quote:I get the impression that some people think if the car isn't running at all times at 192 degrees there is something wrong. They are going to be just like the new, other cars, and that means at times that they are going to push the limits of the system. You can actually push this system a bit by using less flexible, or expandable hose like aeroquip and using higher pressure caps.
Basically what I am saying is that some of you need to get over all of this paranoia and accept the car for what it is...which ain't bad
I agree with Doug- our around-town '98 Z-28 Camaro has a single 16" shrouded sucker fan that doesn't even come on below 230F! 'Hot' on that car is over 245F... One caution: an 18-lb cap is about as high as one should go with an aluminum rad, and a 16-lb cap for copper/brass rads. Run the pressure much higher than this and you can balloon the very thin-wall core tubes in the rad, blocking airflow and causing overheating. Aluminum rads have much larger, thicker-walled core tubes than is possible with copper/brass, which allows far higher water flows. While the theoretical efficiency of a copper rad is higher than aluminum, the aluminum rad's higher water flow means that as a bottom line, your engine's water temp will run lower.
In our '72 with it's aftermarket-everything cooling system, the ONLY part that actually lowered the highway water temp was an aluminum Fluidyne rad (from PIM, incidently); dropped water temps 15F.