86.5 supra cooling help.
 

hey guys i got an 86.5 supra non turbo looking to drive it till winter then do the 7m gte swap but the guy that owned it before me is my best friend and sometimes it would heat up then sometimes it would stay cool it stays cool at high speeds but heats up idling. we were wokrking on it the other day idling it heated up to 3/4 almost red the we heard a gush and the coolant dropped. something clogging the lines maybe? any ideas guys? feel free to email me justin_lk@hotmail.com

Heating up at idle or at lower speeds is most often found to be caused by a missing fan shroud.... got one?

Really? Wow, my car sometimes gets a little bit warm on hotter days and it doesnt have a shroud, I never heard of that before. I guess I will check into getting one.

All this time we have been speaking chambers and you don't have a fan shroud....., dude. Your car can't cool it self no matter how fast the fan turns going down the road because as soon as you hit traffic it's going to heat up and inevitabley cost you a new head gasket.

Spend the 225$ on a shround and behold it in all of its plastic splendor.

Yup, the fan shroud can make a huge difference.... so can the engine undercover and wheel well inserts at speeds beyond 110MPH.

The heating up issue can be caused by a couple other things, but 95% or the time it resolved by replacing the missing shroud.

When I bought my supra the fan shroud was jimmied together with wire and epoxy. I priced a new one and then I went and got more epoxy and some zip ties. It lasted till I got a new one, Barely.

But I tried running the car without it and it right away started running more hot than ever.

Replace that man. You'll see immediate improvements.

LOL @ 110mph. I think once you hit 110. In another 12 minutes you could be up to 120 mph if the wind is at your back and you're going over a cliff. I'm joking ofcourse, ha.

Yup, both of the cars I drove without the undercover where I noticed the sloppy feeling were at 110 and above... yes above and yes it was a closed road.

Why the LOL though? Won't your car do 110? :dance:

I have only had it up to 80 since the build. Once.

Back when I knew it was sick. I ran to 100 twice.

People think I abuse shite. Maybe I'm hard on things. But it's because I built it to suit MY driving style.

Long story short..., NO. 100 tops.

Wow, ok. Well my car usually runs to cold, lol. It didn't come with a shroud when I bought it so I guess I going to get one now, hehehe. Thanks for the info.

It's probably cool enough in hartford that you have managed.

But summer time here in kentucky. You'll smoke an engine without a shroud.

Yeah,m running on the stock cooling system without a shroud in CO probably wouldn't go well in the summer either.

I should also note that some people have found that they have less heat issues without the shroud if they're running a upgraded radiator and the coolant system is in prime condition.

I've got a shroud and a Koyo racing radiator and my temps never hit the middle of the gauge. Everything in my cooling system has been thoroughly flushed and replaced over the past two years. Remember though, running TOO cool is BAD.

Right now mine stays in the middle during idle.

My car's in excellent shape compared to when I got it (for $300). My temps are always 1/8" below the mid point, don't climb when I'm really on it for a while either. Prior to all the work I've done it used to be all over the place.

Hell, my oil pressure is 60psi from 3000 on.

Nice, thats the kind of stuff I like to hear from Supra owners.

I purchased my car about a year ago and it never got really hot all summer with no shroud and running AC, I changed the system fluid before this past winter and it ran really cool all winter, on the colder days I didn't have heat, even when I let it warm up for 15-20 mins the temp gauge wouldn't go up past 1/8, and when I started driving the cool air sometimes dropped it down to and below the line, could the missing shroud have something to do with this as well?

A few of the hotter days we have had here in the past week, the temp got a little high, about 3/4 of the way up. It concerned me because it never really got the high before, I will look into getting a shroud though, but what If I purchased some electric fans? Would that help address the problem too? Thanks.

The shroud has a place for 2 fans.

With the shroud in place the stock fan is excellent at it's job.

Too many novices have tried converting without really knowing what they were doing leaving themselves with burned up wiring, fried batteries and engine bay fires. No way I'm going to recommend you try.

Besides, the losses caused by the stock fan can be thoroughly reduced by ensuring that your fan clutch is working and the oil in it is fresh and swapping the fan itself for a flexible aluminum fan.

Ok, I didn't realize that before, thanks for the info. My car didn't have the electrical fan for the AC so I would only need a shroud for the engine fan.

How many blades should I look for in a aluminum flex fan? Thanks.

The more blades it has the more effective it will be.

Something I forgot to mention is that most aftermarket aluminum fans require a specific fan clutch and no, the stock one won't do... it moves too fast.

I recall talking with someone on SM about the 7 blade Flex-a-lite fans... I think someone added that they were using one too and it worked well. I can't remember all the specifics, but that fan requires you use a different fan clutch and a small spacer.

Thanks for in info, I'll look in to it.

Personally, I would upgrade the radiator and thoroughly flush the coolant system before switching fans. The stock fan does an excellent job when allowed and I'd bet it moves more air... it just happens to be a bit heavier and louder.