hello, i come from a world of inline 6. 1 head, 1 exhaust, 1 intake, 2 cams and 1 head gasket. This is my first V type engine and its still taking me awhile to adjust.

Background: I recently bought a super beater 1989 RS 305. The car is a complete mess. I bought it because I was under the impression the engine was in decent condition besides an exhaust mani.

Situation: On the way home from buying this beater the heat was at 220, which is hot but not overheating. When i got off the freeway and pulled up to the light I noticed a tiny bit of smoke steaming up the windshield, by that point my heat was at about 240 or so but i figured it was just from the bad manifold. I was only a street away so i decided to keep going, I had to go up my hill and by the time i got to the top my car was at about 250+ (the guage stops at 250 and it was waaay over the 250 mark).

The temp guage is aftermarket mechanical so im pretty sure thats close to accurate temps.

When I popped the hood the resivour was bboiling and the car warmed me up pretty good. I only looked at it for a second but the thing that caught my eye the most was the ripped pcv line.

When i get off work ill check the basics and figure out what next

 

The PCV system won't cause overheating. Make sure the air dam under the radiator is intact, and the fans are working.

 

I understand the fans need to be working but would the air dam cause as much overheating as i experienced?

 

Sounds to me like your cooling system isn't holding pressure properly. Look for a small leak or bad rad cap. Worst case could be a failed head-gasket or cracked head.
Pressure checks are in order.

 

I wouldn't expect the cap to hold pressure at 250 degrees.

 

Flush the cooling system and replace the thermostat. Start from there and work your way up to what the others have mentioned: fan, fan switch, radiator cap, water pump.

 

found a big problem... the fan was not plugged in. i havent checked to see if this was why it was overheating but i know its going to keep those temps lower... im going to kragen to get some coolant and a lower temp thermostat for this san diego weather.

I also found a big bottle of stop leak in the back seat so i know its leaking from somewhere now

 

Cool, you caught the fan issue. They also sell kits that contains a dye and a blacklight so you can find the leak a bit more easily. Maybe something to look at.

 

ya I heard of those dye kits, I also just realized that my radiator cap looks like the original cap from the factory, so thats getting replaced also

 

Did you ever get a dye kit and find the leak sources?

 

Yup, I traced it back to my drain plug and a small crack on the bottom of the radiator.

I have a new radiator here waiting to go in... just too lazy

 

Dang Sparkplug, this Camaro is really putting up some challenges. Have you bought a repair manual yet? A Haynes isn't the greatest but it helps. I look forward to seeing more of your progress. I'm just up the road from you.

 

Cool deal. Good thing it wasn't the engine.

 

lol this car is definitely not too friendly but i like when they play hard to get! lol jk, but a man really builds a relationship with a car he has to get dirty under then a car he only changes oil in. imo of course

you should hit me up, we can hang out some time. how u doing with your search for the right firebird? Theres a really beautiful black 4th gen bird around my neighborhood, seen it driving back and forth today and fell in love, too bad a headlight was out lol

there is also a really cool little mustang restoring shop down the street, its fun stopping by there and seeing what they got going, they have a really nice fox body saleen in mint condition

Ya man definitely, the plastic part of the radiator had a hair size crack right on the bottom, thirdgenranch hooked me up though, good people there!

 

also found a leaky upper radiator hose. This was my fault though because when I changed the thermostat I cut a little bit of hose off and when I put it back on I realized it was barely on the water neck. The thermostat was the first thing I changed on my car and I barely discovered the leak.

 

hi.just purchased 86 camaro was tpi now carb.had blown head gasket,had heads crack tested all ok.replaced gaskets and put alloy 4 core radiator in. wire up 1 fan with thermo stat in radiator hose.car running at 220 fan cutting in at 195 but takes 9 mins to turn off after car turned off and one side of radiator is cool as is hose but other side hot?should i run both fans on thermostat .sorry to appear dum but any help would be appreciated.thanks rob

 

Run them both on the thermostat and possibly get a lower temp thermostat. 160-180