ok its a '91 3.1L camaro. when driving the temperature gauge goes up a little high, sometimes it will be right on, and others it will go up to about 260-270, but if i mash the gas pedal for a while, it will go back down to normal operating temp. and i'm not losing any coolant either. does this sound like a thermostat issue or a water pump going bad? and a couple of times it has gotten a little to high and i have had to pull over and shut it off and let it cool down, but as soon as i does cool down i can crank it up and it will drive and act normal until its next jump.

 

make sure your heater cor isn't leaking. Make sure you don't have a air lock or something in your engine ( open your radiator cap when car is cool and not running, start the car wait for the thermostat to kick in and put that cap back on.) then check to see if your thermostat isn't going bad if not that see if your water pump is leaking...

 

i dont think the heater core is leaking, i pulled up the carpet on the pass. side floor board and didnt find any moisture whatsoever. but i guess i can pull the dash off and double check. i know the water pump isn't leaking becuase i've checked that numerous times, not a drop coming from it. but hopefully its and air-lock as you said and i guess i'll pull the thermostat tonight and check it. but thank you harmonycamaro for the advice. i will check back with my results.

 

welcome

 

sounds like the fan isnt working. check fuses and relays

 

you know come to think of it i had to change my ACC fuse the other day when i was fooling with my battery. maybe the fan fuse is blew as well. thank you 50bmgshooter, i hadn't even thought of that. do you know where the relay is? i know there is a fuse for it under the dash, but is there any other relays and fuses under the hood that you know of? thanks again, i would have never thought about that

 

Driver side firewall, corner of engine bay. Relay for fuel pump and fan.

Check air dam condition
Check if anything is blocking air to the radiator (leaves, dirt etc.)
What mixture is the coolant? May need coolant flushed if old?

 

i cant thank yall enough, this was really starting to worry me. ill check those relays ihtwwd and the other suggestions and check back with ya'll. ya'll have been great

 

Before you really spend a lot of time chasing fuses and such. Just turn the car on and turn the AC on and see if the fan turns on. if the fan doesn't turn on when the AC is on, then look into fan fuse or relay or fan issues.

Otherwise, i would look into the thermostat being a problem. I would also fully flush the coolant system if you notice the fluid isn't clean, or that there is a lot of corrosion on the thermostat when you check it out. It's a very easy and simple fix.

The other issues can be a bad radiator cap. Not relieving pressure causes the temperature of the coolant to rise.

 

ok guys im back. i turned the car on and cranked the AC up, and the fan didnt do anything. checked the fuse and it was good and pulled the relay out and it looked fine as well. but there is also no freon in the car, as i believe it has to have a certain amount for the AC compressor and fan to kick on, or i may be wrong. another thing i am thinking about is that right now is i have no speedometer. when reinstalling the 7004r i rebuilt, i did not have a speedo gear to put in, so i had to order one and it hasnt come in yet. i may be wrong, but doesnt the cars fan turn on and off with the vehicles speeds?

 

it turns off when the car is over 40mph.

I'm not so sure if the relay is tripped via the compressor or if it is tripped by the slider in the heater/ac controller deck.

Fans dont last forever though. if you can, unplug the fan and wire it directly to the battery to see if it turns on. You could have a dead fan . My car did when i bought it. Junkyard fans aren't that expensive if you got a yard nearby.

 

ok, i'll try hot wiring it and see what i get. if its still good i guess i can run it to an extra toggle swith i already have mounted and control it from there until i get the problem (whatever it might be) fixed. thanks safemode and others, i dont know what i'd do without yall and thirdgen.

 

Well, if it works, then you have to consider the relay being bad. (which would negate your toggle switch idea)

My guess is if the temp switch doesn't kick it on, and the ac doesn't but the fan works when you hotwire it, then the relay is bad.

 

ok, im about to go out there right now and try and hot wire it. and so if the how wire works, then is it for sure the relay, of is there anything else that could have malfunctioned. sorry for all the questions but once i leave work i dont have access to a computer anymore till tommorow, i would love to have it fixed before then. thanks again safemode.