year before the road trip to Vegas and it performed like a trooper. Interestingly, my car had a 26" radiator with a shroud when I picked it up. The radiator support opening was still the stock 22" size so I lost about 4" of radiator width but the shroud was manufactured to line up with the fan. The temperatures with the 26" were still about the same. I picked up the 22" from a seller in Florida, who had it rebuilt (to original specs, I believe) and had used it in a 440 equipped Charger. He said it worked just fine in the Florida heat.

Dan

[404NOTFOUND]

Mine always stays it the 175 range. I have the 26" rad option. The only exception was when I was in the Woodward Dream Cruise traffic jam where it ran to 230 at times. Still didn't boil over though.

[Surf Charger]

Well I replaced the thermostat twice as I figured it wasn't opening up. My temp got up to 230+ so I turned it off. The upper hose started to get hot...but more really warm than hot. So I'm sure the thermostat opened..but nothing is pumping through. The hoses to the heater core were super hot. Lower radiator hose was cold.

So my guess is that the water pump is bad? What are some symptoms of a water pump not pumping?

The current pump looks original...engine was rebuilt back in the 80's. However its not leaking or making any kind of noise. Can a water pump go bad silently like that?

[A383Wing]

what engine?

I say the impeller is either rotten off or it came off the pump shaft

Bryan

[myk]

Depends when, where, what the car was doing before it was idling, etc.  If I'm running it hard, pull into town and then get stuck at a light I've seen it go up to 200+ at idle.  The car runs cooler than anything else I've driven...

[Surf Charger]

what engine?

I say the impeller is either rotten off or it came off the pump shaft

Bryan

Yeah this problem started when I crank it up from a cold start. I dont have to drive anywhere for it to get hot. Shouldnt there be some coolant going through the thermostat even if its not open yet? Think Im gonna replace the waterpump regardless.

[resq302]

Funny I should come across this thread. I'm currently struggling with my temp in the Lee. I can let the car idle for a while and it slowly creeps up until it hits the 230 mark and I shut it off before it pukes, so my answer to your question is 0F-230F!!

Kenny,

Your problem sounds like you are not getting enough air flow across the rad to cool the coolant enough when you are idling.  Do you have electric fans in your car?  If so, it might be that one or both of them are not coming on.

[A383Wing]

what engine?

I say the impeller is either rotten off or it came off the pump shaft

Bryan

Yeah this problem started when I crank it up from a cold start. I dont have to drive anywhere for it to get hot. Shouldnt there be some coolant going through the thermostat even if its not open yet? Think Im gonna replace the waterpump regardless.

if impeller is broken or gone, water cannot flow because that is what makes the water go round & round

Bryan

[billssuperbird]

190 when it is hot out side

[charger Downunder]

Mine just creeps past the 170 mark and stays there no matter how long I drive it.  Haven't been stuck in traffic yet though, I'm sure it would go up a bit more if I do.

Mine is the same with 26 inch rad cowl mopar fan and hub and A/C pulley.

[Surf Charger]

May have discovered part of the culprit to my heat temp issues.....looks like all the fins are broken/chipped/corroded off. Plus the new pump has more fins and a larger diameter. Carefully took a coat hanger to some of the passages just to feel for clogged material but the water pump housing and chambers was clean as a whistle...no rust. Hopefully this new waterpump will solve my high coolant temp problem....

[terrible one]

Wow! Looks like you found the source of your problem.

[A383Wing]

Is your car a factory AC car or not?

Bryan

[1969chargerrtse]

Radiator is a huge part of running hot or not.  What cha got?

[bill440rt]

Egads, looks like it spent some time with the remains of the Titanic! 

Be sure to flush out your cooling system when replacing with your new pump.

I have 180 degree thermostats in all my cars. My '69 runs right around there depending on outside temps (aluminum radiator & electric dual fans). My '70 has a stock cooling system (26" rad, stock fan & correct clutch), and it'll run cool no matter how hot it is outside.
My '68 used to run fairly hot (200+ on occasion), but I hope with the aluminum head swap it will help that some.

Keep us posted! 

[charger Downunder]

May have discovered part of the culprit to my heat temp issues.....looks like all the fins are broken/chipped/corroded off. Plus the new pump has more fins and a larger diameter. Carefully took a coat hanger to some of the passages just to feel for clogged material but the water pump housing and chambers was clean as a whistle...no rust. Hopefully this new waterpump will solve my high coolant temp problem....

6 impeller A/C pump
I use the 8 impeller with A/C pulley and car runs just over 170 all day no matter how hot it is outside.

[Surf Charger]

Is your car a factory AC car or not?

Bryan

Yeah mine was factory A/C however someone removed the A/C system at some point in the murkey past and replaced with a regular heater box.

Egads, looks like it spent some time with the remains of the Titanic! 

Be sure to flush out your cooling system when replacing with your new pump.

I have 180 degree thermostats in all my cars. My '69 runs right around there depending on outside temps (aluminum radiator & electric dual fans). My '70 has a stock cooling system (26" rad, stock fan & correct clutch), and it'll run cool no matter how hot it is outside.
My '68 used to run fairly hot (200+ on occasion), but I hope with the aluminum head swap it will help that some.

Keep us posted! 

I bought an aftermarket aluminum 3 core radiator with the thick/wide cores. Should cool fine. Flushed the coolant system best I could...not sure how to flush out the block.

Either way, a new radiator, new thermostat, and new waterpump should do the trick....key word "should" ....guess we will see when I crank it up tomorrow.

Radiator is a huge part of running hot or not.  What cha got?

Billet aluminum 26" radiator from ECP.