I have the carburated one, and it can operate at driving speed for about 10 minutes... then the temp gauge shows over 220. I've taken out the air conditioning compressor and the coolant hoses that hook to it, as I need to replace the unit. Is this causing the problem or is it just a lack of coolant in the radiator?

 

is the coolant low? check that.

is the fan forking, is the air dam in place?

 

Everything seems fine, but theres no coolant in the plastic compartment thing though...

 

The thermostat might be stuck closed.

 

bad fan clutch, aren't those still bolt on not electric?

 

Low/No coolant, bad/no stat, bad water pump. Just changed mine i have no temp gauge though.

Is the 1984 Carb'd 2.8 supposed to have N reading on the battery, oil pressur,e and emp gauge unless something is wrong? Id really like to add these, i have the factory gauges on base coupe, no digital anything.

Oh and CHECK THE HOSES TOO we spent AL LDAY changing the heate rhose AFTER the Water Pump job. Wow what a *****.

 

I am pretty sure the tstat is the culprit as well, since that is about exactly how long it would take for the car to heat up too much to drive, sounds like tstat is not opening to allow coolant to circulate.

The AC system does not use coolant, those hoses are for the refrigerant, so that has nothing to do with it. And of course the first thing you should do is check the water level in the radiator, it should pretty much be full, also possible that there is an air bubble in the coolant which can be fixed by running the engine with the radiator cap removed.

 

You can speed that process up by squeezing the upper hose ~50 times, with the cap off.. CAR RUNNING. level will go up and down with squeeze. It will also "bleed itself out" eventually, though when you turn the car off, look at the coolant in the expansion overflow tank.. you should se NO bubbles (maybe a couple slow ones if you just adjust the whole level and/or changed coolant or water pump, as i did) but if you see bubbles coming up youa re supposed to see none, a normal care mine incl i have same engine as you and mine doesnt bubble you should see NO bubbles coming up, .. that means only one thing.

The level should go down somewhat, when fully cool. It fills in every little crevic, and the air SHOULD gradually dissipate.

The thermostat seems to open pretty quick in this car too. If you see the coolant "get sucked down" int he radiator OR come up fast, chances are that Stat has opened.

Put in a 196-degree Stat

 

Fixed. Thanks for you guys' help.