awd92gsx

PM Sent: Am willing to try anything at this point! Ty!

Pop: It's a mechanical temp guage, but, also the fan stop cycling as well. It will run all day long. It will get up to 225 on it's own (I shut it off at that point, so, it will probably get higher) Cozy: In P/N the engine runs around 192 or so with the fan cycling on at about 210. In D it overcomes the 210 mark and will keep rising until I shut it off with the fan never cycling off. PP: As of yet, the car is not equipped with A/C Note: the fan is wired with the High side being the only side that is used. Before rewiring I did try the low side, but it actually made the problem worse. I'm beginning to just wonder if maybe the Taurus fan I have is, in some way, defective; requiring more current than is necessary to turn the fan. When I say it's a slowdown, I can't stress enough how much it actually slows down. While it still moves air, with the hood shut and in Drive you can barely hear the fan running, while when it is in Park the fan is generally loud and pronounced. [edit] Am running a 40a circuit breaker...it doesn't appear to be blowing/resetting. Right now I have no other electrical components added (not even a radio)

I installed the relay on the drivers side inner fender well, a little behind the headlight. The ground from the fan goes to the 75a relay (via 8g wire) and then to chassis ground; all in all, maybe a foot and a half of 8g wire for the ground. Chassis ground from the battery consists of a single 4g wire from the battery to the chassis, though I do also have a 4g wire on the other side of the engine from the engine block to chassis ground. I'm running a carbed setup. It is possible for me to adjust the idle high enough, but, for me to get the fan to run high enough would require about an 850 idle while in drive which relates to about a 1100 rpm idle given everything else...which, to me, seems too high. My original 100a was a 3 wire while my 140a summit unit is a single wire configuration. I noticed no change between the two alternators at all. Idle output from both was about 13.6v or so (at least in park/neutral) I'd hate to go out and spend $200 or so on a fan that flows less but requires less current, especially when I see so many people using the Taurus fan setup successfully. That's why I'd just like to figure out what the problem is with mine. It's pretty much the only thing keeping me from driving the car for more than anything than just around the block.

Well, I'm about at my wits end with this car and I'm pretty much out of ideas at this point. Awhile back I put in a taurus fan set (new aftermarket unit) with the JTR radiator. It really moves the air and seems to keep the car cool, with one exception... Whenever I put it in drive and the rpm's drop a little (idles about 750 rpm in drive now) the fan slows way down and the car starts to heat up. Give it a little more gas to get up to around 825+ rpm, the fan speeds back up, and the car cools back down as a result. If I leave it in park/neutral it runs fine (gave it about a 900-1000 rpm idle) Thinking it might be an alternator issue I put in a 140 amp summit unit in place of the 100 amp unit I had to no avail. Exact same symptoms. Did some voltage drop tests and found that the 10g wiring was dropping quite a bit of voltage, so, I replaced/rewired the entire cooling system using 8g wire and a new 75a bosh style relay and also rewired the entire charging system using 4g and 8g wire along with new terminals, connectors, power distribution blocks, etc... The lights do not dim, though, there is a noticeable heavy decrease in rpm when the fan comes on...probably around 200rpm or so. Now, I realize the fan draws alot of amperage, but, has anybody else run into this problem of the car simply not being able to provide enough current at an idle to let this fan work properly? I've done everything I can think of (including adjusting timing/fuel) to keep it cool...I'm seriously thinking the overheating issue is related to the fan cooling down since as long as I can keep the fan rpms higher it cools just fine and the fan cycles on and off as designed.

I should mention that with the stock heads I didn't have any clearance problems, even with my $60 new Ebay headers...I only started having problems AFTER I installed my Dart Pro1 aluminum heads.

I just ordered a new set of headers today because I'm having the exact same problem. I've tried header wrap, MSD Boot Armor, different wires, you name it... These should fix it. http://sandersonheaders.com/pagesbypartnum/cc2.htm

The length isn't the problem...the problem is that the Dart aluminum heads I have place the plug right in a spot that the boot physically touches the headers I have...I've seen those shorter ACCEL plugs, but, I'm not 100% they're going to be short enough to actually prevent the plug boot from touching the header. I think I'll just have to finding the smallest diameter plug boot I can find and go with them in addition to wrapping the plug boot with a heat protector...

Well, I found at least one problem... One of the replacement wires I used is arcing against the header again. I guess I'm just going to have to spend more money on some better wires and definitely get some spark plug boot protectors. The problem is that the boots are literally touching the headers, so, any arcing that occurs is very very difficult to detect, simply because you can't see a spark jump...turning off the light and moving the wires around helped me find it, though. Even though the boot doesn't appear burnt, there is still current jumping "through" it. Now...whether or not this is the ONLY problem I have has yet to be seen...but, it does explain why it occurs more whilst under a load. I'll update you guys when I can get some different wires in there.

74_5.0L - I have an HEI, new cap, new rotor, checked to make sure the mechanical advance was working (or at least not binding). When revved it seems to advance and hold pretty steadily. 80LT1 - I'm actually seriously considering that. The key, though, is finding a shop that will look at it for me that has somebody that knows what they're doing when it comes to performance engines. I even asked a couple of the Chevy dealerships and there just aren't that many guys around that are willing to work on a high performance V8. Now...there IS a place here called Chuck's Speed Shop that I was referred to, but, they're not answering the phone...so, they might have taken the week off for Christmas/New Year's break.

Michael, I remember that happening on my old camshaft...but, I've not heard any lash noise since installing the new camshaft. I'll try to go out in the garage and watch for the valves going up and down tonight... Strotter, I thought about that, too, when I put my cam in and checked to see if both lifters were all the way down when it indicated TDC on my timing marks...they appeared to be down.. the puzzling thing is that I can advance the timing and get rid of 90% of my issues...Now, I remember when my cam lobes had worn I couldn't get it to run right no matter where the timing was set...it would still miss. NOT to say that a worn cam lobe couldn't or wouldn't cause my symptoms, but, I wouldn't think a mechanical issue would be so affected by timing...but, I may not be completely understanding what causes the symptoms either.

Well, the reason I changed the cam is because I had a couple of lobes go flat on me, but, when that happened, I could definitely tell I had a miss, even in neutral... Would a flat cam lobe cause issues only during a load, though? If it is a flat lobe again, I'm gonna have a V8Z with lots of goodies for sale...cheap.

OK... The firing order is correct. It runs perfectly fine while not under a load (IE...in neutral) unless you really stomp on the throttle, then it might hiccup a tad bit, but, otherwise do ok. The problem is when it's put under a load. Now, one thing I did forget to mention is that under normal timing conditions (anything around 12) my #3 & #5 cylnder header tubes would actually glow...advance the timing to around 20 and they'd stop glowing. Hmm...wonder if my valves might be a little tight on those cylinders? I've been told I might have to run more advance, but, exactly how much advance should be needed? I had experienced the two flat lobes (actually, that's the reason I had put in the new cam), but, it would also have problems in neutral, rather than only under a load. Supposedly the new holley's come with the anti-blow out valve for the powervalve already installed, but, I haven't ruled that out either.

OK....since installing my cylinder heads/intake/carb/cam a couple of months ago, I can't even get the car to run correctly under a load. In neutral it runs fine, no problems whatsoever...it even idles ok in drive/reverse...I can drive it...but, as soon as I put a load on it I get inversion through the carb and sometimes flames shoot out of the carb as well. After the inversion it will die, or at least try to die on me. Here's the list of parts: 350 bored .40 over stock compression 1.6:1 roller rockers 262/272 Summit Racing camshaft (part # SUM-1102) 600cfm holley carb (new) Weiand Action Plus Intake Dart Aluminum heads Things I've checked: -Carb (that's the reason the Holley is on there instead of a Qjet) -Manifold/Vaccum leaks. (I've even gone as far as pulling the manifold and replacing the intake manifold gaskets with some high quality FelPro pieces AND used a sealant on the manifold gaskets to ensure a proper seal. I've sprayed the entire intake/carb area with brake clean/carb cleaner and found no signs of leakage -Timing - If I run 12-13 degrees of base timing it WILL die as soon as you put it in drive at an idle...but if you bump it up to about 18-19 or so it will idle in drive, but, die under a load. Vaccum advance appears to be working properly....when engine is revved advance jumps up to around 36-40 (depending on where my base timing is already set) -Camshaft Timing - I pulled the front cover to ensure I wasn't off on my timing marks for some reason, they are dead on. -Plug Wires - I had found that some of my plug wires were arcing against my headers due to no clearance between the plug boot and the header, but, I replaced the burnt wires and applied some header wrap on my headers...they don't APPEAR to be arcing any more...but, I haven't been able to look while somebody power brakes it for me. The car ran absolutely perfect before installing the new par. Now, it only seems to invert through the carb during initial accelleration. If I power break the car when I first give it more throttle it starts to stumble, but, a few seconds later it will clear itself up...unless I really mash the throttle, then it will shoot a flame through the carb and die (most of the time). I'm open to any and all suggestions (other than dropping an LS2 in there ) Help! Frustrated in Phoenix.

I don't really have a goal. There's almost always something else that can be done or added. If I tried to build my car up with all of the parts I wanted and not drive it until it was "done" (whatever that means) I'd still be saving up and have the L6 in it...which means I'd probably have never driven a V8Z...and certainly never have owned one.

Bob, Are you still trying to run the starter off of the factory wires? Why don't you just go down and buy a positive battery cable with a starter lead coming off of it? I think these are somewhere in the neighborhood of $8 and are available from most major auto parts stores (Autozone, Checker, etc...) That way, you get your current directly from the battery without having pass Go and collect the $200 AND you eliminate one part of the equation. It also doesn't hurt to run a secondary ground. While you're down at Autozone buying your new positive cable get a negative ground cable. A good place to attach it is on the passenger side using one of your mount bolts you can run it up to the chassis and attach it on the bracket that held your coil assembly (assuming you still have the bracket there). Are you running a direct drive starter or a gear reduction? What's your base timing set at? Did you actually check the shimming of the starter or are you going off the pretense that it worked for awhile so it's probably ok? I've heard of cases where the clearances were too close which put a bind on the bendix. It's seeming like we're missing and/or not checking the obvious.