I was over at a friend's cylender head shop the other day talking engines. The topic of cooling came up and I brought up your issue.
we talked about what you've done, and what not, when another guy brought up it sounded like you could have a flow issue in your water jackets. Could be either from calcium or a flaw in the creation of the engine.
Have you compared the coolant flow with another?[/QUOTE]
How would one accomplish this???
I have checked the flow that you can see when the radiator cap is off and it "appears" to be adequate.
I have also cleaned the cooling system twice in 2 years. Once with the stuff from the auto parts store and once with white vineger. Both times there was no oily residue or chunks of stuff. Actually it was pretty clean.
During one of the cleanings I even took my shop vac as a blower and put it in the suction of the pump (bottom hose) and blew (ha ha he said blew) it through the system. One to check for leaks and two to see if the "same amount" of air was going all the way through the engine and radiator and for the most part there was. Obviously I cant tell whats going on inside each coolant passage and thats why I have also used a temp gun to check the temps of all the cylinders, cylinder heads, and just about every where else while running and they were all with in 10-15 degrees of each other in the same spots.
It doesnt heat up any faster than other Vmax I have seen or ridden. I have had 4, and it is only an issue when riding two up, slow speed traffic or climbing hills all during the hotter months. In fact highway speeds its barely over half.
So I am at a loss, hence the extra big radiator.
Also this might be an issue.
Bear with me on this.
A stock engine is 145 bhp, RWHP 115. So that is about a 30 hp loss.
If mine is almost 140 RWHP, with the big cams now, then theroitically it could be close to 165-170 engine HP. Combine that with slow speeds and stop and go....
Plus when ever I am in traffic in my truck, the engine always runs 15-20 hotter. ( I have a 4 guage pod, EGT, Tranny Temp, Boost, Engine Temp)