Well I got what i think is a gem of a deal but I'll see what you think. my fiance's aunt has had this 1988 Formula 350 sitting across the street from me hidden in a garage for years I never knew it was there. well this weekend she was cleaning out the garage so naturally I walked over to see if i could scrounge some free tools hehe . and when I seen her ( the car) I asked her what was the deal on it and she said she could not get it to stop overheating .. she has spent a couple thousand dollars in replacement parts including Thermostat, Waterpump, timing, altenator, Breaks, Shocks, Tires, headlight motors, plugs, wires, you name it she has replaced it ... this car has 139K on it and has not been driven in well over 3-4 years, I pushed her out of the garage, got my battery booster, some fresh gas and she fired up on the first turnover. and she PURRSSSSS no knockin, pinging, no cel light .. nothing .. I took her for a spin and she will still roast the tires like no tommorow. but after about 15 mins and the a/c on .. the temp gauge was creeping past 220 and so i shut her down. i think this may be a cracked head or atleast cracked head gasket .. but she is not leaking a drop ... no oil, water or anitfreeze. Im kinda stumped but I have not yet really got my hands into her .. so heres the deal .. I can take it for a flat $900 with paying her $100 a month .. and she is mine hear and now to work on it .. but i really dont want to get into this if we're talking about a cracked head.. I have always been a fan of american Muscle but fell into the import turners (the dark side). I swear there is something about this car that has got me hooked and i feel like a little kid at the candy store .. any suggestions on what you may think could be the cause of this ... i am not yet familiar with these cars habbits , qwirks or things these Firebirds are imfamous for . any advice comments would be great ... I got 3 shots of her ... sorry there so huge

 

If you think its a head/headgasket problem, check the oil/coolent, see if they are a different color then they should be.

It does have the air dam, or atleast the side of it from what I see. Double check it to make sure its all there.

Does it over heat only with the A/C on? Does it cool down when you go on the highway? Does a fan come on when you turn the A/C on?

Make sure theres nothing stuck inbetween the A/C condenser and the radiator. There should be some foam strips between them to make air flow through both.

Might have to hook up a mech water temp gauge for a bit to make sure its not the gauge or the sensor.

220 and holding isn't over heating on these things, not for factory anyways. Have you checked the sticky at the top yet? I don't think the fans even come on until 234, witch is a bit too high, but thats what GM wanted.

If it runs like you describe, keep it or sell it to me for $900 lol.

 

Well. I left out a few things since I didnt want my first post to be a bigger book than it already was. there is no oil in the water, when you pull the raidiator cap off there is a constant flow of bubbles comming out (head gasket) and there is nothing flowing out of the exhaust other than regular condensation from a cold start. you made a good point about the fans and I never thought to check it yesterday .. I was to busy thinking of the thermostat, waterpump which again .. was replaced already. I called my local grayson Pontiac dealer and talked to a service tech and he said the clutch fan should kick on at about 280 which is nuts i think he meant to say 180. I was planning on taking it down for a complete diagnostic check just to get a starting point on the primary areas of concern if any. I really cannot believe it is running so well after just sitting there for so long. as far as the air dam .. what exactly are you referring to .. ? i mean I know what an air dam is but. I'm just not sure what your meaning with this car. also I didnt look to see if there was anything blocking the front. also the Car from waht i noticed just heats up past 220 much faster whent he A/C is on ... and yes when i drive it cools down which makes me think its the fan or somthing related to one of the fans .

 

About the air dam, in the side pic, I can see the end of it. I'm just making sure the rest of it is there. Mine broke off, but still left that side piece, but the center is gone, causing the car to overheat,until I installed a new one.

A clutch fan? I didnt know the L98's got those, I figured they all had dual electrics. Have you read the FAQ yet? I know the stock temps when the electricle fans come on are crazy high, but I dont think 280 high.

The bubbles in the raidator don't sound good. I'm sure you know, the more you drive it with a truely blown headgasket, the more likely you will have to deck the head and the block.

 

Yeha im gonna let her sit untill i really get a chance to dig my hands in to her .. so I would appriciate any help or info on these cars I can get. just so you know . i can get to really understand what shes all about. and I know i must sound retarted but this airdam thing your talking about is drivin me nuts im looking all over the pictures and a buddy of mine is as well and we are just lost .. I know you cant be talking about the reverse induction cowl on the hood since it is fake and is not functional on a stock setup. so you must be relating to something closer to the front clip like the lower lip which is normally a scrap gaurd for curbs lol but i know what you mean. i have not checked it out yet but I will .. thanks for the help again

 

yes that is the air dam, you can see from under the front bumper cover how it forces cold air up thru the rad. if its not there, it will run hotter while driving. otherwise it sounds like a good deal, even if it needs a head gasket.

 

Ok well heres an update. .. I checked it out last night and yes the air dam is there and it is fine .. i decided when going to get a late night meal from Krystals to take her out .. and when I fired her up .. the Cel light was on also the oil pressure was off the map .. I mean burried past 60 and stayed that way for the entire 10 min ride. I shut her off in the drive through and it slowly came down .. but i had to move up in line so i fired her back up and she stayed at the level it came down to ... so i parked her within 10 mins. but this morning I just couldnt resist. i wanted to take her to work. which is about 15 miles away and its all interstate driving. so I fired her up .. and again oil pressure was shy high and this time no CEL light. so I let her Idle and went on my way .. she sputterd and kicked and almost didnt want to go when i gave her 1/4 throttle but eventually she broke loose and smoothed right out .. ( im sure she was just cold) . so im now on the interstate..and anyone that has ever been on interstate 40 through Knoxville knows its like NY city at lunch time. it sucks. but she did very well .. stayed at about 185-195 the whole time. it has been very chilly last couple of mornings so I think that helped .. so when I brought it to the shop accross from my work and sat there for a min she started getting warm again reaching 220 so i parked it and here i am .. one thing i did not notice is the fans .. this model does have 2 electic fans that were not on .. so that must be part of the issue. .. feel free to let me know about this oil pressure thing .. it concerns me thanks again

 

The dual electric fans are computer controlled and the driver's side fan kicks on at around 230 degrees, and the passenger side fan comes on with the AC. My wifes GTA has a fan problem where they don't come on at all, so we wired a toggle switch under the dash for now until the problem can be fixed right. Not sure what cause excessive oil pressure like that. When was the oil last changed? If its been in there a long time, I'd start there.

 

see thats weird .. I was told from the dealer that they kick on at 180 .. but i was just out there again tinkerin and checked the fuses and all appear to be fine. I checked under the hood and i cant see that anything is disconnected. but when I fired her up she threw me another cel light .. im having her oil changed at lunch . at the shop.

 

Factory normal oper. temp is 190 or 195. There is no way the engine could reach that if they came on at 180. I would recommend a cooler thermostat also, like a 160 or 170, you may have to order one from JET or hypertech.

 

good to know .. thanks

 

buy it.....im pretty sure it has the problem that all fbody camaros have off overheating. All you need to do is make sure that the fans are moving. Just do what i did.... and run a fan switch to turn it on and off. Because have the relay been replaced?? And it seems like ur aunt did everything else to the car to trying to get it to cool down.

 

hypertech also has a cool fan switch which i replaced, made a big difference.

 

YOU ARE 100% CORRECTIMUNDOOOOOO ... the fans are not working at all WHOOOO HOOOOO ... I know it sounds nuts that im excited but i know it could be so much worse ... and i am still sure this is not the onyl thing going on with it .. but i just had my lunch hour and i inspected this thing from head to tailpipe and all i found so far is a slight leak of ATF. smallest amount of oil on the bottom of the oil filter. but wheni put the filter wrench on it, she tightened up again with ease so it was probably loose. the oil pan was BONE DRY .. no leaks. at all first for me let tell you. i am sooo impressed with this car its making me sick .. lets talk about options about this fan not working .. what s worst case if replacing the fan assembly because i would want everything new and done right so has anyone found parts for these cars to be costly... aside from typical costly parts .. i drive a Jetta and i **** you not .. the cap,rotor button and wires were over $300 for a 4 cly basic 1998 old body style jetta .. so .. tell me what ya know? thanks again... and one more thing .. what is with this site logging you off every 5 mins .. geesh i spend more time logging in they i do reading or replying ..

 

To check if your fans and relay are operational, find the fan relay which is on the drivers side firewall. It will have a green wire with a whit stripe on it. Jump run a jumper from that wire to ground. That should activate the primary fan. The fan relay should be the one closest to the drivers door. Oh, and a cap rotor and wires should be about 60 bucks. lol. Enjoy the plentiful parts!

 

hi, reading your comments about bubbles in your radiator has me thinking also....I can hear the bubbling from my cooling system and the "hot" level in the overflow tank can sometimes be a little over. I can see the bubbling in the tank also. Does this really mean that there may be a head gasket problem? sorry for coat tailing on your thread, but you have me a little worried... Mike

 

Well I can say just in general .. if you got your coolant in the resivoir boiling she is scorching hot .. but if its just air bubbles I havent yet fully understood all that could cause that .. aside from a blown head gasket. .. mine is just bubbling ... and another thing i noticed today .. i had the Oil changed today for the first time in 4 years and it was NASTY .. like liquid sand paper .. and the rear end was bone dry .. so I flushed the motor with some regural 10-30 then re did it with 5-30 Fully synthetic oil from Pennsoil. they guys at the shop said I was waisting my money on that oil and it is not needed in this car but my aunt in law (if thats a name for her) said that she thinks she was using that . so I didnt want to change back to regular oil. .. the oil pressure gauge seems to always be pegged all the way past 60 and im worried about that ... whats the normal idleing iol pressure and also when driving under normal conditions. ..

 

It could be a bad oil pressure sender. Try replacing it, they don't cost much. Our 2 f-bodies both run about 30 PSI at idle and increase while driving due to higher RPM's.

 

yeah thats what i thought .. but im soo afraid that if it is actually correct oil pressure readings .. Im gonna blow the thing apart ...

 

to be safe, hook up a mech. oil presure gauge to get an accurate reading. I'm sure the shop across the street could help you with that.