I just returned from a trip to the Alvord Desert in Ore. It was hot and the temp guage reflected that. When we would be pulling up some of passes that were over 4000 feet the engine temp would climb up to 230 degress. The engine started to ping so I retarded the spark a little. Didn't do much for the horse power, but helped a little for the pinging problem. I put in some higher octane gas which also stopped some of the pinging. The engine is a 350 and with all the rocks that my wife was collecting along the trip, the engine had it's work cut out for it. I was wondering if I run a piece of duct from the front of the motor home to the intake horn on the carb if that would help. The temps inside the engine compartment have to be very high. The radiator is in good shape. Other than the heating problem we had a great trip. Saw one other Barth on the road and we were both waving at each other as we passed. I hope to post a picture of Barth Vader sitting on the desert with my land sailor we raced on a dry lake bed. Dennis

Dennis, I have used cold air induction on a lot of vehicles. It gives a power gain of one percent for every 10 degrees of intake air temperature reduction. I have seen little or no help with engine coolant temperature. Still, you should do it anyway.

I would suggest having your radiator cleaned, inside and out first. Try Red Line Water Wetter.

Did your fan cut in and out as the engine heated up and cooled off? If you did not hear it start to roar when the temp got above 210, it is not working. Use only the Chevy truck fan clutch.

Did you have your dash air on? That will put more of a heat load on the cooling system. Do you monitor trans temp?

Turning on the heater will help the cooling system dump some more heat.

A big trans cooler in line before the radiator heat exchanger will also take a heat load off the radiator. The best in one with a fan mounted underneath, so it does not add any hot air in front of the radiator. Synthetic tranny fluid will make your trans run cooler, easing the load on the radiator.

I have removed the AC condenser from my Barth to allow better air flow, as I only use the roof air. If you have a generator, this is an option.

All of the air that goes through the grille does not go through the radiator. Some of it goes off to the side, over and under the radiator. Use contact cement, velcro and heavy vinyl to make barriers to force all the air to go through the radiator. Consider a spoiler under the radiator to cause a low pressure area behind the radiator, aiding air flow.

There is a factory sheet metal baffle that attaches to the right side wheel well, rather like the one on the left side. This helps air flow, too.

Higher octane is better, as you know.

Water injection? Spearco makes a nice one, but pricey. I hope to make my own.

There is a thing called a Desert SuperCooler.

http://www.rvjournal.com/rp_supercooler.html

It is a spray that uses an electric pump to spray water on the front of your radiator. Really works. I have a home made one. I even spray my torque converter when needed, as my 502 really works the converter when fighting in to unimproved boondocking sites.

There is also a Desert Cooler radiator made by us Radiator. I have used several for years towing across the desert to the Colorado river in 110-120 degree heat up Chiracao Summit.

http://www.usradiator.com/

[This message has been edited by bill h (edited May 31, 2003).]

Bill Thanks for the help. I had my radiator out of the rig and had it checked at the local radiator shop and he said that the radiator was perfect and he couldn't do anything more to it to make it cool better. My transmission cooler sits right in front of the radiator. I don't use the motor home part of the radiator at the bottom to cool the transmission. I asked the transmission shop if I needed to run the transmission fluid in series through the radiator and he said that the cooler I had on there was big enough. It looks like it blocks a lot of the radiator and I'm sure that a lot of heat that is removed from the trans cooler goes right into the raditor.
Thanks for the good advise. Everything helps. One other thing, there was a great looking young lady at the sailing site and she thought that out Barth was neatest thing she had seen. Guess we are driving a chick magnet. Dennis

Bill would it be an inprovement to change the existing engine oil cooler over to one with its own forced air fan in a different location, away from the radiator?

Thanks, Ralph Glover

Ralph, the simple answer is, yes, any heat load removed from the radiator is beneficial.

The stock Chevy engine oil cooler inside the radiator has skinny lines going to it, and is not full flow. If you have ever pulled one end off and looked at the inside diameter of the hole, you would be amazed. Hardly big enough to supply oil to a lawn mower! The lines are prone to chafing and lunching an engine, too. I don't use mine. I removed the chevy sandwich adapter and replaced it with an aftermarket unit with 1/2 NPT holes. I then ran steel braid reinforced lines to a B&M 70266 in front of the radiator. I haven't measured my oil temp yet, but the engine really runs cool. I also use an identical cooler right beside it for the tranny. Since I bought my coolers, they have come out with a larger model, 70274, which claims only a bit more cooling ability, but is the same thing, only larger. It would seem that it should be capable of much more cooling, though.

Dennis, I would recommend a trans temp gauge. B&M makes a nice drain plug fitting that will accept a 1/8 NPT sending unit. It installs by drilling one hole. JC Whitney sells a good gauge. A hot tranny can add heat to an engine.

[This message has been edited by bill h (edited May 31, 2003).]

Bill The way I read your post the engine oil runs through a cooler as well as the tranmission oil. I only see a cooler for the transmission. There are a couple fittings for the transmission on the bottom of the radiator which I don't use. I checked the baffling and there is none to speak of. There is the remains of some carboard looking material at the the top of the radiator. I guess I'd better make up something. Thanks again. Dennis

Dennis, I guess your Barth does not have an engine oil cooler. Lots do. I really like them. Next time you have your oil drain plug out, drill and tap it for a 1/8 pipe thread. Then you can buy two temp bulbs with your JC Whitney temp gauge and check your trans and engine temp by flipping a switch. Then you will know if you need an oil cooler or a better trans cooler. Or buy or borrow a heat reading gun. They are nice for checking tires for overheating. How long is your Barth? Really working that 350, I'd bet. Ever consider a Performer manifold and Thorleys?

Bill, the Barth is a 22'. I'm sure that the engine is being worked pretty hard. I'll try the temp guage and see what the oil temp is running. Dennis