ok, i've been driving my 89' formula firebird since about november... i live on long island NY and temps have been cold since i got the car, so i have been blasting the heat. now temps have gotten a little warmer, so i have been blasting the cold air... the car will be fine for a while, but will start to go over about 240.. and has gone into the red zone about once or twice, but i shut the car down and let it cool off... i'm pretty sure all the cooling is fine, because when i am idle, the radiator fan will turn on when the car goes over 220 degrees. i bought the long piece of plastic that is supposed to direct the air into the radiator on the highway because i did not have this. but i dont really know how to hook it up... is it clips? or screws?? can someone take a picture of theirs so i know where to put it? or maybe its another problem that i'm having, not just the ram air piece..... i was told to get a new radiator cap that lets the air out sooner???? i'm a newb when it comes to cars, but i can figure it out with some help.... thanks guys

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...rebird+air+dam

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...rebird+air+dam


thats the best i could find right now.

the radiator cap should be 15 or 16 rated, try fixing the air dam first if u had overheating problems all the time then u might want to look into other things like the cap and coolant stuff.

 

hmm alright, thanks... i checked out the pix but none of them really looked like the one i got, and its pretty long... i'll figure it out, but thanks

 

Yours is probably like mine, but I don't have any pix of it. The part number on my new one is 10118485(formerly 10017672). If yours isn't the same, it's gotta be very similar. It should have a series of holes(mine has 11) for attaching it with screws.

If you look underneath the front, you should see two black plastic sections that close-off the underneath area, one on each side from the wheel-well to the radiator, leaving the area in front of the radiator open. The rear of those plastic sections curves downward and looks somewhat like the air dam you'll be attaching. That's where you'll find 6 holes(3 on each side). The remaining holes are through a black plastic piece that's mounted to the underside of the frame that supports the radiator. Once the air dam is attached, it'll arc from one wheel-well to the other.

Hopefully, the mounting holes still have their clips in them. That's what the screws screw into.

I realize that isn't very clear, but once you get under there, I think(hope) it'll all make sense to you.

 

hey thanks a lot... definetly what i was asking for... i'll check it out tomorrow, thanks again get some pix if you can! thanksssss

 

I've got a similiar problem, my temp gauge doesnt work so Ive not been able to monitor it, but Im getting that fixed today, I bought the air dam off ebay and should have it on by the end of the week, i bought a new water pump, put it on there, thermostat, radiator cap, and flushed my system. Aside from a new radiator thats all I know what to do . But all in all I've yet to have excessive bubbling in my overflow tank and excessive overheating.

 

yeahhh i never got bubbling lol even when it goes into the red zone... i mean my oil pressure gauge is messed up, since it reads zero... so the temp gauge is probbaly off too.

 

Okay, well I got my gauge fixed and its working(first time since ive had the car) and it hovers around 220, when I get on it it'll climb just above 220, but just driving and what not it stays right below 220, so I'm happy with that. And I've not had any bubbling today and I drove it alot so only time will tell if my overheating problem is fixed.

 

yeahhh true GOOD JOB i should really flush out my radiator tomorrow, and get a new hose from the rad to the motor.... and maybe a new pcb too, its pretty old and comes out of the head easily

 

I thought it'd be a pain in the *** to fix the overheating, but was alot easier and cheaper than I thought. So good luck man, should be an easy fix.

 

yeahh true, i think i just need one more piece for the front air dam thing... i got the long skinny piece that goes from one wheel to the other, but i think theres another flat piece thats supposed to go on the chassis of the car as well... i'm going to flush out the radiator, or maybe even get a nice aluminum one instead of the plastic stock one....

 

Yes, there's another part like I mentioned in my other post. It should be attached to the underside of the radiator support frame. It fills the gap between the two outer sections, and it has the rest of the holes that the air dam screws into.

The air dam alone could've easily gotten damaged or broken off, but I wouldn't think that center section would've too, though it could've. Or maybe the car was involved in an accident, and it wasn't completely repaired? Because I can't imagine anyone removing that part by choice.

The air dams varied a little from year to year, but I don't think that center section ever changed. The part number on my car is 10017670, though it might have a different, updated part number now like my air dam has.

Good luck. I hope you get that put together soon!

 

well I removed mine as soon as I bought my car I was like darn what's that thing under the car? I better take that off cause if it stays I know I'm gonna hit sth with it and brake it
later my car was overheating so I did some research and was like

 

hahaha yeahhh that would have done it... i think i'm gonna go back to the dealership tomorrow and get that center piece... i think thats all i need ;x thanks a lot guys, you were a BIG help. i'll see if the part # is the same for the 89 too thanks!!!!

 

Check prices for sure. I'm not sure how much it is at dealership, but I bought the whole thing for 30-something bucks off ebay brand new.

Also, check out MY luck. After fixing all this i'm happy it's running great. My upper radiator hose from rad. to the gooseneck goes out Small gash about an inch long, but long enough to **** me off. It sucks because i've had nothing but problems so far since ive been driving the car (Feb 04). But I call auto store get a price, 14 bucks. Thats good, should be an easy fix, buy it, later that day goto fix it, and it doesnt fit. I'm like wtf, I gave them my exact info. And by this time this auto store was closed, so I goto auto zone, and they get me the hose, and it's not right either. So I get something make shift a cut to fit, that looks pretty awkward, but works. While I'm there, I'm getting ill because it shouldnt be that hard to get a upper rad. hose for a 305 TBI on an 88 Camaro. A friend of mine was there, and I was tellin him about it, and he was like "No one told you? ***** put that motor in the car himself" Make a long story short.....er, , everything this guy had touched is breaking on me. But what I'm getting at, is how do I find out what this motor came out of?

 

aw man, well tehres really no postitive way... take some pictures and post them, see if anyone here knows ;x good luck!