im sick of overheating, and it got real bad today cuz i overrevved it, so im gona call into work tomorrow and just go at it (got paid today) but i need to know how to flush the radiator without a hose, if theres no way then how do i do it with a hose? i live in apartments so a hose isnt easy to come by, and also, how do i use those radiator flush products they sell at autozone? i plan on flsuhing the system, using 50/50 water/antifreeze ( i live in florida, what ratio should i use), replacing the water pump cuz it sounds wierd ever since i overrevved it (i think its it atleast) and im gona rip off the valve covers to see if the lifers are bent.

 

Throw in all distilled water and 2 bottles of waterwetter or maybe go down to 10% antifreeze to stop corrosion instead of waterwetter, higher % water yeilds better cooling. You can try flushing it by just running the flush then draining it, refill with just water (tap is fine for this step) then drain again, and then fill with distilled water as I said above.

 

Go to self serve car wash
Drain out old fluid, then fill up radiator agian, and repeat letting water drain out.
Then put new fluid in, anti-freeze + distilled water, or whatever concoction you choose.

A hose is a way to get water into radiator, I think the main issue is extra water to flush the system, not necessarily a hose.

 

First, before you go ripping anything apart, dhave you found out why its overheating? For almost a year I had a problem like that because the elec. fan wasnt running. Another reason, do you have AC? If so pull off the radiator shroud and pry the radiator, and condenser apart. My 91 Z whas running hot, for 2 reasons. 1 The plug for the aux. fan was snapped off the switch, and 2 there was a small tree's worth of leaves and shiznit between my radiator and condenser. I did several flushes and drains, mainly cause i switched over to dexcool (no problems there), replaced the fan switch, and t'stat, and cleaned all the leaves out. Now the car runs pretty cool, just need a new chip for the other fan to come on.
BTW, make sure the water pump is ok, and check to see if the lower air damn is intact.

Give a lil more info, does it overheat from the getgo? highway speeds, sitting still?

 

Make sure that front air dam piece is there too.

 

You need to get it looked at if you haven't figured it out yet. Are your fans comming on? Your water pump will not break from over revving. You are looking at all the things that overrevving will not affect. Does it still idle rough? I think it is time to pull the valve trian and make sure the pushrods are striaght and that the springs aren't broken. And I don't mean eyeball them. I would geuss that is your main problem. We have discussed this before and I think you really need to have someone look at it. You could be doing lots of damage in the meantime. I feel for yea but I would hate to see you damage something and ruin the whole motor because you let it go to long.

 

Maybe I'm missing something, since I'm new here...did he post something previously about the problem?


SLOW DOWN DUDE....

Define the problem before you buy anything or even open the hood.


How do you know it overheated? 80's GM gauges SUCK.....I wouldn't trust them to shift my tractor by.... Verify it's ACTUALLY overheating first.

If it IS....


Does it overheat just idling? If you open it up on the highway for a sustained time, will it cool down or still heat up?

( it overheats on the highway, check the air dam as mentioned a coupla of times..this CHEAP part scored me a $400 GTA a few years ago ( that I sold a year later for $3000 ) cause the guy swore that his "mechanic Uncle" told him the head gasket was blown cause it overheated on the highway... I saw the broken air dam...$5 later and I drove it around town without every popping the hood for awhile....


IF it's NOT the airdam, do the thermostat TEST...


LEt the car warm up....grap the top radiator hose it SHOULD go from COLD ( With engine cold ) and you can press it in pretty easy to HOT ( thermostat opens letting hot water that was in engine to go thru the radiator )....

As stated check for ANY obstruction to the path of air hitting the radiator.... there's not alot of room in these cars anyway...

Then check to make sure fans are operating ( electric ) .. if it's mechanical check for a slipping / glazed belt... and also check to make sure the thermostatic clutch is working on the fan....

Still overheating?

Drain coolant.....drain the block too if you can... ( did '83 L69 / LG4 have a knock sensor? I don't recall offhand ) if so just unscrew it, and you have drained the block....

Add some of the flush, fill with water and turn the heat on FULL blast and let it run....let it get good and hot, then drain it while hot.... ( be careful it is HOT )..

Fill it back up w/ tap water, run it again for awhile, then drain again...KEEP Draining until the water comes out relatively clear ( tap water is FREE / CHEAP ).

Now fill it back up...just dump a full gallon of coolant and fill the rest with water. TAP is fine, if you don't have alot of iron...don't use most well waters... those .39 cent juggs of distilled water at the grocery store are worth the piece of mind if u don't know the water.

Leave rad cap off... fill to top. Start car....water inside of radiator should start moving around... ( that's the water pump doing it's job ).... and level should drop. Keep filling it while it's running, cap off, until you hit the top.....Then put on the cap and fill the external coolant resovoir to the hot line....


Enuff for now I'm tired going to bed.


Hope this helps...