92_rugby_subie Posted July 2, 2013 Share Posted July 2, 2013 My EA82 has a lot of strange behavior... At least IMHO. I only have 1 fan, electric stock on my EA82, and I have wanted another to help keep it cool... so that's something I plan to do... Its not super hot here in Oregon, but it has hit 90s with 40-50% humidity a few times, and the temp gauge will hit about 65% of the gauge while sitting at a stop light... and the RPMs rise up... to about 1500, and sometimes I can get them to stay down by pull the e-brake and letting out the clutch as the RPMs drop to 1000 (yikes I know) and other times I think its my accelerator cable sticking because if I pull up on the pedal, they will drop ever so slightly down to about 1200... still leaves for some reason a higher RPM than when idling all other times. What do you guys do to keep the EA82 cool (besides EJ swapping it and throwing the EA into the ocean) Different coolant mixture? Dual fans? Cold air intake on a weber? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudduck Posted July 2, 2013 Share Posted July 2, 2013 Make sure that the cooling system is clean and in good working order, I have the clutch fan and electric fan in both my cars, and always make sure coolant is clean and topped off, and both have good radiators in them. My 91 has a newer radiator in it, and my 89 has a known good radiator in it. The 91 has AC and even in the hottest weather, with AC runnin, the engine stays cool. Guage never ever goes above 1/3. My 89 has all the ac stuff removed, and only rarely does the electric fan ever kick on. Only when going at slow speeds up steep hillclimbs on the hotter days, off road, so i ain't moving fast. I live in the southeast, so hot temps and high humididty are the norm down here. I also make sure to keep my radiator in the 89 as clean as possible when playing in the mud, and we love to play around here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted July 3, 2013 Share Posted July 3, 2013 Mine does the same thing. It never goes above half unless I'm stuck in snow or going really slow under heavy load at full throttle.... Then it'll just creep above half (probably because my electric fan is shot). But when it does, it'll idle at about 1500, soon as the temp comes down, so does the idle. I always just assumed it was to speed up a belt driven fan to move more air across the radiator to cool the engine better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobiedubie Posted July 3, 2013 Share Posted July 3, 2013 Your car is probably wired for the electric auxiliary fan. Look to the passenger side of the radiator, for a white plug-in about 3/4" diameter x 1 1/2" long that supplies the power. And also look for the plug that attaches to the radiator thermostat. If you have both of those, then you can buy a used fan with housing at pick-n-pull and install it yourself. You will want to buy a fan that has matching receptacles for whatever plug-ins you have. I know that they changed them from the GL's to the Loyales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted July 3, 2013 Share Posted July 3, 2013 Your car is probably wired for the electric auxiliary fan. Look to the passenger side of the radiator, for a white plug-in about 3/4" diameter x 1 1/2" long that supplies the power. And also look for the plug that attaches to the radiator thermostat. If you have both of those, then you can buy a used fan with housing at pick-n-pull and install it yourself. You will want to buy a fan that has matching receptacles for whatever plug-ins you have. I know that they changed them from the GL's to the Loyales. they are all wired for electric fan. Models without A/C have ONLY the one electric fan, controlled by the thermoswitch in the radiator. The "auxillary" fan that is added to A/C models is the clutch fan driven by the water pump belt. The clutch fan can be added to any EA82, but it works alot better with the shroud. Another good option is to get a generic 10" electric fan. About 20~35 bucks from ebay or summit racing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOsborn Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 Is the water pump OEM? The stamped steel blades on the impeller tend to rust away over time. Mine did, and the symptoms were pretty close to yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 Three main things to think about with the EA82 and the cooling system: 1) Is the radiator clean and in good condition? Over here I destroyed an engine with a blocked radiator - it was over 50% blocked when the end tank let go due to age and heat cycles. Get your radiator rodded (remove an end tank and carefully clean out each cooling channel with a fine metal rod), or get a new radiator if it's old.2) Water pump - if in unknown condition it's a good idea to get it sorted with a new one. I prefer the cast iron impeller rather than the pressed metal one - for the reasons mentioned above3) Thermostat: Make sure it's still working properly - test it in a pot of water on the stove, suspend it in the water rather than sit it on the bottom of the pot - sitting it on the bottom of the pot will create inaccurate results as the heat from the heat source will be greater than the temp of the water, so if it's faulty it can appear to still be opening at the correct water temp.Also make sure you've still got the little pressed metal plates under the radiator/engine on either side as these help create a low pressure air system in the engine bay to draw air through the radiator when moving - sitting in traffic they don't do much Hope this helps!CheersBennie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92_rugby_subie Posted July 5, 2013 Author Share Posted July 5, 2013 Thanks Bennie! I actually am waiting on some funds to go do the radiator, I want to send it to a radiator shop and have it re-done, cleaned, pressure tested and all that... get new radiator cap... I have a brand new plastic end tank one, but I wanna use that ONLY when mines in the shop... don't trust plastic over metal haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 Yeah I don't like the plastic end tanks either - cost me a 9 month "old" rebuilt engine I've currently got a 3 core all copper/brass radiator but it's too big in capacity and size, when this one's dead I'll get a single or twin core as there's a new channel design that makes the coolant "bounce" up and down so it has to engage with the wall of the channel more rather than doing a straight through run where temp layers can occur. At least this is what the trusted guy at the local radiator shop told me - he's been good to me so far so I don't doubt him!CheersBennie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padawan Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 My carbed -85 did also run away at idle if I was in a traffic jam in the summer heat. It would also go down if i tapped the accelerator, or pulled the pedal back. I ended up stiffening up the spring on the throttle arm, and slacken the cable a tiny bit. Now it idles fine even if the motor temp goes up. My electric fan kicks on at about 55% up the scale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobiedubie Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 Thanks Bennie! I actually am waiting on some funds to go do the radiator, I want to send it to a radiator shop and have it re-done, cleaned, pressure tested and all that... get new radiator cap... I have a brand new plastic end tank one, but I wanna use that ONLY when mines in the shop... don't trust plastic over metal haha Your money will be better served if you buy your own radiator replacement and install it yourself. It is not exactly rocket science. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92_rugby_subie Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 I can do the replacement and all myself, but I cannot pressure test it or fix any leaks it may have.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudduck Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 Your money will be better served if you buy your own radiator replacement and install it yourself. It is not exactly rocket science. Yep, atleast if it cost what it does around here. I got a brand new copper/brass radiator for my 91 a couple years ago for around $100. Cost almost as much to have it rebuilt. my 89 had an aluminum radiator with plastic tanks and seems to be holding up just fine, and its my daily driver, workhorse, and offroad play toy. It gets run hard, but hadnt had any issues yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxerRebellion Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 The GL I recently obtained... It's fan has been... What's the way to put it... Wired to always be hot. It's always on. Which, obviously comes with pros and cons, but it's an option for you as well. And commenting on having a radiator "rebuilt". In my own opinion... I think purchashing a brand new one and installing it, is much more cost effective as well as sensical. Having the most crucial part of your cooling system in a new - working order is much more appealing than trusting some random Joe to "clean and rebuild" it. "Don't fix it if it ain't broke." Well... yes. Absolutely. Though... When it comes to the system of piping that keeps your motor at an optimal and acceptable temperature... Knowing... Feels good. How's your antifreeze smell? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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