My 92 camaro is overheating at about 220 degrees with a 160 degree thermostat on it. I have gone through ever part of the cooling system that I can think of and it won't fix it. The gauge is also messed up and tops out almost everytime I drive it longer than 30 minutes. I have replaced the water pump, thermostat, hoses, coolant temp sensor and sending unit, and have flushed the system multiple times. any help would be great, thanks

 

Is the black air dam still on the bottom, and is the fan coming on at all? These cars need the air dam and if the fan is not coming on that is a problem with either fan or relay, you could test it by hot wiring it, short term.

 

ya, the air dam is present

 

Does the air dam still point slightly forward, or is it now pointing a bit backwards? Believe me, I've gone through all the possible fixes to cure my overheating problem, new rad, dual electric fans from a later 3rd gen, etc. It still overheats in stop-and-go traffic in the summer, in the staging lanes at the drags and autocross and when lapping on a road course. I'm suspecting I may have a bad head gasket (one of the plugs always looks dirty) buy I'm just too lazy to check. The car is no longer a daily driver, so it's not a big deal anymore.

 

Is it actually boiling over, or is the guage just reading hot? These factory guages are never correct.

Is fan running?

Have you replaced the rad cap?

 

If it's overheating at 220 then it's not an airflow problem. No matter how much airflow it gets it's going to continue to boil over at 220 until you find the leak. Finding some way to try to keep it from reaching 220 isn't the answer. Fix the right problem.

The system should be able to maintain enough pressure to not boil over at only 220 degrees (which is actually kinda cool). Start with your radiator cap. It's like $3 and a common fail point. If that doesn't fix it, pressure test your system and find out where it's leaking and why it's not maintaining adequate pressure.

If it's not boiling over, it's not overheating.

 

i have pressure tested my system and replaced the cap. It is not leaking anywhere, and my head gaskets are good as well because i am not getting any water in my oil or out the exhaust, and the car runs reasonably okay. besides the overheating at 220. and the gauge is not correct, i know that, I have tested it with a laser thermometer. I just would like my car to run cooler because it is causing other issues like my clutch fluid boiling.

 

If it's boiling over at 220, pressure test it again. If it's not boiling over it's not overheating.