304 cooling issues

[Hattm420]

If the timing is retarded (a lot) it'll run hot, some Gilmer kits have under driven pulleys (all the accessories turn slower) which can cause the engine to run a bit hotter at slow speeds.

Do have have a thermostat fitted? Do you have the little plastic cover fitted over the gap between the radiator and radiator support panel?

Ok so timing is crucial, I'll definately get my mech to check that out and set it right.
I do have a thermo stat installed, I bought a new one and installed and it didn't seem to work so I just installed the old one as I new I worked fine before hand. As for the plastic strip I do have this yes.
My mechanic was telling me I might have done a head gasket. I inspected the radiator and no bubbles, but did realise my resivour or overflow tank was very low on coolant or had almost nothing in there.
Can't thank you enough for the help and reply.
This whole situation is doing my head in.
I will replace the clutch fan and shroud for now And will try get hold of a Ford thermo fan and give that a crack.
I will also be making sure the timing is done proper also.

 

[Hattm420]

The cheap fan’s your problem - even the 16” ones that look good - aren’t.

They’re a big cast iron block with a small radiator - airflow is the issue with these setups. BEST way to go is a bf/fg single fan. See my thread here:
https://forums.justcommodores.com.a...eo-bf-fg-plus-120a-alternator-upgrade.263089/

Don’t bother with twins - you’ll need to upgrade your alternator and run more wiring than necessary and they’re more difficult to fit.

Don’t bother trying anything else until you get your fan sorted otherwise you’ll be chasing your tail. The factory clutch fan will outperform most aftermarket thermo fans apart from SPAL. Ford oem fans are the way to go.

Thanks heaps mate

The cheap fan’s your problem - even the 16” ones that look good - aren’t.

They’re a big cast iron block with a small radiator - airflow is the issue with these setups. BEST way to go is a bf/fg single fan. See my thread here:
https://forums.justcommodores.com.a...eo-bf-fg-plus-120a-alternator-upgrade.263089/

Don’t bother with twins - you’ll need to upgrade your alternator and run more wiring than necessary and they’re more difficult to fit.

Don’t bother trying anything else until you get your fan sorted otherwise you’ll be chasing your tail. The factory clutch fan will outperform most aftermarket thermo fans apart from SPAL. Ford oem fans are the way to go.

The cheap fan’s your problem - even the 16” ones that look good - aren’t.

They’re a big cast iron block with a small radiator - airflow is the issue with these setups. BEST way to go is a bf/fg single fan. See my thread here:
https://forums.justcommodores.com.a...eo-bf-fg-plus-120a-alternator-upgrade.263089/

Don’t bother with twins - you’ll need to upgrade your alternator and run more wiring than necessary and they’re more difficult to fit.

Don’t bother trying anything else until you get your fan sorted otherwise you’ll be chasing your tail. The factory clutch fan will outperform most aftermarket thermo fans apart from SPAL. Ford oem fans are the way to go.

That's a full on thread. 10/10 I'll be sure to use it when I get the correct thermo fan. Thanks a bunch for the message and help. Much appreciated
I'll put the clutch fan and shroud back in and report back.

 

[Hattm420]

Yeah you’ll have issues in traffic and with a/c on. At ambient temps of less than 20 degrees and 80kmph+ and low load you won’t have cooling issues without a fan.

I'm driving about an hour in the cool mornings in stop start traffic with no A/C on and when I parked up this morning it was 101 degrees. Dash gauge reads just over 1/4 or 3rd notch.
In the afternoons in warm temps around 26 plus, I'm in heavy stop start traffic for about hour to hour and half sometimes longer. No A/C running as I'm to scared it will get way to hot. Dash gauge gets to half way and when I got home the digital sensor says 98 degrees. Engine smells hot, cab is hotter than usual and it runs sluggish.
I'm not game enough to drive it on the 35 plus days as I know I will have to pull over and let it cool off.
I never had these problems when I had the stock cooling system in even on 35 plus days.
So I will definately go back to stock setup as it never ever got over the first or second notch on the dash temp gauge.

 

[VS 5.0]

The stock set up in my old 5.0 always served me well over 19 years of custodianship.

There would be the odd occassion where it might head up towards half in very hot weather in heavy traffic but generally would sit on the one fifth marker (my factory guage was in fifths rather than quarters)

Hot weather would impact general performance though, as in more sluggish than in cooler weather. I beleive this is par for the course for the old girls.

 

[EYY]

Yeah I found that anything over 1/3 really impacts performance, and also impacts performance of the a/c too!

 

[Hattm420]

Yeah I found that anything over 1/3 really impacts performance, and also impacts performance of the a/c too!

In what way will it impact the A/C?
I do remeber it being sluggish on really hot days 30 plus days. But I drove home today in 26 degrees and the car was sluggish, and the air temp was cool when putting my arm out window while driving.

 

[EYY]

Not enough airflow through the condenser - if the refrigerant’s too hot, it doesn’t do it’s job properly. In extreme cases when there’s not enough airflow the expansion of refrigerant due to heat trips the high pressure switch, so the compressor won’t engage at all.

The cooler the condenser, the cooler your a/c, all else remaining constant.

I found that mine got hot really quick a while back when the thermo fuses blew (I used fuses that were too small for the task because that’s all I had at the time). It doesn’t take much to get these engines hot at all.

 

[Hattm420]

So just wanted to let you all know I ripped out my cheap sh1t thermo fan and installed my old clutch fan and shroud and it has solved my problem, thank you all for the input and reply/help answering my questions and lending your knowledge. I appreciate it a lot.

I have one final question that someone might be able to help me with.

I used to get 420-440k’s max a tank/60L before I made all the above changes that I wrote in my initial message about the cooling problem.
And I only now get around 350k’s a tank.
I am looking into a chip tune from chip torque or mr greenfoam if possible, so hopefully this will help a bit. Any suggestions or ideas on how to go about this in the best manner would again be greatly appreciated.
Can’t thank everyone enough for there answers or input to my questions. This forum/site rocks. Thanks to y’all.
P.s Holden commodores rule.

 

[wraith]

Get a tune from Joe @ Ace Performance Tuning. Greenfoam isn't interested. Doubt you will get much from a tune. It's an old V8 you can't expect miracles.

 

[Immortality]

That depends on what you are starting with, you had a Senator which go better than the standard SS by 20kw by adding 2° of timing into the tune, more to be had in the low rpm areas too over stock. I ran my Senator with the base timing set @ 12°BTDC cause I was to lazy to alter the memcal so that's 4° more than the standard SS.....