hey i have always had a problem with overheating...... my old 305 overheated and my rebuild 350 is overheating...... i never really worried about the problem because i just left my heater on all the time and kept my fan going...... but im trying to fix the problem because im tired of the fan relay blowiing up and me having to buy a new one.......


basically it gets hot steadly and the the fan usually comes on and lowers it down..... and the that same process just keeps on going....

were should i start...... some one told me to change my T-stat since i put the same one in from my old 305 and maybe its not opening fully.... any help would be appreciated thanks....

 

might try a larger radiator (3 or 4 core).

 

my radiator looks to be in good condition

 

thats why. those are parts that should be change when ever you do a engine swap. kind of like..... would you reuse your old head gaskets? nooooo.......(unless they were copper)

 

Ok, you have these components that make up your cooling system.

1. Water pump
2. Cooling Fan/ Shroud
3. Thermostat
4. Radiator
5. Fan Switch
6. Air Dam
7. Coolant

Things to check
With the motor cold, start it with the radiator cap off, let it warm up, when the t'stat opens, there should be a lot of tubulence. This tells you a few things. One your t'stat works, two, your water pump works, three the radiator holds coolant, and you can see the level of coolant you have. If all the actual mechanical parts check out, it may be airflow related.

If you have AC, check between the condenser and radiator for debris and leaves. When does your fan come on? Is your air dam in place (directs air to radiator when vehicle is in motion.) What is the temp rating of your t'stat? Ideal is 160* with a carb, for EFI with a chip, to 185* for guys with no PROM tuning. Same principal for the fan switch. I have one in my L98, with a 164-176* range from hypertech. Stock ECM.

 

Is your lower air dam intact?

 

weres my lower air dam at and whats it look like

 

Can someone please tell me......

 

it is a plasic piece under the radiator, if you look at your car from the side, you should see it hanging down.

 

Define "overheating".

What makes you think it's "overheating"?That's EXACTLY how it's supposed to act. It should go up to about 235°, the fan should kick on, cool it down to about 205 or 210°, and shut off; the temp should then climb to 235°, the fan come on, cool it down to 205°, and the fan should shut off;..... all day long. My car will sit there and do that until it runs out of gas.

Sounds to me like your car is working EXACTLY like the factory designed it to work. Like the day it rolled off the showroom floor. What's wrong with that?

 

Had a buddy that thought his camaro was overheating when it hit 180 degrees because some friend of his told him that, that was too hot.

What do you define as over heating?
Boiling over etc.??

Did you switch the radiator when you switched the engine?

 

I had the same problem with my engine. Camaros are prone to overheating. I bought a Griffin Radiator for about 160.00. It has two, one inch rows. I believe the size was 31X19. Sitting in traffic, my car doesnt rise above 190*. The stock copper radiators are just plain junk

 

no, they're not. atleast not the ones with electric fans and factory alum radiators.

but camaro owners are known to not know how to diagnois a cooling system...



ok, thats not fair... firebird owners have that problem too.. lol. (j/k around)


true, but the factory alum ones can keep 500+hp engines cool. and they fit. and they're cheap. and they're the most popular OEM replacement to be used in non stock applications.. they're huge and efficent.
they do have plastic tanks that cannot be easily repaired, but as long as you didnt mount it stupid, it also lasts over 100,000 miles before it has issues.

the aftermarket alum ones are great.. no doubt on that, but the factory replacement ones work very well, and are cheaper.

 

Where do you get those aluminum ones, the OEM ones that is, how much are they ? Any hope of finding one at a junkyard, one where the aluminum wouldn't be corroded ?

 

Napa has them for ~$130.

 

our cars run hot. we have sports coupes. now by hot i mean 235'ish* ... overheating is red lineing in your temp gauge. now... my car likes to run about 160-235... but on the highway, more around 160... in town and idle is a bit higher of course... and around 180-235

 

do yourself a favor and upgrade your cooling system

my recommendation:
160 stat $10
aluminum dual 1" core rad $160
new aftermarket flexolite fan (easy to rig up) $85
new water pump (just to make sure its working properly)$20
put new coolant in $5
and buy a new air dam if your old one is bent or beat up IT DOES WONDERS $35

my car doesnt run over 180* in any situation whatsoever...all said and done (which you could just save and do it part by part) cost me about $300 bucks

 

well i think my car is overheating because most cars sit at a certain temperature and usually dont go any were......
but my temperature goes up and down when the fans working........


but when my fan relay blows up my car starts to smoke and thats when i know i need a new fan switch and think to my self man i need to get this fixed...............


does anyone know were i can buy a good radiator that willl work and not a very expensive one.... try to keep it under 200 please!!!

 

1/ if you'll notice, steckman posted that you could get one from napa for $130
2/ you have NOT posted temperatures, our cars DO move the guage quite a bit sitting/driving in traffic - that's normal and NOT overheating.
3/ you haven't said if you do have an intact air dam - 3rd gens are bottom breathers and MUST have a working, intact air dam in place

Now, you should NOT be blowing a fan relay. My car has 130k on it and has the original fans and relays and they work just fine. But for any further diagnoses we need to know

temp guage actually working right? and where is the needle when the fan kicks on, and where is it when you think it's overheating?
intact air dam?
WHEN overheating? Driving on highway? or only around town?

 

as i wrote, buy a summit alum rad for under 200 bucks and youre done
Summit Racing - High Performance Car and Truck Parts | 800-230-3030

youll have to get an external trans oil cooler...but its worth it and might be cheaper than getting the direct replacement below that is $300

Summit Direct Fit Aluminum Radiators: SUM-380455 - summitracing.com

 

Also, a bad radiator cap will cause overheating and bubbling overflow coolant. Mine was running really hot 220-230 when it normally runs 180 or so, and I replaced the cap with one of those pressure tab caps.

I read through most of the posts and didn't see that addressed. Forgive me if I overlooked it.

 

And yes i do have my air dam connected on the bottom of my car....


I called napa and they said the only one they have is a replacment one with a 3 core brass compartments instead of plastic for 138 dollars and it does not come with the tranny coller i have to buy that seperate......

is this the one you guys are talkin about?????

 

If you're going to get onew without a trans cooler, i'd reccoment the griffin Part # GRI-1-25272-X from summit for 189. Your tranny fluid will also stay alot cooler if you mount an external cooler in front of the radiator. This is the same setup that i have, and it works awesome

 

I had overheating problems, i installed an older style air dam and my problem was solved. You can get one here, its only $25 and got to me pretty fast so i say its worth a shot. Camaro 82-92 Lower Radiator Air Dam - GM-3929

 

and i know some of you were wondering when it was getting hot it only gets hot in traffic and around town and not on the highway

 

yep pretty much the same problem i had with my car. Ever since the new radiator it doesnt get over 190 in traffic

 

stroker the radiator you told me about is universal it aint gonna fit right in, is it

 

Mine fits right in the same location. All i had to do was remove the rubber mounts on the bottom and the top plastic piece which holds the radiator in place bolts right up. You might have to trim a little bit. Pictures might explain a little.

 

how much is a trens cooler and were and how am i gonna mount it

 

you can get one from a parts store for about 50 bucks, it comes with plastic tabs that slide through the radiator and hold it in place. Then you'll have to run lines to the cooler from the transmission.
It all sounds kinda hard but it's really easy

 

well i have called all the car parts places around town............ and they all say they only have the stock replacements...... so can you guys give me a couple of radiators i should choose from on summitt please.................

 

i was thinking about this one???
Proliance Radiators: PLI-438918 - summitracing.com

or this one
Proliance Radiators: PLI-433729 - summitracing.com

 

So, why are you replacing ANYTHING?

It's not defective. At least, you haven't told us about anything being defective. Everything you've described, is working EXACTLY the same as the day the car was brand new, as I also described.

Most cars DO in fact do exactly as yours is doing now; in fact, virtually ALL wrong-wheel-drive ones do, and all right-wheel-drive ones with electric fans. That's how an electric fan works. It's not running until the engine reaches a certain temp, then it comes on and cools the engine down some, and shuts off when it's satisfied, and the engine heats up again, and the fan comes on and cools it down and shuts off and the engine heats up and ...... until it runs out of gas or starts moving, which forces air through the rad without requiring the fan.

You're not going to make it do amything different by swapping the radiator. You could put a rad in it that's big enough to cool an 18-wheeler, and all that will happen, is when the fan comes on, it will cool down quicker and then shut off and the engine will heat up and the fan will come back on and ...... just like it does now.

What makes you think this normal condition is a case of "overheating"?

 

now let me continue on this..


why does your gauge move, but modern car gauges stay "straight up"???


because you have an ACTUAL temp gauge.. but their "gauge" is PCM controlled..

thats right.. the gauge on most cars is computer controlled, and it LIES to you...

why would the OEMs do such a thing?


because people are ignorant of cars.

• its NORMAL for the temp to swing in a specific range.. its made that way... but people see it and flip out.
• idiots think their car is overheating at random numbers.. some people freak at 200.. some at 220... fact is, your car, and almost every car made since the late 80s has been made to stay around 225-230ish... (thats right... for the last twenty-something years, two friggin decades, its been like this.. yet idiots still worry about it...) it is because of these ignorant people that OEMs went to H/C temp gauges instead of numbers.... but they still moved... now they just "warm up" and only peg the gauge when the engine starts to really overheat.

heres the fact... you need to learn how the cooling system really works before you go off spending money..

i dont mean "how to swap parts"...

i mean:
KNOWING that it is the THERMOSTAT that sets the MINIMUM temp.
KNOWING that as long as the radiator can transfer enough of the heat to the atmosphere, its not a limiting factor.
KNOWING that unless you change when the electric fan comes on, it will still heat up to that same temp before kicking on.
KNOWING that without an air damn, the car will overheat in motion.
KNOWING that if you advance the timing too much, esp at idle, the car will overheat no matter what.


the important thing is knowing how the whole damn thing works, in its entirety, before getting into anything....
then knowing how to troubleshoot.
and then, and only after all that, should you put a wrench to the car.

 

ok maybe i should of named the post im heating a little to much...... happy.....

what about when my relay blows and my car then blows head gaskets like numerous times already....

also why does my friends 85 run at about 190 and never goes past that.....

i might not know as much as you guys do but i have abunch of other people telling me they had the exact same problem untill they bought a better radiator....... and if you dont believe them just scroll upa little ways and read your self.....

 

was thinking about this one???
Proliance Radiators: PLI-438918 - summitracing.com

or this one
Proliance Radiators: PLI-433729 - summitracing.com

 

well, then i would try to figure out WHY the relay blew... ive had several thirdgens and ive known alot more.. of us all, ive only known one person to ahve a GM fullsize weatherpack connector relay fail... and it was for is fuel pump, not his fan.. (incidently, he got home by putting his fan relay inplace of the fuel pump relay... )

i would guess that he has a 190* thermostat, and either he always has the fans on, or he has a mechanical fan, or he has some other method that allows the transfer of more heat then the engine is creating.. allowing him to remain at the thermostat temp.




and ive heard a bunch of other stuff too.
yes it can band-aid a problem. yes it can solve your potentally non existant problem..
if you want to go this route, i reccomend a GM OEM style one for a 91fbody.

also, if you put a lower temp thermostat in, say a 190 like your friend, i reccomend you have the electric fan kick on at 195 or 200ish... this will keep your temps down to near the thermostat.

 

i understand what your sayin my fan n doesnt come on untill really late almost at over heating temperature...... i dont even no how to have it come on earlier.......

and also im thinking about buying a new radiator anyways because it has a leak it small but it is leaking....... are those radiators i listed oem type radiators?????????????????
----------
Proliance Radiators: PLI-438918 - summitracing.com
do you mean something like this

 

hello!!!!! can i please
have some suggestions......

 

Ok, maybe I am old and senile. You upgraded your engine from a 305 to a 350. Say about 2-3000. You saved 15.00 by using the same thermostat? You proably could have saved another 10 -20.00 if you used the same oil also.

 

in a nutshell your fan system works like this:

when the key is on, your fan relay has +12v.


on the passenger side of the engine, there is a thermal switch.
when it reaches its set temp, it clicks to ground... this grounds your relay.


when the relay is grounded, it kicks the fan on.




to have it come on sooner, replace the fans coolent temp switch with one that clicks on sooner.
if you search on here, you'll find part numbers (i dont have them memorized anymore..)