I can't seem to figure out what is causing my 22r to run hot. RPM's above 3k, temps above 90, and hills, result in temp gauge reading in the photo. LCE dual row timing chain conversion with new water pump. LCE performance curve dist with timing set at 5 degrees. 4 row radiator (yes, four. Same problem with three row.), with rows offset for max cooling. Black Magic S-blade Fan with shroud. Turning the heater on doesn't seem to help much. Offy dual plane intake with Weber 32/36. Valves may be slightly fried due to previous moderate lean condition...exhaust closing up about .001 in two thousand miles, but mixture is right on now, monitored with PLX AFR setup. My next move is to go back to stock fan, but I have little hope for that since high temps happen at 70mph on the freeway, and a fan isn't going to beat that, or to install cold air intake. It gets super hot under the hood, and the fan blows directly into the open element and at temp sensor. Interested in votes for which direction to go first (cold air intake or stock fan), or other possible solutions. Beginning to think it could be a blockage somewhere.

 

I vote blockage. Can you bypass the heater core by looping the 2 hoses together? Also stupid question but have you checked for water in the oil or oil in the coolant?
When was the last time you flushed the cooling system? As in did you just swap the radiator or flush the entire system? I had a bad water pump back on my first 85 bought NIB and didn't work for ˟˟˟˟˟. What does the coolant do when you start it up cold with the cap off and let it come up to temp. Can you see it moving? Are both the upper and lower radiator hoses smoking hot when it's overheating?

 

Looks like normal operating temp. to me.

 

You need to get quantifiable (numbers) on the temperature, the dash mounted guage doesn't give you good enough data. You maybe running the wrong temp guage sender for it, for example there are two dash clusters and they use a different voltage divider (voltage level).

It would be a good idea to compare the radiator input and output temps.

It's plausible your three row "offset" radiator is restricting air flow.

A factory air cleaner which should include a tube that draws air from the grill area will have an effect on the engine, but it's not the cause of excessive engine or engine bay temps. It's all about air flow thru the grill and out of the engine bay, unless were talking about "cherry red exhaust manifolds".

..
Bottom line get a number on the actual temperature. Even if your buying a low budget uncalibrated gauge.

 

Sounds like there is some consensus on getting a handle on actual input/output temps. With regard to the questions, I'll put bypassing the heater on the troubleshoot list, no obvious water in oil or vice versa, no sludge under filler cap after thousands of miles, so head gasket seems OK. Radiator and block have been drained and hose flushed, but not machine flushed. Definitely have good flow at idle with cap off. Temp comes back down pretty quick when stopped, so it's hard to get a good read on input/output hose temps when problem is actually happening. I tried getting a sense with a cheapo IR temp gun yesterday, definitely pretty big differential, but that was at idle with temp gauge halfway. LCE 4-into-one header hasn't gotten cherry red since I removed air injection years ago. New sender ordered from Toyota by VIN if I remember correctly, gauge seems consistent with T-stat opening, but maybe sender in offy dual plane is more susceptible to bad reading in hot engine bay than stock manifold?

Based on these comments my first troubleshoot steps will be to take the hood off and drive around, see if that has any effect, then pull radiator and have bungs added in top and bottom tanks, add gauges to get a good sense of temps when problem is occurring. I'll post if I figure anything out.

 

X2. Mine does not run hot, only reaches about 1/3 on the gauge ever, but when i put the ir gun on the thermostat housing with the engine at full temp, it reads almost exactly what the rating of the thermostat is, 190*.

do you know what the rating is? I see 160, 180, 190, 195* offered at rock auto.

 

Get an IR handheld temp gun. Just the thing for instantaneous pinpoint temp readings.

 

So I went ahead with the cold air intake since it was pretty simple and seemed like a good way to go--still need to build a heat shield but it's working good--and since the radiator had to come out to put bungs in for temp sensors in the upper and lower tanks, I opted to replace the e-fan with the stock fan setup at the same time. Temps got up to 95 today, took her out for a hot lap on the fwy. 80 MPH uphill with the pedal down, and flirting with half-way on the temp gauge was as hot as she got. With the e-fan setup this would have probably been an overheat. So I can say with some confidence the black magic flex-a-lite kit from LC was the culprit. Before I took it out I took a critical look at it. The shroud doesn't cover the entire radiator, and the brackets block a significant part of the core at the edges, which is quite possibly the area of highest flow.I never bothered with the temp sensor install since the problem is solved, at least for 95 degree heat. Moral of the story: stick with the stock fan setup. Photos below of the e-fan brackets and new cold air intake setup.