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overheating with AC on, and standing still

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Old 07-21-2006, 12:05 PM
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Default overheating with AC on, and standing still
1996 SSEI. New coolant flush and T stat. When the AC is on, and we are stuck in traffic, the temp creeps up...all the way up, until the AC is turned off. If I turn off the AC, she'll cool down in about 2 minutes, and run right at 200 or so. When moving at highway speeds, it'* never a problem at all. BOTH fans are running while the overheating is occurring. The radiator looks very clean inside, and seems to visually flow just fine. This only happens if the outside temp is more than 95 degrees. If it'* 90 degrees, the temp stays right where it should be. If it'* 100, she heats up fast.

On the passenger side fan, is there supposed to be a shroud? The drivers side has the fan mounted in a shroud, but the passenger side just hangs there by the 4 "arms", with no shroud. I was thinking maybe this is the problem?
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Old 07-21-2006, 12:14 PM
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Wehave found that on the Series II engines Gm did away with the Oil cooler, and trans cooler( not sure if the 96 Has a Trans Cooler as the 97 did not no matter what the 4T65-E was attached to )... They also went to a Radiator with a smaller core... We are finding SSEi'* with a 1" cooling core, as opposed to the older SSEi'* that ran between 1 1/4" - 1 3/8" for the cooling core, but keep in mind that these radiators also had the Oil cooler on the drivers side and the Tranny cooler on the right as well as an AUX cooler ahead of the condenser...

What type of thermostat did you use? 195F or 180F?

And the passenger side fan is correct, there is no shroud for it

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Old 07-21-2006, 12:18 PM
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I used a 195 t stat. But even at that, shouldn't those 2 fans be able to keep it around 210-220 in any temperature?
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Old 07-21-2006, 12:26 PM
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I know that I don't have any trouble here in Florida. Mine is only an SE, but I would think that your SSEi still shouldn't be overheating like that.
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Old 07-21-2006, 12:32 PM
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Originally Posted by goertz
I used a 195 t stat. But even at that, shouldn't those 2 fans be able to keep it around 210-220 in any temperature?
They should be unless you have a restriction somewhere.. Could be the radiator its self causing the issues... But its hard to say where the exact problem is in your cooling system..

Did the flush, Thermostat and coolant make any diffrence at all?

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Old 07-21-2006, 12:33 PM
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Originally Posted by lash
I know that I don't have any trouble here in Florida. Mine is only an SE, but I would think that your SSEi still shouldn't be overheating like that.
I also did not have any trouble with my SE overheating But the side tank poped... And 220F or so I could see with an SSEi... but beyond that is a bit too hot

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Old 07-21-2006, 12:45 PM
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Originally Posted by jr's3800
Originally Posted by goertz
I used a 195 t stat. But even at that, shouldn't those 2 fans be able to keep it around 210-220 in any temperature?
They should be unless you have a restriction somewhere.. Could be the radiator its self causing the issues... But its hard to say where the exact problem is in your cooling system..

Did the flush, Thermostat and coolant make any diffrence at all?
The flush and t stat made no difference at all. It had dexcool in it, and I was thinking maybe it had turned to mud like most of the dexcool does. When I drained it, it actually was just fine, but I flushed it all out, and replaced with green. But alas, it still does the same thing. When it gets to temp, you can look down the cap, and see it flows out of the tubes freely, and the tubes themselves have no visible build up. Of course maybe on the inside of the tubes there is, and it'* just not visible.
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Old 07-21-2006, 12:50 PM
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OK, dumb question for you...

Have you checked to make sure that there isn't a buildup of debris (like leaves and junk) in front of the radiator? It has happened before that someone found 4" or more of junk built up over the years, restricting air flow.
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Old 07-21-2006, 12:52 PM
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Originally Posted by lash
OK, dumb question for you...

Have you checked to make sure that there isn't a buildup of debris (like leaves and junk) in front of the radiator? It has happened before that someone found 4" or more of junk built up over the years, restricting air flow.
Not a dumb question at all. I didn't see anything there, unless there is something in between the condensor and the radiator that I missed. I would think it would be hard for debris to get between the two though. It all looks pretty clear.
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Old 07-21-2006, 12:54 PM
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Ahhh ok... Understood...

You know as well as I do( And I get the feeling you understand the cooling system ) There are only a few possibilities that can cause an issue there..

I removed my radiator the other day, I actually used Dex for a long time and then switched to Prestone Longlife... My Radiator finally cracked a plastic tank on the drivers side... I never had a single cooling issue with it... and if I did idle and the fans came on the temps would drop quickly and the fans would shut off as expected..

I'd tell you to try a 180F thermostat but I don't think that will resolve the problem...


Has this always been a problem? Or is this something that has happened recently?

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