timing is possible ,how many mile's on it
Need a little help, PLEASE!!
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 271
Likes: 0
From: Sacramento CA
Need a little help, PLEASE!!
I have had my sister's car in my shop for the majority of the summer. She has a '95 Camaro Z28 (I know its not a vette, but it has the same motor-the LT1 with the dreaded Opti-Spark, and I thought you guys could help me out) It has been overheating and I don't know what to do next. This is what I have done:
-replaced: -thermostat
-waterpump
-radiator
-head gaskets
-radiator cap
-resurfaced everything
-checked and double checked fans, hoses, relays, fuses--all okay
The car will idle in the parking lot for 30 minutes and never get above 180, but the second you go to drive it, it pegs the needle up to 260 and boils over.
Could it be the timing? The computer? Good reason for a bonfire?!?
I don't know what else it could be, I thought for sure when I took off the heads and saw chocolate milk I had found the problem. I replaced the gaskets and had the heads surfaced, and it is still doing the same thing. The car will still spin the tires all the way through third gear-in an automatic-but it won't stop overheating.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 956
Likes: 0
From: Mesquite Nevada
This is a long shot, but a while back my mom's IROC started overheating -- bad, boiling over; stayed cool while idling, but once it was out on the road the temp would start to climb. Did a lot of the same things you did, changed thermstat, replace waterpump, replaced radiator & cap -- still the same. Then I realized as I was looking under the car, the plastic air dam was missing. Replaced it and the car has never overheated again. Hard to believe that a small piece of plastic could case so much trouble, but it did. As I said, it's a long shot, but it's something to check
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 186
Likes: 1
From: ny
assumign you checked it.. but, when it idles and sits, does th efan kickon? it woudl be cheap to try replacing the temperature sensor.. that went bad in my camaro... so teh fan didn't kick on... also fyi: if thats the case, it woudl prob bypass it if you had the a/c on... so if yo ahd the a/c on sitting there fan runs, then off as you drive away, no fan..
you prob already checked it, but jsut a thought...
if you drive it then sit at a stop light does it go back down?
tj
you prob already checked it, but jsut a thought...
if you drive it then sit at a stop light does it go back down?
tj
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 271
Likes: 0
From: Sacramento CA
Originally Posted by 87Clwy
This is a long shot, but a while back my mom's IROC started overheating -- bad, boiling over; stayed cool while idling, but once it was out on the road the temp would start to climb. Did a lot of the same things you did, changed thermstat, replace waterpump, replaced radiator & cap -- still the same. Then I realized as I was looking under the car, the plastic air dam was missing. Replaced it and the car has never overheated again. Hard to believe that a small piece of plastic could case so much trouble, but it did. As I said, it's a long shot, but it's something to check
Car has 131k miles, but the converters are clear, and I have replaced the temp sensor, that was the 1st problem and why she let it overheat the first time.
One more thing, when you step on the gas the car makes a weird noise, I don't even know how to describe it. It's a squeeky noise and it cuts out like a rev limiter, but it does it at like 2500 rpm.
Last edited by vettebldr1; Aug 10, 2004 at 04:09 AM.
Racer
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 265
Likes: 1
From: Irwindale Ca
I would let it idle and see if the fans come on. They should kick on at 225?. If your fans dont kick on, that is your problem. If they do kick on , I would remove your thermostat completely. You might have air in the engine that needs to be purged. To remove the air, a good idea is to put two small holes in the thermostat so the water will be able to drain into the engine while filling the engine coolant after replacing the thermostat or waterpump or any coolant part. While the thermostat is removed, you can usually take the radiator cap off (when engine is cool) and see the water being pumped. You might have a faulty waterpump. Also check your condenser in front of your radiator. If the condenser is clogged it will limit air movement through the radiator. It really sounds like your cooling fans are not turning on. good luck and let us know what the problem was. 
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Instructor
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 216
Likes: 0
From: durham nc
looks like you said it was an auto ,have you check the fluid and the trans cooler ,i believe on our vette like most auto the trans fluid runs threw the radiator and if something worng or is cuseing the fluid to run out it will raise your water temp
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 271
Likes: 0
From: Sacramento CA
Originally Posted by madmike
I would let it idle and see if the fans come on. They should kick on at 225?. If your fans dont kick on, that is your problem. If they do kick on , I would remove your thermostat completely. You might have air in the engine that needs to be purged. To remove the air, a good idea is to put two small holes in the thermostat so the water will be able to drain into the engine while filling the engine coolant after replacing the thermostat or waterpump or any coolant part. While the thermostat is removed, you can usually take the radiator cap off (when engine is cool) and see the water being pumped. You might have a faulty waterpump. Also check your condenser in front of your radiator. If the condenser is clogged it will limit air movement through the radiator. It really sounds like your cooling fans are not turning on. good luck and let us know what the problem was.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 271
Likes: 0
From: Sacramento CA
Originally Posted by raw122
looks like you said it was an auto ,have you check the fluid and the trans cooler ,i believe on our vette like most auto the trans fluid runs threw the radiator and if something worng or is cuseing the fluid to run out it will raise your water temp
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 271
Likes: 0
From: Sacramento CA
checked the heads really good when I replaced the head gaskets, didn't find any cracks, and it was obvious where the gasket was blown, the weird thing was, the first thing I did was a compression test and it was 150 in each cylinder-even with a blown head gasket. 
Thanks for all the input guys--keep it comin'!
Thanks for all the input guys--keep it comin'!
Drifting
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 1,593
Likes: 0
From: Mobile AL
St. Jude Donor '05
If it idles without overheating (no load), then you put load and it overheats, it's not exchanging heat for some reason (duh - just thinking with my fingers). Have you checked to see if the correct water pump is on it? How about the correct thermostat?
Last edited by SilverBeast; Aug 10, 2004 at 01:35 PM.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 271
Likes: 0
From: Sacramento CA
I'm pretty sure I put the right water pump on it, it looks the same as the one I took off of it. But, we got this car at the auction, so I can't say the right one was on there in the first place. I didn't put the same thermostat in it, it had a 190 degree thermostat, but I replaced it with a 180 degree. How do I know if I have the correct water pump?
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 271
Likes: 0
From: Sacramento CA
Just in case anyone has been following this thread, I think I figured it out. It was the opti spark. Contacts were all coroded looking, cleaned off all the corrosion, and it now makes it down the street without hitting the red. Hope it makes it to back to my sister!
