I have a 1992 camaro Z28 w/ a 5.7 tpi engine. With the a/c running, the engine temperature rises past 220 even though I have a 160 degree thermostat installed. This happens while I am sitting in stop and go Honolulu traffic. What is the problem. Please help. Mahalo. That means thanks in Hawaiian.

 

this used to happen to me all the time.. and after i installed my turbo cowl hood i havent had a over heating problem since.. and i have the stock thermostat, the cowl lets out so much heat that the stock hood holds in cause we all know heat rises i know that u might not want to do this so there are a few more options.. u could install a twin fan set up from an iroc, or go aftermarket.. or get an aftermarket radiator with electric fan set up. make sure ur fluids are clean and all the air is out of ur cooling system..

 

you said go w/ iroc fans? even though it has dual electric fans?

 

Since you have a Z28 you should already have twin fans. Are you sure everything is functioning properly? There should be no reason why it goes past 220 if it is.

 

what i ment by that is the dual setup.. some if not all real irocs i belive had a dual fan setup mounted to the radiatior u can find the parts on ebay.. i see them all the time..

 

jtnktz..well with the ac on with a stock hood and no mods to the cooling system on an aged car... sitting at idle in the hawaii sun can make it over heat easy.. and ive owned 3 z28s third gens and none of them had dual fans

 

the ac system should kick on both fans. make sure both fans are running when you turn on the ac.

 

i dont think he has the dual fans on his car... i was telling him to install them

 

first things first just bc you have a 160 thermo doesnt mean its working properly. remove it and put it in a pan of boiling warter if it doesnt open you need a new thermo. 2nd make sure your fluid isnt brown and old id get a flush. 3rd on my old jeep i wired up a dual fan setup with a switch in the cab to turn it on whenever i felt it was needed. also if you have a louvered hood look into making them functional it will let alot of heat out

 

I thought Z28's come with dual fans stock but I may be wrong. This car does have dual fans.

I would suggest getting a Iroc hood or something in that nature to let all the hot air out. If you get an Iroc hood you will need to cut it yourself but if you get the Daytona turbo hood it already has side vents in it.

 

i have been informed that using the 160 degree thermo will keep the water flowing so fast that it will not have enough time to flow slowly in the radiator and cool. our engines are designed to run a little hot 212 i believe, so take out the 160 and put in the stock 190.
additionally the computer is set for a 190 and there might be a conflict in the wrong thermo and a computer that tells things to happen at 190.

 

yea tony is right. the 190 thermostat will make it run cooler. how old is the water pump on that car? mine was very weak but would not leak like it is supposed to when it goes bad. it might be a good idea to replace the pump. also sometimes a bunch of leaves gets between the condenser and radiator blocking airflow. check that too. just take off the top shroud off the radiator and look down in front of the radiator. and once again i will say check your dual fans. you need them both working during stop and go traffic! make sure they are coming on. one fan is controlled by the ecm that gets a temp reading from a coolant temp sensor above the water pump in the base of the intake manifold(2wire). and the other one by a temp sensor under the passenger side exhaust manifold(1wire). the relays for both fans are on the driver side firewall they go bad sometimes.

 

OMG you guys are all so misinformed on thermostats its unreal. And secondly if your going to try and run a 160 stat in a computer controled car you need a new chip for it.

 

Also, a 160° thermostat doesn't guarantee the engine to stay that cool. A 180° thermostat is probably the best compromise. The ECM can deal with lower operating temperatures though, it won't run as well as it should w/o tuning for running at that low of a temp.
It's most likely you'll have a tough time staying at 160° unless it's the middle of winter anyways,

They all flow the same amount of water, a thermostat can only open so far.
The only thermostats I know that flow more water are the Mr Gasket/Robert Shaw ones and that still is not a problem.

That is quite possibly the strangest solution to an overheating problem I've seen.

Probably the best statements so far.


One question, is the car completely stock ?

Keep in mind too, that with the A/C on, the condenser is exchanging a a lot of heat and that heat is drawn through the radiator, On a really hot day, 90-100°F, it's going to be much more difficult to pull the engine temperature down, especially if the A/C is on.

You should also try a summer mix of 25% antifreeze/ 75% water and make sure your radiator cap is working. Better just to replace it every few years really, they aren't expensive and it's cheap insurance.

I have also used Red Lines water wetter with success before. There are a few other coolant additives on the market (40 below, Royal purple) that, along with a system flush and fresh coolant mix, should be able to keep any stock/bolt-ons motor happy.Granted, everything else is in good working order.

 

That is quite possibly the strangest solution to an overheating problem I've seen.

With a stock hood the heat is mostly trapped in the engine compartment am I wrong? With the Daytona turbo hood there are side vents that can let some of the hot air out, as hot air rises. An engine will run hotter if it is in an environment that is hot. Same with an Iroc hood, except you will have to make the holes your self. It may not be the much of a change but it is a step closer to a cooler running engine.

 

The problem with switching out a hood for cooling, is its a band-aid to what is wrong with the car. Assuming it does work (because i'm not really sure that a stock hood seals the engine bay off very much anyways), its still only masking a problem. These cars held their proper operating temps with stock hoods from the factory, so there's no reason a hood needs to be changed out to help.

The other issue at hand, is for whatever cooling properties you get for changing out the hood, its offset by the money you'd spend on the hood and getting it properly painted. I'd much rather put money into fixing the problem itself than replacing a perfectly good hood for a band-aid.

 

If the underside of the engine bay were mostly sealed off, that would probably me more correct. As the car moves along the road, the hot air will be drawn out of the engine bay from the underside. It would only be 'trapped' if the car is sitting still. Even then, when the fan(s) run, the hot air is again, pushed out of the bay and underneath the car

If the engine is air cooled. Our cars do not have a Volkswagen engine though (though my '91 has about the equivalent power, it seems...). A liquid cooled engine is not quite as prone to surrounding temperatures like and air cooled engine.
Considering the amount of heat generated inside the engine from combustion, radiant under hood heat isn't going to greatly affect the coolant temperature.

Thus leading me to my statement.

For the price of a hood, time/effort spent to mod it (personal time is still valuable), paint and install, you could replace and upgrade every component of the cooling system.

I'm not saying it's a bad idea, it's already been done and is fine as a supplement to an already good working cooling system.
But, as a solution to a defect in the cooling system, there are better approaches to take.

 

i agree hood mods are a new hood should be the last thing you do.. its somthing to be done after the problems fixed correctly. and i would also suggest the 180* thermo ive always had good luck with them.