Overheating Problems

In all reality, when racing short tracks, the car isn't really moving that fast but the engine at times is wide open. Air flow has to get through the radiator but on a short track with several cars, this just doesn't happen. Several things can cause your engine to overheat; a radiator hose collapsed, a radiator cap not holding enough pressure or just not enough air flow. Any one of these issues can cost you a night of racing or even a motor. You could feel like you're chasing your tail on the issue but what a lot of customers do not take into consideration is that it could be your pulley/radiator combination.

You may not think that the style of radiator can make that big of a difference but it can. In a single pass radiator, the water passes across the radiator one single time, hence the "single pass" radiator. Likewise, the double pass radiator has a baffle in one tank that makes the water pass through the radiator twice. This normally drops the cooling temperature an average of 20°. The radiator hoses come out on the same side of the tank so a swivel water neck is needed on the thermostat housing. A triple pass radiator has a baffle in each tank so the water passes through the radiator three times which cools more efficiently and drops the cooling temperature an average of 30°. If you run a water restrictor in the thermostat housing while running a triple pass radiator, you will most likely run hot. The triple pass already slows down the flow of water, so when restricting the flow it will make the water retain heat. Most motor builders install a water restrictor in the thermostat housing, so double check your engines housing.

Four Seasons Radiator recommends running a triple pass radiator with a GM fan blade, no thermostat or water restrictors and running 1 to 1 pulleys. The reason for the 1 to 1 pulleys is to assure the needed rate of flow through the radiator. When reduction pulleys are used, this actually slows downthe rate at which the water flows through the radiator and leaves the water in the block longer which causes the water to absorb more heat than the radiator can dissipate. It is best to run a 1 to 1 pulley setup with single, double and triple pass radiators unless you are turning more than 7500 rpms, then you may want to look into reduction pulleys.

Everyone's motor setup is different so keep that in mind while choosing your cooling setup. Something that may work for one racer doesn't always work for the next.