well here goes... i just got my 87 z28 305tpi... i replaced the alternator the radiator had just been redone and the car was over heating... so i take out the thermostat... and the other day i drive the car and its fine for a while... then i see the temp start to shoot up... and im on a busy street so i decide ill pull into a residential area because it would be safer... and when i make the turn i push the gas a bit to accellerate and i hear a very raspy noise and the car shuts off... i wait about 20 minutes and turn the key and it cranks... so i know it hasnt totally messed up... but then i come back about 3 hours later the car starts... im happy ... i put it in first and hit the gas to take off and it starts knocking like crazy... now my first question is what would cause it to overheat... and second what could the knocking be... someone help please

 

sorry i forgot to add i replaced the water pump

 

Check to make sure that there's no water in the oil and no oil in the radiator fluid. Check the intake gasket to make sure it's not leaking also. Double check the water pump as well to make sure that's not whats knocking. Even though it was replaced it could still have a problem.

 

well... i had put the water pump on the car about a month after i got it in nov...and it worked fine... then the thermo just started acting up a week ago so i take it off... then all this crap happened ... my oil pressure is right where it should be... maybe its a rocker or a push rod ... somethings making noise... also when i hit the gas kind of hard the car almost died ... and still gets hot... its almost home now so once i get it home maybe i should remove the valve covers and see whats going on inside of those

 

I'm sure you've already checked all of this but, is your coolant level correct? how about the mix? (50/50). Is the coolant coming out your exaust? or is it coming out of the radiator cap? you might want to pressure test the cooling system and see if you have any leaks at the connections.

 

well the fluid was coming out of the cap... and what was odd was that i touched it when it over heated *thefluid coming out* and it was luke warm... also i have a dual fan set up and one of them is not coming on... the other comes on when i turn on the ignition

 

are you sure you are over heating? I wonder if your gauge is off. I don't know if there is a way to check the sending unit or not, trickster would know that one. as for your car dieing are there any other symptoms? is it just when you are driving around town or does it also happen at highway speed? you do have the air dam underneath the nose of your car right? I'm not that good with the electrical side of this. again I wonder if the cap might be bad, you should pressure check that too. hope this helps

 

the gauge is fine ... the car is at home now so soon ill be pulling stuff apart to try and find the problem

 

Um, if I read that right, it looks like you need a new radiator cap, at least. And my thermal switch reads 220º in the car, but my laser thermometer tells me it is really 201º. So how exactly do you know your gauge is fine?