My lt1 camaro is overheating. The fans are coming on, its full of coolant.. How do I know if the water pump is working for sure? I let the car get to 220 degrees and pulled the cap off and it shot up about a foot in the air, so the pump is working right? Next, the top hose never even gets warm and it feels like nothing is in it when I squeeze it.. any ideas?

 

have you drained the coolant recently? If so, did you bleed the cooling system. The WP is in the front and is gear driven. Have you checked the weep hole from underneath? Your description sounds more like a thermostat that is stuck closed.

I run a 180 degree thermostat in my 4th Gen LT1 and have it tuned to kick on the fans at 195 degrees. The stock computer tune has the engine run much hotter before the fans kick on but you said that your fans are running.

 

Opening the cap when it's hot just releases pressure - the pressure comes from the coolant getting hot and expanding, not from the WP running or not. When it's cold, you can open the radiator and look inside - you'll see coolant flowing inside the radiator.

Is it really overheating (steam/coolant spewing out of the overflow tank) or is it just getting warm/hot? 220 is normal operating temp for a Camaro, and 240 to 245 is not unheard of at all. Sure it's not a cut hose that's spewing when it's overheating?

 

The water shooting up has nothing to do with the pump. When the cap is in place, there should be a Vacuum. When you remove the vacuum, the water takes the path of least resistance in a hurry. You should NEVER remove a cap from a hot engine. at least, not without releasing the vacuum gradually. I'm no expert, but i'll make a guess. I would say that it could be your Heater Core or you might have a blown head gasket. I had a Heater Core go out on me and it left a mess on the Passenger Side floor. Is there any water there? If not, i would definately check into the Head Gasket.