Hi guys.

I got the Camaro less then a month ago, and today was by far the hottest day since i have had the car, it had to be upper 90s.

Normally my car runs at the 220 mark or a little lower. Today, for the first time, it started rising past the 220 mark and around lets say 242. It never fully reached the red zone, but it came awfully close. As i kept driving, it would go down due to the radiator sucking in air and the air dam i suppose, and I also put the heat on full blast to try and cool the engine off. The car ran fine, but that gauge got me sooo worried. Now I am afraid to drive it because I dont want to be stranded and broken down if it overheats.

When I arrived home, I popped the hood and let it idle. The fan didnt turn on untill it reached close to 240, and I was under the impression it would turn on at 220. The fan seems to run fine and motor seems to be intact.

Anyone know what is wrong? What happened? Why the car is getting so hot? Is it just because it was an abnormally hot day today?

I just need some advice or some reassurance so I feel comfortable driving it u know?

Can somebody help?

 

is your air dam intact? also try flushing your cooling system and putting in fresh coolent... also maybe replase your thermos stat with a 180 degree one or maybe a 160 but i hear a 180 is best for are cars.

 

Are we dealing with a single fan or dual fan system?

 

Its a dual fan setup. I went out just now and checked it out... it seems to kick in the driver side fan at like 238-239 and it stays on until it goes back down to 221. Any ideas on whats the problem?

 

Well, a couple things might be going on.. You ECM controls the primary fan, so you might get a scan tool or something and see what temperature the ECM is seeing (or just replace the coolant temperature sensor). That should enable your primary fan at around 220 (driver side). There is a fan switch located in the passenger side cylinder head between the 6 and 8 cylinders that activates your secondary fan. The factory set the secondary fan turn on temp at like 240* with that switch... I'd recommend replacing that switch with a slightly lower temp switch (look here for alternate switches).

You need to test your actual cooling fan motors and their associated relays as well to make sure they are functioning properly (I'd recommend this before changing the aforementioned components); your primary side seems to function, but check your secondary motor and relay..

 

Well Both relays were replaced so they are brand new. What happened was the previous owner, instead of replacing the relays, ran a constant power to the fan with a 30 fuse, and would take the fuse out whenever he wanted the fan to turn off. Basically this was running the fan constantly. My mechanic took out the straight power line and replaced both relays, and said everything should be fine.

If its not the relays, what else can I do? I am planning on bringing it in on saturday to get looked at and want to know what to tell the mechanic. Thanks again.

 

Honestly, it sounds like everything is working fine. Stock, the primary fan kicks on at 220°, and the secondary at 240°. The guages are a pain to really read beyond what the written temps are because it's not really calibrated evenly. 160° to 220° is the first interval, then the last is 220° to 260°. If you want to have your car run cooler, which pretty much everyone does, buy a secondaray fan switch that will turn on at a lower temp., and then learn how or have someone burn you a new PROM that will turn the primary fan on earlier. Other mods include an aluminum radiator and/or bigger radiator, lower temp. thermostat (170° being the lowest I'd go), and some sort of manual fan control system.

 

http://www.madvet.com/shop?frame=3.138.944
For secondary fan switch, and:
http://www.tpichips.com/
For replacement chip that he can turn primary fan on at a lower temp.
Also, for the time being; if you turn your A/C on, the fan should come on and stay on.

 

turning your a/c on should engage the primary fan.. However, if you a/c isn't functional, you won't build pressure on the high side and close the high pressure switch which activates the secondary fan..

 

Put both of your fans on a switch so u can turn them on when YOU think its getting too hot. I would also suggest flushing your system and replacing coolant, and get a 160 or 180 thermostat. your problems should be gone. If not look down in your radiator see how much build up and crap is in it, if its alot u may need to replace it