HELP! Warm under the hood
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 18
Likes: 0
HELP! Warm under the hood
I know that it seems to be a common problem, but in traffic, my car will get fairly warm. My car is a 1990 with analog guages, and the needle on the water temp guage lays well over the center (about 3/4 of way to red or about 1 cm from the red). A mechanic put it on a diagnostic and said that it was running at 235 degrees when idling, but that both fans were working properly. Can anyone help?
Drifting
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 1,363
Likes: 7
From: 1994 LT1 Coupe 6-speed with FX3 & 2000 LS1 Vert 6-Speed with F45 Hunterdon County, NJ
235 is a bit warm at this time of year.
Have you checked the front of A/C condensor for debris, leaves, bags, etc (radiator type thing viewable when laying on your back just under the front bumper)?
Have you checked the area between the A/C condensor and the radiator (sometimes visible from the passenger side where the A/C lines go through the Radiator top shroud).
How old is the thermostat? If greater than 2 years old it could be the culprit (age causes them to not open as far).
How old is the anti-freeze? If greater than 2 years old, it could have lost some of its ability to prevent spot-boiling, which can create pockets of air within the engine, which can slow or restrict coolant movement within the engine.
Is the radiator cap working correctly? If it does not hold in the pressure, it will allow water to push to the overflow tank so no real loss of coolant, but the loss of pressure can allow spot-boiling and the problems mentioned above.
Lastly, is the water pump working well? How are the temps of the heater hoses and upper and lower radiator hoses -- if not about the same, it could imply the water pump is getting slugish -- especially if higher rpm's than idle seem to bring down the coolant temps.
Have you checked the front of A/C condensor for debris, leaves, bags, etc (radiator type thing viewable when laying on your back just under the front bumper)?
Have you checked the area between the A/C condensor and the radiator (sometimes visible from the passenger side where the A/C lines go through the Radiator top shroud).
How old is the thermostat? If greater than 2 years old it could be the culprit (age causes them to not open as far).
How old is the anti-freeze? If greater than 2 years old, it could have lost some of its ability to prevent spot-boiling, which can create pockets of air within the engine, which can slow or restrict coolant movement within the engine.
Is the radiator cap working correctly? If it does not hold in the pressure, it will allow water to push to the overflow tank so no real loss of coolant, but the loss of pressure can allow spot-boiling and the problems mentioned above.
Lastly, is the water pump working well? How are the temps of the heater hoses and upper and lower radiator hoses -- if not about the same, it could imply the water pump is getting slugish -- especially if higher rpm's than idle seem to bring down the coolant temps.
