killer89ta

i have all new parts new thermo,new radiator ,new water pump new hoses and my car still overheats on stop and go traffic. what the hell??

bobdole369

Radiator cap? Just a thought, I unwittingly bought a 7 pound cap instead of the more appropriate 15 pounder and for 3 weeks couldn't figure out how I could have lost enough coolant to totally overheat.

killer89ta

new cap already done.

firebirdjosh

iTrader: (1)

How did it happen. Like one day it started overheating so you started replacing things or has it been happening for a while? Got a reading on an actual temp (not just inaccurate stock gauges).

Bruticus

I had the same issue with a 87 IROC I owned. One day I noticed that it was overheating alot I changed everything and it still overheated. How many fans you have on the car and does it come on at all ?

Stekman

Define "oveheating" with a temperature.

zdc590

Same thing was happening to my 91 rs. I bought it from the kid knowing it overheated, he said it would start to overheat in stop and go traffic (like yours). Me and my dad looked into it and found out it was the relay. Have you checked that yet? If you have a camaro im pretty sure its on the drivers side in the engine bay...not sure about t/a's. Hope this helps

LT1ROC

If your hard parts are new.....check the relay,like mentioned,check that your fan or fans work....also check to see if the sweep under the car that directs air towards the radiator is there.....make sure you have nothing blocking the radiator...obviously..lol....I did drive thru Atlanta once,picked up a huge moth on my condenser and my car temp rose about 10 degrees....lol.....good luck.
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and of course make sure all air is bled from your system properly....an air pocket is not your friend......

TJC8974

By thermo do u mean fan clutch?
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If not then it could be your fan clutch, over time its starts to "stick".

CrazyHawaiian

Here's my take on it, you need mainly two things to have a car that runs cool in heavy traffic. Number one the cooling system itself needs to be in good condition, as in no leaks of any sort. If fluid can leak out then air can leak in and this can cause you all sorts of headaches. So if the fluid consistently turns dirty brown or you visually spot a leak near a gasket or under the car, thats gonna be number one thing to fix (common gasket leak areas are the water neck, intake base to head, and water pump). Second, once you got a good working system you need to work on making everything work together. This mainly has to do with the thermostat and fan switch, the two things that control when the water in the radiator begins to be cooled by the fan(s), and when the cooled water in the radiator is let into the engine. They should be matched for the best results otherwise you end up with either the thermostat open while the fans are off pushing hot water into the engine, or the fans are on cooling the water in the radiator but the thermostat is closed meaning no cooled water is getting to the engine. Whatever specs you choose for those two parts should determine what temperature the car maintains or pretty close to it.

So my IROC-Z for example, it came stock with a thermostat / fan switch combo set for around 220 degrees. This is apparently normal operating temp for the car, but it was too high for me. I live in Hawaii with hot 90 degree days and not only did the car see stop and go traffic from time to time, it also saw track days which involved non-stop road course lapping. At the track I would find the car overheating alot, mainly because once the temp reached 220 and the fans turned on and thermostat opened, it was too late the car was already on its way to 240+ temps. After checking the system for leaks I replaced both the thermostat and fan switch with 180 degree spec parts. Now my fans turned on and the thermostat opened at 180 degrees, instead of the 220 degrees. This gives the car a bigger buffer to begin cooling (40 degrees sooner). The car maintains 180 degrees in all situations except the track lapping days where the engine is at high RPM more often, in that scenario it never went over 200.

So for you I would check for leaks, check the coolant fluid for discoloration, make sure air isn't getting into the system, then make sure your fan switch temp matches whatever temp thermostat you put in, then make sure the fan motor(s) work by visually looking at them while the car is at the temperature of your fan switch. The air dam under the car does matter at speed but not really in the situation of stop and go traffic (under 35mph). In that scenario I think its more likely you have a thermostat/fan switch temp mismatch or bad fan motor(s), or a leak in the system, or all of the above.

killer89ta

ok i took all the advise that was given check the relay and everything. i have 2 fans hooked up. little did i know that 1 fan was pushing air towards the radiator as the other was pulling.so switch it to where both are pulling then tightened up all the hoses, with the fans hooked up to a manuel switch so i can turn them on as soon as possible, now it never goes over 200.

thanks for everyones help.

mmaarrcy

i have changed radiator,waterpump, thermastat, and my fan always stays on. There is also on no leaks or blown head gaskets

mmaarrcy

still overheats like 220 and up

afremont

Check your timing, that can cause overheating if retarded too much.

How do you know you don't have a blown head gasket? I had one leak (SBC 350) thru the compression/sealing ring around the cylinder and then thru the layers of the gasket to the water port hole. The car just mysteriously lost coolant and eventually started showing crazy things on the temp gauge. You could hardly tell anything was wrong with the gasket, but the top of that piston was spotless clean.

By crazy things I mean an indicated temp of 200F 30 seconds after starting a cold engine. Or the temp gauge climbing to 240 and then plunging to 180 in a couple of seconds. If you are seeing things like this, then it's a head gasket.