Hey hows it going. I have a 1992 camaro TBI 5.0 and i recently took it my schools shop to find out why it was overheating. I decided to power flush it, out came out all this crap. When I drove it back home it started overheating again with my training found out that the fan wasnt running so i ran it straight to the battery seemed like it solved the problem really good. But after about another 10 miles it overheated. I parked it at my shop, worked on it on my spared time, replace the water pump which by the way was corroded very badly, just like the fan worked for about 10 miles, then overheated too. Thinking the radiotor was just as bad as the water pump I replace the radiator, hoses (which were bad) and radiator cap. Still overheated. Here is my next step check near the A/C condensor to see if there is anything blocking the air flow. Does anybody know excactly how air flows through the front??? Any air blockage warnings I should know about??? There appears to be no coolant going into the combustion chamber or in the oil system. And if i have to change my thermostat after the car overheats, i already changed it after i took it to my class. No leaks anywhere...fan relay was bypassed to have the fan running all the time. Any suggestions im almost out of ideas! Sorry for a lot of typing, just the more you know will hopefully help me thanks people.

The lower radiator hose should have a spring in it to prevent collapse. Might check that. Is the air dam in place?

JamesC

The air dam is there, it has the 5 sections, 3 in the middle are blocked off and the the single ones on the outside are open. Doesnt seem like that would allow enough air.

And i didnt know abt the spring in the lower radiator hose. Is it in the hose or the lower radiator outlet port.

In the hose itself.

JamesC

Jamesc is talking about the air dam that’s under you car and its one piece that mounts to the radiator support under the car. if that is missing it will cause your car to overheat after driving. I would not suggest you leave the cooling fan "hotwired" to your battery; I would not want to see your car go up in smoke. The reason your cooling fan is not working is because the connector to the fan switch has gotten hot and broke off and now your fan does not turn on. Get a new connector for the switch or wire in an adjustable fan switch to get your fan going again.

OK ill check today, also is there a picture somwhere on this site or anywhere on the web were i can get a visual of it...also i should be able to get it at a junk-yard right???
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...o yea i just rigged it that way to get home i rewired it the way it was ment to and just bypassed it at the relay, i wondered why the fan switch felt like it wouldnt click in

Did you check your thermostat, if it is stuck closed, your egine will over heat

Is it possible that a non reverse flow pump was installed? Does it over heat while idling or when you are moving?

maybe theres air trapped in your heater core. all it takes is a very small amount to screw the whole system over.

ok i looked at it yesterday and I just figured that i would let my teacher look at it. (I do not have the time) yes its posible for it to be the wrong water pump but not likely, already checked the thermostat, it was fine, no sticking

But one good posibillity is that there is air in the system and the bottem air peice is missing (I could never figure out what it looked like)

So im going to purge the cooling system and start from there.

The car did not overheat when I drove it to school. It was very cool morning though, and in Arizona there are no cool days in the summer.

Just a thought, take off radiator cap when cool. Start motor and once it gets warm, about 150 deg. or so, you should look in radiator and see that fluid MOVING BIG TIME !!!!!! If not, then you got a blockage/bad thermostat/colapsed lower hose. As you rev the motor it should increase the flow. The heatercore shouldn't matter because it is turned off by that black valve when the air is on or heat off. I'm sure you don't want hot water going through that thing in Az. I live in Mich. and make sure the valve works in the summer. If you're getting flow, and I mean Good flow, then look to the air dam or radiator blocked air flow. This is a fast simple way to help narrow down problem. Make sure belt on correct and pump turns CC. Work smart, not hard.

Here is what it looks like. I had an 91 RS that would overheat after I would drive it a while and it ended up some dumba$$ took it off before I bought it. but alot of times it gets knocked off.

Thats weird i never seen that before, even on 91 camaro i had before. But that is a good thing to know
Thanks guys for the help
my teacher currently is looking at it, and he said he's going to try to swap out the thermostat with another new one...lets see how it works out!
Great pic.

no need to replace thermostat if that airdam is missing your car will overheat no if's and's or butt's about it.

put one on and be done.

JamesC

are u referring to the air dam that always gets scraped on the parking curbs etc?

That makes THAT much of a difference to te airflow?
Wow - I though that was just to prevent sucking a cat into the engine compartment or something LOL

Yep. Makes a huge difference. Without it car overheated above 45mph on a 50degree morning. Jury rigged a homemade one and the car quit over heating. Put new GM 3-piece one on and haven't noticed the gauge over the thermostat opening point yet.

My camaro really only needs it at highway speeds, i've never overheated cruising at 55-60 with out an airdam . but i'm installing one i fabricated from aluminum(5052-h32).