Whats up? The other day, me and a friend of mine were on the way to the DMV in my 89 GTA and just as I turned the corner, the car idled really low and turned off. Luckily it was near my house so we didn't have to push it far. I would crank it and it would turn on then I would try to give it gas as well as flooring it all the way; the RPM's would go up for a second or two and then shut off. I did this for a couple of times but the car wouldnt stay on. I noticed the temp gauge marked that it was overheating (I was driving it a bit around town earlier that day and it was hot) and under the hood, the engine was blazing!! Later in the day when the car was cool, I fired the it up and it turned on fine with no hesitation; my freind took it for a "test "drive" and left a nice long double line . Anyway the signs are obvious that my car is over heating and it does have a cracked lower radiator hose but the strange thing is that nothing has leaked out of the radiator or resevoir; a freind told me that it might be the frozen thermostat thats not letting the coolant flow. . Sorry for the long story lol! Can anyone help?

Thanks.

I forgot to ask...Was the overheating causing that starting issue I was having? I was wondering about that because the car has never acted like that before.

 

First, get it up to temp, and feel the upper and lower radiator hoses. If they are both hot, then your thermostat is ok, but if they are different temps(one cool and one hot), change your thermostat. Also, make sure the coolant is full, and not dirty or brown. If none of these problems are present, maybe try flushing the system. Hope this helps a little.

 

Right on! thanx for the tips bro! I actually have a bottle of coolant flush...the type that you put in and drive for 3 days and then flush it! I've been told it works wonders. Hopefully thats all thats causing the overheating. Im asking around here 1st for any basic or minor causes to my problem before I take it to a mechanic (just got it out too ).

 

dont forget that damn air dam on the bottom........i had alot of overheat issues with the a/c on(original r 12, only had 1 can since it was new) 220 and rising, i turn the a/c off if it goes over 220. a/c always blows ice cold, and will not see overheat issues at night(cooler temps) runs at about 180-200, give or take normaly w/o a/c , it can have a mind of its own, running a 160 or 170 stat, everything minus the rad is brand new performance parts, motor is mildly mod, rad is stock original 1 row, thinking about going with a perfomance 2 or 3 row, sure this didnt help you much but maybe will get some ideas shot my way

 

now that you mentioned a/c, when I have mine on for a while lets say 10-20 min. smoke starts to come out of the compressor; it could be that the bearing is shot or something but I don't know.

 

220 isnt hot for these cars... well it is but the fans will come on at about 238* and cool untill 195 i believe..

did you check to make sure you actuall have coolant and it hasnt all leaked out of the cracked lower hose?

 

i like a cool running motor call it old school i guess LOL, i got aftermaket fan setup (moves more air than stock) on a toggle switch so it can turn on of off whenever i want it, i run it all the time unless i want a fast warm up for the heater......hoses are new even the heater hoses, new pump, new cap, no coolent loss at all, air damn still there in fact its brand new to and it will get over 220 if i dont cut the A/C off it will boil over, it will creep up some to if its hotter that HMM..HMMM...HMMMMM outside and your in traffic but not over heat. car has 130,000 original miles, i think my rad is clogged, i tried useing comerical flushs, i just think i will go with the 2 or 3 row. anyone got an opinion on my deal?!?! ...............BTW The_Phoenix i think ur compressor is shot, mine is quit and never smokes, if yours makes some racket also its def shot

 

Checked the radiator and it was empty! That damn hose is comin out tomorrow! lol! As for the compressor, I think it is shot because it does make alot of noise! Anyone know how much these run for?; Just a little off subject but a freind taught me recently how to to check if the water pump is working by just opening the radiator cap and waiting until it warms up a ittle then check to see if fluid is flowing. Mine was flowing while it was cold and supposadly thats bad....so my freind told me! is this true??

Thanks!
L8R!

 

yea, you can sometimes "feel" water flowing in the hoses if you try to crimp them with your hands...........or a sure fire way is to take the upper hose of and take the stat up leave it off and fire it up, i water come flying out it works LOL ...............Advance Auto price for comp,
Rebuilt with clutch $150
New with clutch $245

has your A/C already been converted to 134a?? if not you may want to buy new hoses if you still got R12, as the molecules is 134a are smaller than the ones in R12, so the old hoses may not leak 12, but will 134a sometimes, also make sure if you are converting to pull a vacuum on it to get ALL the 12 out because they are not compatable the 134a oil mixed with 12 will basicly turn to acid. i still got the orignal 12 in mine, so i cant say how good the 134a proforms in our setups, i do know that 12 is better, as it will cool faster and cooler

 

Thanx for looking up those prices for me 89RS! For some reason I thought those things ran from $250-$300 . Yeah the a/c has already been converted to 134a and it does cool the interior a bit but doesn't blow out the air like it should; thats why I asked about the compressor or could it be the blower motor not working?

Thanks