cooling issues..., fine when driving, spikes when stopped. Options

[malaga_red75]

subaru JDM EJ25 DOHC

So, got my conversion finally road worthy and have noticed that while I am driving around, the car stays at around 200 F. when i stop, or let it idle in my garage... the temp slowly climbs and doesnt stop (i shut it off around 230 F). I am assuming this is an issue with my fans.

I am running a front mounted radiator, using 2 push-style fans. A few things that i think may be wrong...

-There is no shroud around the fans... just the shroud that seals the radiator to the front (since they are push fans, they are mounted on the front side of the radiator, in between the radiator and the nose of the car)

- there is about a 1 1/2" gap between the fans and the radiator (this was just the way that ended up working for mounting the fans)

anyways, i am pretty sure that the cooling system is working (no kinked lines, thermostat working, fans do turn on) as indicated by driving and the temp staying cool, there is just something not working when i stop moving. let me know what you guys think.

-Peter

[malaga_red75]

So, yesterday I tried getting all the air out of the system. I indeed do have a air bleed nipple on the radiator in the front and I just jacked the front end up a little bit to make it the highest point in the system. I pulled a vacuum and followed your steps. I then took it for a drive. It helped, but the car still tends to slowly climb when Im stopped after driving. I am going to try again today with the vacuum and see if it will help.

any other ideas of maybe why it is overheating? cooling systems are really NOT my expertise, so I am kind of in the dark here. Thanks guys.

peter

[Mike Bellis]

So, yesterday I tried getting all the air out of the system. I indeed do have a air bleed nipple on the radiator in the front and I just jacked the front end up a little bit to make it the highest point in the system. I pulled a vacuum and followed your steps. I then took it for a drive. It helped, but the car still tends to slowly climb when Im stopped after driving. I am going to try again today with the vacuum and see if it will help.

any other ideas of maybe why it is overheating? cooling systems are really NOT my expertise, so I am kind of in the dark here. Thanks guys.

peter

sent you a PM

[Phoenix-MN]

So, yesterday I tried getting all the air out of the system. I indeed do have a air bleed nipple on the radiator in the front and I just jacked the front end up a little bit to make it the highest point in the system. I pulled a vacuum and followed your steps. I then took it for a drive. It helped, but the car still tends to slowly climb when Im stopped after driving. I am going to try again today with the vacuum and see if it will help.

any other ideas of maybe why it is overheating? cooling systems are really NOT my expertise, so I am kind of in the dark here. Thanks guys.

peter

sent you a PM

You say the temps climb when at idle, if you idle up the engine to let's say 2000 - 2500 rpm and hold it there does it start to cool down? if so then you are not pumping/flowing enough water at idle speeds. I sort of see this effect with my V6, it doesn't over-heat at idle but will cool down a bit if the idle is brought up.

[malaga_red75]

So, yesterday I tried getting all the air out of the system. I indeed do have a air bleed nipple on the radiator in the front and I just jacked the front end up a little bit to make it the highest point in the system. I pulled a vacuum and followed your steps. I then took it for a drive. It helped, but the car still tends to slowly climb when Im stopped after driving. I am going to try again today with the vacuum and see if it will help.

any other ideas of maybe why it is overheating? cooling systems are really NOT my expertise, so I am kind of in the dark here. Thanks guys.

peter

sent you a PM

You say the temps climb when at idle, if you idle up the engine to let's say 2000 - 2500 rpm and hold it there does it start to cool down? if so then you are not pumping/flowing enough water at idle speeds. I sort of see this effect with my V6, it doesn't over-heat at idle but will cool down a bit if the idle is brought up.

yes, this does happen. If i hold the rpm up it does start to cool down. maybe the thermostat isn't opening enough?