Ok, my 91 firebird has been over heating bad. So, i flushed the radiator, replaced the radiator hoses, looked at the water pump and it looks ok but i dont know, replaced water pump gasket, changed out the thermostat, and replaced the temperature sender. Weird thing is the temperaure sender was not even connected to the wire it is suppose to connect to. It didnt even have the right type of connection(connecting part of the temp sender is circle, connecting wire is square.) so I got a new one and hooked it up. Now it heats up to about half way(220 degrees) then stays there. The fan kicks on at 220 degrees and keeps it there. But i dont think it should heat up as fast as it is. Any suggestions?

 

it sits at 220 even when youre driving around? the fans are supposed to kick on at 235 or something and shut off at 220. the t-stat opens at 195, unless you got a cooler one. are you going through any coolant, or white smoke out the tailpipe? maybe a compression test should be done to see if you possibly have a head gasket problem.

 

I havent had any coolant loss. The engine runs very smooth with no smoke. I think the thermostat opens at 18X degrees. Be fore this all started I could look in the radiator and see all the coolant moving fast. Now it doesnt move at all for a while and when it does start it moves real slow.

 

Pyrice do u have a stock 195 themostat? I had the same proble when I did. Now I have a 180 high flow themostat and the car stays at 180 all the times takes longer to fully warm and once in a while goes to 195 the highest.

 

I dont have a stock themrostat. I just changed it out and im pretty sure its a 180 something one. It heats up pretty quickly 10-15 minutes to 220 degrees. Then it stays pretty much around there. Going a little higher when idleing. And I thought that my fan was keeping at 220 but my fan isnt turning on, but i know how to fix that. I just dont know why its heating up so quick then stopping.

 

Yea if you have a 180 themostat it should not be getting that warm and staying there. Don you have any coolant leaks. Do you have the stock intake and filter setup?

 

If it idles for 15 minutes and gets to 220, that's perfectly normal. There's nothing at all wrong with that, even with a 180-something t-stat.

Sitting at idle you have minimal airflow over the radiator and minimal coolant flow through the block, it's fine.

What does it do when you drive around?

Replace or check the cap, just for safe measure. It's cheap enough to replace, I say you just do that rather than bother having this one checked.

 

It heats up to about 220 when im driving and when im idleing. There are no coolant leaks. I have stock intake but i just replaced the filter.

 

check and make sure your air dam is still there and intact. thatll cause this problem too.