I just put a brand new 318 in my belvedere and it s running a little warmer that the 273 did.

Radiator was cleaned and rodded, new everything. i have the stock 190 thermostat and it appears to be working ut the temp gaugue is sitting right about straight up and leaing a little twords the hot side when i take it around the block.

Can timing cause a motor to run hot? 10 degrees
What about octane gas? 87 with 9.6to 1 compression(havn't had a chance to get to the gas station yet)

Not sure where to start

thanks for any help

 

You may have a air pocket trapped in the cooling system, the 273 radiator may not be suitable for the 318. Ive always ran a 180 thermostat. The fan maybe too far from the radiator to where its not pulling air thru. You didnt happen to install the fan backwards by chance? Ive seen that a few times. You may try a bottle of water wetter (or like product) thats suppost to help reduce temp by 10 degs. and yes too much timing will cause an incress in temp.

 

I know that the fan is close enough i have the spacer that puts the fan about 2 inches away from the radiator, the fan is supposed to suck air through the radiator and blow on the motor correct or do i have it backwards?

i might go and get a cooler thermostat. and adjust the timing

I have one of those new flex fans, I thought that it was supposed to be better but maybe i will put the old stocker back on and see if that helps.

i will start doing one thing at at a time any more suggestions are welcomed

thanks ill keep you informed

 

Well i put the 180 thermostat in and we will see if that drops the temp the deired amount. keeping my fingers crossed i will let you know when i get her out on the road

 

the fan blows air through the radiator

 

Assuming you have no air pockets or timing problems, do you have a fan shroud?
Often the biggest problem is getting air to flow through the radiator.
A fan shroud will help the fan pull air more efficiently but often a lot of air is lost by going around the radiator and not through it. Making sure all the air that enters the grill goes through the rad (or even making sure all the tinwork is still in place) is half the battle.
That flexfan may also be contributing to your lack of cooling. They look cool but some are quite inefficient when compared to a factory unit.

Other possibilities may be that if the engine is brand new and has been built a little on the tight side, it could run a bit hot.
Try checking the thermostat is actually opening. Just because you put even a brand new stat in doesn't mean that it's OK. I've bought new ones that didn't open so I test them BEFORE I fit 'em.
And don't forget that excessively retarded timing will also cause an engine to run hot.

Add a few of these together and you'll have a whole new definition to a "hot street engine"............................

 

i am confused everyone that i talked to says that the fan is supposed to suck air through the radiator not blow air through?

I will check all of the fan shrouding in front of the radiator.

I am at 10degrees on the timing but that was just an educated guess. Every manual i have or can find says to check the emission sticker for the propper timing. But i feel like i am pretty darn close with the timing it seems to run pretty well as far as i can tell. I am hopeing that the new thermostat will get me down to where i would like to be. I might swap the original fan out if it still is running a little war.

Thanks all for the info i will let you know what happens i am going to fill her up and run her tomorrow

 

The OE fan should pull air througha radiator but there may be a little confusion arising from aftermarket electric fans which are often fitted ahead of the radiator which will indeed push air through your rad.
When the vehicle is in motion, the airflow through the rad alone should be enough to keep the motor cool in most circumstances allowing the factory viscous clutch fan to freewheel most of the time.
My racecar has an electric fan which is only needed if I get caught in traffic. The rest of the time it will maintain temperature solely with airflow through the rad as all the air entering the grille aperture HAS to pass through the radiator.

*Check your stat
*Refit your OE fan
*Check your fan shroud and other tinware

 

Thanks thats what i thought, got the 180 thermostat inthere and i am almost sure it will do what i am looking for i had a small leak out of the water neck after insrttalling the new one so i am letting the gasket sealer dry overnight and will test tomorrow.

Thanks again

 

I agree, if the motor is still new, it may not be "broken in" yet. Sometimes it takes 500 or miles to break in a motor. ( the rings need to get cozy with the pistons, so to speak.) My 383 took about a week of driving before it got "broken in" right. [this was back in the old days of the 80's. might be different nowadays].
One other thing to check, make sure that thew heat riser in the exhaust manifold is not stuck. this could cause overheating probs. too

 

X2........

 

Thanks for all of the help, the thermostst was all it needed. Th stock 195 was keeping it just a little to warm. I plopped the 180 in and she ran great for about a half an hour of driving, on to the next question.

318 , 9.6 to 1 compression pistons, edelbrock performer intake stock exhaust manifolds with some mild head porting , i am running a bone stock edlebrock performer 650 carb, and the car seems a little flat through the middle and top end range ( although i havn't pushed the car yet ) does that seem like the right size carb for what i have ?

Also what is the best way to guage weather or not i need to step up the jets and metering rods. Also i am at 10 degrees of timing does that sound about right the car seems to run well but is a little hard starting

Thanks

 

Glad it was just the stat.

On your other questions:
A 650 should be more than adequate for a mildly modified SB within its usual rev range. My little Plymouth is set up for economy but still runs well with a tiny 390 Holley on top of its 318.

The easiest way to get into the ball park with your carb (if it is totally as it left the factory, it's probably pretty close as is -the majority of carbs usually are). If you fancy experimentating a little then take the car to the track and after a baseline run, try richening the fuel one step only.
If the car goes faster, try one more step.
If the car goes slower, try leaning out two steps.
If enrichment made your car faster, keep richening until it starts to slow down. Then lean out one step.
If the car goes faster when leaning out.....keep leaning one step at a time until it slows. Then enrich one step.

It's imortant to remember that you should make no other changes like timing, etc and to keep everything else as constant as possible like engine temp, tire pressures, air quality and shift points.

With your timing, 10 degrees doesn't sound unreasonable. As a check, does the motor " pink" or detonate under full throttle acceleration........??
If the motor is still hard to start and the starter is not a tired old one, maybe you should fit an ignition cut out switch -you can then crank the motor up to speed with the ignition off then flip the switch for the ignition. This helps high compression motors where the starters can sometimes struggle. Wouldn't have considered 9.6 exactly high comp...............

 

without a holley though, changing the jets is a little harder though isn't it?

 

ok thanks for all of the info i will have to play with it for a little while. I really havn't had it out all that much and maybe i am expecting to much out of a 318. i should be happy it is running well. i will tinker a little and see what i come up with

as far as the pink noise i dont hear anything when i hit it a little but i am not sure how loud it would be if it were there.

Thanks again for all of the help guys

 

The 318 is quite a lively little chap for its size......but obviously having to haul a Belvedere around is going to take the edge off the performance.
Fooling around with jets and metering rods isn't as easy as the Holley but that Edelbrock is still very tunable.
Pinking can often be very audible. I have heard it once in the Cortina on a pass with open headers. It's an extreme case but it goes to show that it can be loud. If you are running a full exhaust with mufflers it should be audible at first as a slight tinkling or rattling sound on hard acceleration (like mini castenets) and it gets worse with more timing, leaner mixes and harder loads (Like hills).
If you want a ballpark setting for your dynamic timing, try adding timing until you start experiencing pinking then pull a couple of degrees out.

 

I am going to play with the timing this weekend and see what i can get out of it. I know that the belvedere is a big bunch of steel but i was expecting a little more punch from the new motor. i am posotive it is in ther i just need to get it all dialed in.

Thanks i will let yo know what i find.

 

It was the timing. got in there today and bumped up the timing one degree at a time untl i found the best power through the whole rpm range , i was at 10 degrees and took it all the way to 15 degrees. i found that 13 degrees was the best performance i got. it ran a lot smoother at idle also.

Thanks for all of the help

 

Job done...........

 

 

Hello, I have some questions regarding the 318 La. I don't speak English, but I hope you can help me, even with my vocabulary difficulties. I mounted a 394 '' engine through the 318 block. Use a hi-volume thermostatic valve with a 71 ° C opening. I used a fan switch with a 82-68 ° C trigger. Some people fail to notice that this temperature causes cylinder wear and tear due to cold. Others say that for ideal carbon dioxide it is 70 to 80 ° C.

 

Should run 83-C,,, Too cold will cause sludge build up inside engine.

 

thank you so much