When I first purchased the motor (8,000 miles on motor currently) that is in my car now, the guy I had bought it from eliminated the heater core. He did this by blocking off the water neck outlet to the heater core. Keep in mind that no stock TPI coolant lines are left. There is a lower rad. hose to the water pump, upper rad hose, line from the outlet on the intake to the heater core and a return line from the heater core to the radiator.

Last summer, I replaced the radiator, cap, heater core, all lines and clamps, flushed the coolant and replaced the thermostat with a 180 degree thermostat. The car ran at 180 all last summer with no overheating problems.

Since I live in minnesota I had to put a block heater on my car last winter (unfortunately my camaro is my daily driver). The block heater spliced into the inlet for the heater core and returned into the bottom of the radiator. When it started to warm up again this spring I noticed the water temperature kept getting warmer and warmer as the temperature outside rose. I thought since I had the block heater in still, it was causing the water temp to rise (longer path for coolant to flow). I removed the block heater, put a new thermostat in and flushed the coolant again. I also checked the air dam under the car and it is fine and functional. When the car has sat for a day or so and the motor is cold, it takes about five minutes for the car to hit 150 degrees, then about seven or eight minutes for the car to hit 180 degrees. It seems to stop around 210-220. I undertand that these cars were made to run at 220 degrees, but why is it running that hot with a 180 degree thermostat and the fan constantly on? I have aftermarket dual fans that are hard wired and turn off and on with a switch, they get turned on as soon as I start the car.

Another thing that I have noticed is that when I fill the coolant resevoir, It seems to disapear in a few weeks or so. I have checked the coolant level in the radiator, put a pressure tester on and checked for leaks, it holds the recomemded stock (about 11-14lbs) pressure. Is it possible that I have a problem with my head gaskets? The reason I ask is because of the way the coolant system was ran when I purchased the motor. I have changed the oil and checked for "milkyness", but everything seems fine.

Sorry for the novel guys, Just tring to give you the most info possible. If you have any ides/questions that could help me out please feel free to put your two cents in.

Thanks

 

Hasn't MN been having a heat wave lately? What is the outdoor temp?

Are your 210° coolant temps in city or on highway? With or without A/C use?

I had a head gasket go on me a few years back. Oil was clean. But the overflow kept disappearing. Or bubbling like a cauldron after shutting the car off.

 

the car has no a/c. so there is no condenser. and it only rises in temp when i'm on the highway. i only drive 8 miles to and from work so i never realy drive that long. but i have a few trips comming up and i have to make sure its fixed. i dont hear any bubbling when i shut the car off. the temp outside is not too hot. its nice out lately normally in the 70's

 

Try turning the fans OFF on the highway. Stock fans shut off at 40+ mph. Having them on would restrict the air flow.

 

even if they pull air?

 

Yep.

 

from your comment the temp rises on the highway and your picture it looks like you have no lower air damn under the car

 

because when that picture was taken i had no air dam. i had a carbed motor, no air dam and no overheating problems. ever since i have had tpi i have had problems. I took a 150 mile trip today, tried driving on the highway without the fans on and the temp rose... problem with my air dam maybe? or radiator? i'll post a pic of my air dam and you can tell me what you think.

 

ok. here are a few pictures of the air dam.

 

air damn looks fine in those pics that's usually the only problem when the temp rises on the highway u can control the fans ? on/off switch just leave the fans on see what happens

 

the fans run constantly and the temp still rises. so i'm lost.. radiator fins cloggged? head gaskets shot? i think the head gaskets are fine. water pump bad? it sounds fine, bearings sound good. pretty much the last thing it could be is the radiator of the fans.. but the fans pull air through and they are pretty strong. so i'm thinking the radiator..

But the biggest thing i dont get is why the temp doesnt rise at a speed of around 30mph...

 

I checked the passenger side floor today after i got home from work, it was a little wet. Then I proceeded torun the motor with the rad. cap off and the coolant bubbled... so maybe i have a leak in the heater core? I'm going to bypass it tomorrow to see if that helps.

 

heater core is probably leakin alil but that wouldnt make it overheat how about the belt could be slippping at highway speed and do you have under drive pulleys on it?

 

it would make it overheat if i'm losing coolant and coolant pressure which its looking like i am. its a brand new belt, no slipping at the moment. Yes there are underdrives on it.

 

Eliminated the heater core and flushed the coolant... still climbs above 180 with a 160 thermostat.

 

how much coolant loss do you have if the floors wet or damp not likely if you have a green puddle yes then how about your rad. cap ? my heater core leaked and had a puddle but it didn't overheat unles your losing a TON of coolant

 

i'm going to get a new cap today hopefully... the current one is only a year old...

 

got a new cap... and it still gets hot. i'm going to test the coolant for combustion gases and see if its the head gaskets.

 

Hmm timing issue? IDK just throwing it out there. My car seems to stay 180 when driving around town and on the highway, when it sits it goes up to 210 or so and goes down.

Quick question, to remove the thermostat do you have to take off the throttle body? I see it's kinda tight there.

 

no you don't have to remove the throttle body. hhmm... I just put a 190 degree thermostat in and now my car runs 220-230 isn't that too hot??? I was running without a thermostat and it would stay around 180 and go to 220 if i was sitting still. but now i have the thermostat and it's running hotter. SHOULD I PUT A 180 DEGREE THERMOSTAT IN?WHAT TEMP IS THE CAR SUPPOSE TO RUN AT?

 

these cars were made to run around 220... I fixed my problem. The intake was leaking coolant. Not into the oil... but out of the top, by the cylinder head. I pulled the intake and noticed after i cleaned the surfaces that the gasket surface of the intake is pitted bad, but only around the port that the coolant flows through on the drivers side. Here are some pics I snapped while I tore it apart.

Torn down:


Pic of cyl.head where coolant was leaking from.


Assembly.

 

fully assembled.

 

could oil be leaking from the same spot(under the intake manifold? because i have an oil leak, but its not the rear main seal,oil pressure sensor or the heads or valve covers. so if its not any of those, wouldn't it have to be the intake manifol gasket????? please give me some ideas.. thanks

 

if you notice in one of the pictures how there is RTV (silver) on the front and back of the block... that is what is leaking on yours most likely. There isnt a gasket for that but you will need to run a 3/8" bead of rtv on the front and back along with replacing the gaskets on the cylinder head. Make sure you use quick dry adhesive on the cyl heads, then put the manifold gaskets on, then rtv the fron and back sufaces and bolt the intake on.. make sure all of your gasket surfaces are clean. I used a wire brush on a drill to remove all the crap that was stuck on there. make sure you try to keep all the debris out of the motor.

 

not saying this i your problem but in pictures that you took of your air dam you are still missing some plastic pieces that routes the air that comes in the fog light area to the radiator and the air box

 

I never had them to begin with... I do know what you are talking about though... they really dont help that much if your air dam works right IMO. and you would think that those pieces restrict the air intake.