My car has been getting hot lately just idling like at a drive through or sitting in traffic. It never overheats, it just gets really hot. It cools back down as soon as I take off. I just put a new radiator in last summer. What do you think my problem could be?

 

Almost forgot coolant is good and air dam is still there.

 

is your fan comming on?

 

Your gauge might be bad!

 

my car runs alittle under 220 on the highway (45 to 55 mph)

but if i sit in traffic for over 5 minutes it will tend to heat up alittle, like enough for the drivers side fan to come on, which will keep the temp from rising..

as long as the temps dont get to high, sounds normal to me..

 

That'd be too hot for me. Mine runs at about 170 on the highway in 90* weather. Removing the condenser made a big difference.

In traffic the secondary cooling fan keeps the temp at about 200*.

I know the temps will tend to rise a bit now though due to the headers.

 

yeah i need to get rid of that a/c!!

the fan could move air more freely...

 

Your engine should not be running at 220. It should be around 170 to 180 even at a stop. Have you checked your timing. That can make the engine quite hot if it is off. Do you have an aluminum radiator? I personally have had better luck with a single fan setup. My 84 TA has a highly modified engine and can sit still in 90+ degrees in south florida and stay around 180. Check your temp sending unit to, may be bad. I have also seen a couple later model trans ams and formulas with electronic gauge clusters go bad. The tach reads way below, the speedo gets off and the temp sensor and oil pres gauge get off. Make sure you check everything before removing ac parts which prob wont help you much anyhow.

 

With the stock stat, it will never run 170-180.

 

exactly

220 is very normal for a 350 tpi thirdgen!
from my experience of having had three...

 

Your performance will be much better once you cool it down a bit and being a TPI 350 makes no significant difference in cooling if things are adjusted accordingly. Just have to modify things a bit. I have owned 2 formulas btw and I now have an 84 TA. I know what ya mean.

 

Yes, MDformula is right, these cars are supposed to be around 220 in traffic. Fuel injection (at least my 5.7L) runs more efficietly when hot. You are lucky if you are at no more than 220 in heavy traffic, in 90+ temps. -89IRO

 

Yeah, sitting in traffic, or in stop and go, car runs up to 220 - and if everything is working right, fan kicks in and cools it down. If you have the DUAL fans, a lot of 'em will run cooler with the A/C on because the 2nd fan comes on automatically! Temp at highway speed should register at or below where your thermostat opens up, depending on the outside temperature. If you are running 220 at highway speed, you have a problem, or a bad guage.

 

WELL 220 IS NORMAL FROM THE MANUFACTURER,I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM IN TRAFFIC IT OVERHEATS I THOUGHT IT WAS THE GUAGE BUT THE GUAGE GETS TO THE RED ZONE THE AANTI FREEZE STARTS BOILING,MY THOUGHT IS THAT THE FANS MIGHT BE WORN OUT AND NOT SPINNING THE RIGHT RPM..BECAUSE I HAD 2 PAIRS OF FANS AND ONE OF THE SPUN VERY SLOW SO IT WONT PULL THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF CFM'S....HOPE THIS HELPS A BIT

 

well i finally put in a lower stat because i felt the need to keep it a tad more cool, i put a 180 stat in and i would never go any lower. it seemed to help with performance but maybe that was due to getting rid of the a/c ad a.i.r systems...

anyway the car runs better than ever and i will keep a tab on my gas mileage also... i usually get about 210 miles per tank.