No one will belive this but read anyway.

heres what its doing:

i drive the car for about 20 mins and the car is overheating so bad that when i put my foot into the accelerator the engine feels like there is no power.

heres what i have done.

!)tried 195, 180, 160 and no thermostat.
2) flushed the radiator about three times. always used a 50-50 mix.
3) pressure tested the system. its fine. i have no oil in the water or water in the oil. no steam out the exhast. no water coming anywhere from the engine bay. bascally no cracks or bad hoses.
4)my old pump was fine but i replaced it anyway.
5) installed a new fan clutch.
6) replaced all the fan belts(not like it matters)
7)air damn is fine.
8)the only possibility---i hve a 2 core radiator.
9)gutted cat.

WTF is wrong with it. BTW it is an 86 trans am with an automatic and a 5.7L engine.

 

have you tried using another temp guage? just to make sure the temp is really what the stock guage says?

also it could be something else wrong with the car like the timing, that has been know to cause heat problems..

 

ya it is overheating to 250-260 when running and will go up like 5 degrees when i turn it off. I just set the timing today, new pugs, wires, cap,. etc. basic tune up stuff. Still overheating. i had one of my friend stick it on the sniffer and it is not running lean or rich. The plugs i took out looked decent.

 

That sounds very strange to say the least. Have you hooked up a scanner to it to see what the computer thinks is happening while it is overheating or just running in general? Maybe this will lead you in a direction for solving your problem. Good luck.

BTW do you have the fan shroud still on the car? I assume you do but ask just in case it was removed.

 

man i cant believe you have the EXACT same problem i do!!!! and we are both in SoCal!! ive replaced my water pump thermo, radiator, coolant 3 times, AND the catalytic converter just in case the damn thing was plugged.

i drove it back from the place that did my exhaust today and came home, opened the hood and there was coolant all over my intake manifold, but i think it was from the water neck. but that would not make the damn thing over heat that bad....


what the hell is goin on with my car????

on a side note.. my car is looping.. by that i mean it idles at 900rpms.. the drops to like 800 then i hear this click noise in the engine bay and the rpm's go up 1100.. drops to 800 then the click happens again... does this continually.... what the crap is wrong with my damn car??? its a 92 TBI 5 speed. no engine codes... no lights.. HEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!!!!!


David Fisher
Orange CA
92 RS LO3 5 speed

 

When it gets that hot, check the temp of the coolant in the radiator--to verify the hot coolant is getting pumped to the radiator like it should

 

With the engine COLD pull off the radiator cap and drain the coolant down below the first hose(not the recovery hose), it's about 2 inches down from the cap. Start the engine with the cap off and look to see coolant flow coming in from the hose into the rad, it should be a nice full flow. If it's not there is a blockage. If the engine is getting sluggish most likely you are right and it's getting dangerously hot. After it's hot, does the recovery bottle fill up? How about the radiator cap, is it stuck open. If it is the system will not pressurize even if the engine and hoses have integrity and the coolant will start to cook when it gets near 215 or so. How about the rad hose(lower), sometimes they have been known to collapse restricting coolant flow. If there are no leaks and everything else is in good shape then there has to be a restriction somewhere. Generally those problems can be traced fairly easily, you might want to have the rad checked by a shop.

 

still have the fan shroud. Im still guessing i might have a cracked block. I just want to know what is going on before i drop my new engine in. and yes i have a full diagnostic machine that people own in thier shops. itll test everything but smog(caliprations are a mess). My temp is way to high. Anyway maybe your computer is messing up(running tbi). I just find this dumb as hell.

 

.. im sure u have.. but have u checked ur t-stat to maek sure its not stuck? i know it sounds stupid.. but when i had an overheating problem in my old 355.. i did everything u did.. and found out that my t-stat kept sticking open.. but it was tilted when it opened up(instead of opening and closing by going up and down, each 2 i put in would open, but somehow would go like this " / " and not up and down and stick close.

 

Sounds like you could have a plugged radiator to me. Also, did you put your thermosthat in right? The flat part goes down, the point goes up! You put the thermosthat in, THEN put on the gasket, THEN the thing thta bolts down on top. If you're putting your thermosthat's in upside down, that will cause your problem. You can flush your engine and radiator all you want, but if you have corrosion buildup in your radiator, you'll never get that stuff out! I'll bet you have a clogged radiator. It's cheaper to buy a new one than it is to have it cleaned out. Matt

 

im havening the same problem...i replaced the thrmo and it has a newer radiator im sure at least thats what i was told when i bought it like 4 months ago. i installed a new water pump and it didn't need it.. the one thing i did notice is well of course i don't have the clutch fan i have the electric fan, but i did notice is that it doesn't turn on most of the time i was thinking temp fan switch or something? but ya even when im driving down the high way it will still gets hot. it never gets up to 250 but most of the time it gets close. it did make it up that hot yesterday tho once and it wouldnt cool down at all not even on the high way it did a lil tho???? ne help??

 

[quote=06andersen;3576457]im havening the same problem...i replaced the thrmo and it has a newer radiator im sure at least thats what i was told when i bought it like 4 months ago. i installed a new water pump and it didn't need it.. the one thing i did notice is well of course i don't have the clutch fan i have the electric fan, but i did notice is that it doesn't turn on most of the time i was thinking temp fan switch or something? but ya even when im driving down the high way it will still gets hot. it never gets up to 250 but most of the time it gets close. it did make it up that hot yesterday tho once and it wouldn't cool down at all not even on the high way it did a lil tho???? ne help?? mine is a 1986 camaro iroc-z z28 with the 305 tpi

 

Dont forget to check the air dam under the front of the car.

 

i did its still there.....the stupid thing always runs hot. i know gm made these cars to run a lil hotter but still.....the other thing i was thinking was coolant fan switch, or cooling fan control?? idk its dangerous that it gets that hot. i know the fan turns on at like 130 or so some times it dont but going down the high way it shouldnt need the fan, i was in town and it overheated so i hit the high way and it barely went down?????

 

When it overheats, is there any steam coming out from the radiator or hose ends? Any coolant leaks when it overheats? One thing you can try, with the engine cool, remove the rad. cap. Start the engine, look down into the radiator. Look to see if its bubbling. If its bubbling alot, you may have a head gasket seeing its last days, as pressure from the combustion going into the coolant. What color is your oil? Is your coolant green as it can be?

 

yup coolan is green as can be, radiator has steam coming from it. there is no bubbling just the heater hose or what ever running into it. the oil is dark brown like it should be i just changed it not to long im running full synthetic

 

i guess i should say its still light brown and the level is still on full

 

i also have that problem i tore apart the hole motor and put new head gaskets intake exhaust...i also installed a HUGE griffin aluminum racing radiator...i should be getting it back on road tomorrow...i noticed other day fan wasn't turning on when it should be so im temporarily hooking it up to a toggle switch at full speed and see how it runs...without airflow to the radiator car wont cool down...so make sure ur fan is working...make sure none of ur plug wires are touching each other...its rare but is possible then can crossfire...ill let ya know how it runs tomorrow when i take it out...