ok, heres the deal...this is a long story, so grab yourself something to drink

Heres the deal with my car, STOCK 1992 305 TBI (yea so what, i still do the 1/4 in low 9's ), but anyways, when its cold, the car never warms up...

I have plenty of coolant in the radiator, it is full, and even some spills out into the overflow...

Instance...cold winter day, i can drive my car to college(which is around 15-20 miles away, mostly Interstate 75), and the car will never get far above the 100 degree mark, with or without air dam deflector on, and the heat, altho not cold, isnt nothing none to warm, unless it gets around the first tick mark above the 100...

which bring me to my next question, is that tick mark between 100 and 220 160 degrees?

next thing is my fan wouldnt kick on at 220 anymore, it would kick on when i turned the ac on, so i assumed it wasnt a problem with the fan...

changed the sensor that plugs into the block, and put the old connector on it, and the fan kicked on, but when i changed it, the plug that went into it was so old it crumbled, and i had to rig it in there to stay in, then i bought the new plug from GM, spliced it in, and its not working again, its never turned on since the new plug, im pretty sure my splice job was ok, and im almost sure i got the plug on right, but i will check those out later this week...

my friend came over yesterday, and we hooked his diacom and laptop up to my ECM, and the Manifold Air Temperature reads 392 degrees all the time, plugged in or not plugged in, so i assume there is something wrong with the MAT sensor, i will replace that also...

we watched the temp on the diacom, and it seems like my gauge is off, but not really, when it was at 185, it was around the first tick mark, and when the gauge hit 220, the diacom was on 224, so it appears it isnt really off, but i dont know what that first tick mark is supposed to be, i would assume it is 160, but we all know what happens when we assume something...

by the way, the car has 186,000 on it, looks great, and runs like a rock...

so any general imput or questions would be appreciated...


- Scott

 

Sounds like the thermostat might be stuck open....I'd check that

 

Ok, the thermo is not stuck open, no water is passing through while the car is cold...

The fan, also kicked on, right before the tick mark before redline on temp...

What gives?

 

ttt

 

Ok so if your fan is coming on now.. you don't have that problem anymore right? From what I've read the normal temp for your fan to come on is 220-230, although you can wire aftermarket switches and relays to turn it on at an adjustable temp.

Realistically, your heater won't produce any warm air until there's warm ...air or fluid, don't remember which, in the engine anyway... so I don't think there's any real problem there either.

so what is the problem? Your car runs too cool? Mine too But we're very very lucky and I wouldn't complain!

What temp is the car running when it's warm outside? (Like 70-80-90 degrees)

James

 

My wifes 96 Cutlass did the same thing as far as not getting warm air,and the temp going way up and then finally dropping real fast, only to climb again, Up down up down, nothing gradual...but also we were losing coolant, wich for the life of me I couldn't find.......Well to make a long story short...$750.oo and an intake manifold gasket later, the problem was solved...it wouldn"t lose much coolant but it seems just being a little short can make alot of difference in these systems....is your overflow bottle level were it should be? In the cutlass, once the bottle got below the cold line she would start to have problems.....
I did the swap in my Camaro, But I couldn't begin to do the work on her car with the tools and skills I have.....Thank *** for Small Block Chevy's...:hail:

Hey how come I cant Type *** ?

 

I just thought it was bad for the can NOT to warm up, plus, it sucks *** being cold as hell in the winter...

 

The only way your engine will overcool is with some radiator flow. This could be through the thermostat, or it could be through the return system from the heater core (the 3-way hot water valve). Turn the heater to OFF/COLD and see what happens. And don't trust your dash gauge to be that accurate. The Diacom readings of the CTS are a much better indication.

 

Which reminds me....

Why does hot air come out of the center console vent (the one by my knees, below the radio) when my fan is "Off" but on "Hot" - is my heater producing heat in anticipation of being turned on, and just venting the excess?

Of course I just put it on Off/Cold...but I was still curious.

James