I just recently turboed my mini me and I am having a problem with it overheating. I have a brand new dual core 92-95 radiator, I pulled my thermostat out of my car and my cooling fan is hooked up. I can drive my car for 15-20 mins normally it starts to overheat. If I stop and let it idle it will slowly go down or if I crank my defroster all the way it will cool down. I just recently replaced my rod and main bearings on my bottem end and put my setup back together. I had no problems with it before the rebuild. I have never had a boosted car in the summer and was wondering if there is something special you have to get or a trick to cooling it. Any suggetions on what to check or any idea what it might be would be great....

 

is the fan turning ON ?? Check your relay and also make a manual fan switch, it helps.

 

Yea I have the fan wired up to a constant power. It is always on when the car is on.

 

i really dont know then. how about you water pump ??

 

when you put the radiator on did you look inside the rad. hose inlet and outlet and make sure the rubber plug is removed?
did you fill up the radiator correctly?

 

I think I figured out the problem... I am not running a downpipe on my turbo and it was blowing right on my radiator and my cooling fan. I never had a problem with it in the winter but I guess the summer makes a big difference. I got made downpipe for it andit should be on soon. I am guessing this is the for sure problem..??

 

no because despite your exhaust fumes hitting the rad, the fan which is constantly on will still cool the coolant, not to mention that when you drive the air hitting the rad along with the fan on is cooling your rad and venting all the exhaust away from the rad.

the problem seems to be somewhere else in the cooling system, maybe water pump went bad or you dont have enough coolant)

I would check in to thoes things first.

 

I've also heard (but never tried) that using a product called redline water wetter can help cool it down a few degrees, Ive seen people using it in their drag cars but i think u can only run water with it not antifreeze, not quite sure though. check it out i guess.

 

This may sound basic but did you bleed the air out of the system? If not the car will not allow coolant to flow therefore causing your temp to rise.

 

The water wetter just lowers the surface tension of the water. The people I know that use it mainly run 100% distilled water and the wetter product with 0 coolant. The wetter will be good for a few degrees but I think your problem is bigger than that.

Park the car on a slight incline so the engine is the highest point, remove radiator cap or open the bleed screw and let the car warm up. Hopefully you just have an air pocket. Also, does the temp go down if you turn on the heater while driving?