Do KA's naturally run hot?

SON240sx Automotive
1

Hey guys,

I’ve been noticing lately that my KA has been running awfully hot. The water temp on the gauge cluster says that its still within operating temperature, and even stays at its specific spot after about an hour of driving. But after pulling the hood release lever, I can feel quite a bit of heat coming out from under the hood as I put my hand under it to release the latch.

Holding the hood up with one hand, it gets really hot (bear in mind, this is a gray-ish/gloomy day). My hood prop gets ridiculously hot. Hot enough that I can’t hold it for more than 15-20 seconds.

Yet again, my water temp is still at operating temp…

I had a '91 Stanza with the KA24E as well, and the car never ran this hot…

Could this be because I removed the heat shield for my exhaust, or is this just a normal thing for KAs?

If so, could anyone recommend some kind of thermal wrap (and where to get it) that I could wrap around my manifold to keep the surrounding area somewhat cooler?

Thanks

  • XSNRGE
2

seems fine to me my 240 does that aswell after about 10 mins of me taking it for a joy ride(lots of pedal to the metal) in my area. Take out your coolant temp sensor just for your own peace of mind, and grab a piece of sand paper and sand it down a bit, then sand the connectors so its bare metal. it might help get a better reading.

3

put the heat shield back on if you don’t like it that hot. and maybe invest in a colder thermostat.

4

Ambient temp shouldn’t be a problem. It’s water and oil temp that you gotta keep an eye out for.

5

GTS - I’m good then lol… I wouldn’t mind investing in a more precise water and oil temp gauge though. Just because lol… A-pillar gauges anyone :wink:

kimmerkaze - Too late for that now… I tore the heatshield apart… I hated that thing…

6

Mines runs hot just like yours and i’ve had my car for 2 1/2 years and everything is still good so don’t worry.

7

it’s fine, i don’t have the heat shield too b/c mine rusted off but lately i’ve been considering getting another off of a parts car. the sun sometimes is just too ridiculous when your car’s black, no a/c, leathers, and tiny hole in the driver wheel well. just snatch one off of someone’s car for cheap and put it back on and then this should bring ambient temps down in there. heat wrap isn’t practical for just dd.

8

I’ve got a ceramic coated header for sale, it might help with your heat issue since ceramic coating is suppose to keep heat in.

But in the worst case…it’ll still look pretty in your engine bay :slight_smile:

9

GTS - I’ve got an E though, not a DE. Last I heard, they had different exhaust ports :frowning:

10

Yea, oh well.

Don’t worry too much about ambient temperature, unless you’re melting your P/S or brake cylinders.

11

you could just go to any performance shop and pick-up some exhaust header wrap/exhaust wrap. Then spend a little time wrapping it up. Its a pretty cheap investment to drop down the underhood temps a little. If it doesn’t come with the end clamps just use mechanic wire/ welding wire to hold the ends of the wrap so it doesn’t come loose.