car overheating
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 235
Likes: 0
From: Auckland
car overheating
when stationary for ten minutes , can hear fan working hard , car makes a slight hissing noise, no steam any where, temp getting up 235. once moving the temp goes back down to normal. does anyone have any ideas 
Race Director
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 15,960
Likes: 21
From: West Norriton PA
St. Jude Donor '08
Also check to see that all of your hoses are tight and your anti freeze coolant tank is at the proper level.
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 4,933
Likes: 29
From: San Rafael CA
Sitting at idle the coolant temps climb fairly quickly because there is virtually no "natural" air flow through the engine compartment. The car either needs the fans to pull air through the radiator, or air pushed up by your front airdam (the one that rocks) into the radiator plenum as you drive down the road.
As ajg1915 recommends ... check the plenum area directly behind and above the front air dam ..... the A/C condenser has a propensity to pick up litter such as leaves, paper bags, newspaper .... I even found a former Democratic presidential candidate in mine (It was Chris Dodd) ... no wonder he never got any votes being stuck up there like that ..
There are two other things I would check .... one is the coolant level in the reservoir (Check when COLD !!!) and the other is the pressure cap on the reservoir. Local service stations of any kind should have a "cap tester" that measures at what pressure the cap opens. Yours should open at around 16 PSI (Oh yeaah .... you're one of them "furreners" .... about 1.1 bar ....
) If any doubts, replace the cap ... they are pretty cheap.
Last edited by BlackZ06; May 10, 2008 at 10:14 AM.
Pro
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 735
Likes: 7
From: Bucks County Pa
They run a bit hot
Hi, my 03 auto vert will run up to about 135 in hot weather in traffic before the fans cool it down. At speeds on the highway it will hold about 190 even in 95 degree weather. So I think it is normal. I know the rad and cond are clean and it only has 15k on the odo. It seems to be working properly. I sometimes turn on the AC in traffic on a hot day, even with the top down, it cools it right down to below 200, plus the cool air on my face cools me off a bit to.
Good Luck
Good Luck
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 235
Likes: 0
From: Auckland
i know its not normal i passed my girl friend on the way out when she was on the way home and stopped to talk breifly and even she said whats that strange hissing. ill check what the others said, hope its not serious, cos its starting to miss fire and smells like petrol, or coolant sometimes, and then its fine. wierd
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 4,933
Likes: 29
From: San Rafael CA
i know its not normal i passed my girl friend on the way out when she was on the way home and stopped to talk breifly and even she said whats that strange hissing. ill check what the others said, hope its not serious, cos its starting to miss fire and smells like petrol, or coolant sometimes, and then its fine. wierd
$20USD says the hiss is because the pressure cap on your reservoir is failing ..... otherwise you have a coolant leak but that would quickly be obvious because your coolant level would drop as it leaked out ....
Also, dump your DTC data ... a misfire and smelling like petrol are not usually indications of a coolant leak/problem.
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
Noticed your car is a 2002 (per profile).
Which means that regardless of mileage, the Anti-freeze should have been changed at least one so far (5 yrs or 100k miles).
Has it been changed?
If not, remember the reason for changing is as much to prevent dis-similar metal corrosion as well as spot boiling where the solution is no longer the correct ratio of water to anti-freeze.
Its also a good time to change the thermostat, just because.
Doing both on our 2000 Pontiac TA (same LS1 engine), actually dropped the temperature 5-10 degrees and eliminated some pinging.
Remember to only use GM anti-freeze (and the correct thermostat- e.g. AC/Delco), the danger of mixing different chemicals is not worth the possible cost (even though they 'say' its compatible, don't always believe them).
Which means that regardless of mileage, the Anti-freeze should have been changed at least one so far (5 yrs or 100k miles).
Has it been changed?
If not, remember the reason for changing is as much to prevent dis-similar metal corrosion as well as spot boiling where the solution is no longer the correct ratio of water to anti-freeze.
Its also a good time to change the thermostat, just because.
Doing both on our 2000 Pontiac TA (same LS1 engine), actually dropped the temperature 5-10 degrees and eliminated some pinging.
Remember to only use GM anti-freeze (and the correct thermostat- e.g. AC/Delco), the danger of mixing different chemicals is not worth the possible cost (even though they 'say' its compatible, don't always believe them).
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Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 235
Likes: 0
From: Auckland
it turns out that the coolant level was down about 2 litres, so after idling for 12-15 minutes it was between 210-220 and the fan was not coming on crazy like before. but i also noticed where the radiator hoses come back to the engine the thin one was underneath the fat one and rubbing on that black thing that spins on the front of the engine and has rubbed a hole in the hose. The reason the thin hose was underneath the fat one is my fault because when i replaced the ebcm i put the fat hose back wrong.NOW the question is, is the thin hose corvette specific or can i get a hose from any automotive store???
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 4,933
Likes: 29
From: San Rafael CA
Are you talking about the hose to the throttle body ??? It attaches to the radiator at the top right of the radiator It is a thinner hose than the two main radiator hoses ...
12557352 would be the part number. GM list price is USD 35.62
I'd call either
http://www.gmpartshouse.com
or
http://www.gmpartsdirect.com
and see about getting an international shipment ..... don't know about the South Pacific, but in Europe Caddilac dealers can order Corvette parts .... maybe a Holden dealer can order the part for you with the above number (The Monaro, as I'm sure you know, also uses the LSx engine) ???
12557352 would be the part number. GM list price is USD 35.62
I'd call either
http://www.gmpartshouse.com
or
http://www.gmpartsdirect.com
and see about getting an international shipment ..... don't know about the South Pacific, but in Europe Caddilac dealers can order Corvette parts .... maybe a Holden dealer can order the part for you with the above number (The Monaro, as I'm sure you know, also uses the LSx engine) ???
Last edited by BlackZ06; May 11, 2008 at 03:55 AM.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 43,084
Likes: 33
From: Raleigh / Rolesville NC
Many times you cant see all the sand and dirt that gets stuck between the fins.
