So my car got stolen, and my front air damn was busted off. Now, my auto body guy is saying that there was a factor defect with the 86 T/A overheating. The guy at the pontiac delearship is saying that there was no defect. Which one is right?

 

Ummmmm did you replace the air dam(step 1) Did it over heat before the car got jacked????? And this should be in the Cooling section.

 

You gotta have the air dam it doesnt seem like alot but its a engineering standpoint thats the only place air is coming in is when it hits that air dam, it creates a low pressure area(for the air to go to the raidiator). Mine had 1 piece off of it and it would run really warm, i put that piece on and now its fine. Its not a defect just a piece that is needed

 

was the piece missing from the factory?

 

when i bought it it was in the hatch laying where the tire was supposed to be... guess the previous owner got a little too close to a curb, looks like its been fixed before so i fixed it again until i get it painted then ill get a new one

 

I don't know if the airdam came from the factory installed or uninstalled. I'd have assumed installed. But having it in place might've been a problem going on and off the trucks and trailers, so maybe the car did arrive at dealerships without the airdam installed, in which case the dealers would've been responsible for installing it. Kind of makes sense.

There have been a lot of recalls and bulletins for many things on these cars, like on all cars, so maybe there were some cooling issues. But regardless, that wouldn't be a 'factory defect,' and I personally haven't heard of any factory-related cooling defects. My own car has never experienced anything that might be considered one.

But you haven't been very specific about what your auto body man is saying the defect was... or was that supposed to be it?

 

Considering there are way too many 86 T/A's that don't overheat I think your dealership is right. The 86 had a bugged PROM which GM came out with a replacement. The cars that got painted in Van Nuys also used a water based primer which in many cases led to paint failure or pre-mature fading. But I don't know of a defect regarding overheating. These cars run hot by nature and most have lost an air dam in their 20 years so it isn't unusual for that to get translated into rumors by people that don't know these cars (intimately).

 

Now, GM came out with a 3-piece replacement air dam to take the place of a busted one piece for the Trans Am's...maybe this is what your body dude was talking about. I have a one piece on mine and it stays cool driving, but before I put it on, didn't matter how fast I went it would still heat up.

 

There were some 86 blocks that had issues but the only thing I could ever confirm were they were 350's and I think service replacements. However, I did have a couple mechanics I knew well that suggested the block crack issue was a problem in 1986 in general and I will say that my 86 305 block did crack across the lifter valley and was the source of my running hot/overheating issues with my 86 TA. I would, however, exhaust your other resources like checking the air dam, making sure the radiator and fan are working properly for cooling, etc. before pointing at the block.

As far as the air dam, they had been using the same style for a while and there's nothing tying in its design to overheating issues specific to only 1986, thats just a load of hooey.

 

It has been my experience in the many years I have been dealing with these cars.... that if the front air dam is not in place and/or intact, you will have cooling and overheating problems, especially at slower speeds. That thing has to be in place to funnel air up into the radiator.

 

The air deflector on the irocs is alot better piece.it's larger and does alot beter job of funneling the air upwards than the standard transam piece(which is smaller I think)Has anyone tried putting the iroc one on a transam?What the heck it's underneath the car anyway and can't really be sen.

 

sen=seen sorry

 

The air dams came in the rear hatch area wrapped in a big plastic package (i still have the package mine came in-plus i worked at the dealership at the time) when the cars were delivered to the dealerships. It was the new car prep persons job to install it. Without the damn thing your car will over~heat within about 4-5 miles. Get your damn air dam mounted and it will eliminate 99% of your problems...if it still over~heats go to a junk yard and pick up a dual fan setup, usually can find them in a Z/28 Camaro...most are still good too ! Tell the person that told you there was a problem to go jump in the lake !