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OVERHEATING after CAM Swap

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Old Apr 10, 2011 | 04:33 AM
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Default OVERHEATING after CAM Swap

Today I did a CAM swap in my 2003 ZO6. Everything went rather smoothly and the problem I am having (even after doing a the burp procedure I found online), the car just overheats. FANs are running, but the car just shoots up in the temp department once it hits about 210, it screams up over 250. I am thinking it is a thermostat issue, but would like to see what others have experienced. Thanks in advance.

Micah
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Old Apr 10, 2011 | 09:30 AM
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Thermostats are inexpensive and if all other things have been ruled out,,, it looks like that may be the issue. Pull it out and do the boiling water test and see if it fully opens when it should. That will prove it 100%

Did you recheck the cooling air intake and make sure the space between the condenser and radiator are clean??



BC
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Old Apr 10, 2011 | 10:39 AM
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Did you put the belt back on ? (sorry, someone had to ask :P )

It does sound like the T-stat
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Old Apr 10, 2011 | 10:44 AM
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U have to burp system.Could take more than one try.
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Old Apr 10, 2011 | 01:52 PM
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Originally Posted by Bill Curlee
Thermostats are inexpensive and if all other things have been ruled out,,, it looks like that may be the issue. Pull it out and do the boiling water test and see if it fully opens when it should. That will prove it 100%

Did you recheck the cooling air intake and make sure the space between the condenser and radiator are clean??



BC
When the radiator was off I clean it up really well.

The car has been drive. Multiple times, the belt is on. But I know what you are saying.

We must have tried burping it about six times. Going to attempt things again this morning. Will update everyone later.
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Old Apr 10, 2011 | 02:04 PM
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Originally Posted by mph1972
We must have tried burping it about six times.
Are you using the GM procedure?
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Old Apr 10, 2011 | 02:06 PM
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Another stupid question sorry....Did you refill the coolant after the swap?
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Old Apr 10, 2011 | 02:21 PM
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Originally Posted by lucky131969
Are you using the GM procedure?
Not sure if it is the GM procedure exactly. Do you have it?

And yes we put coolant in it.
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Old Apr 10, 2011 | 02:48 PM
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Did you resuse the same thermostat?
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Old Apr 10, 2011 | 03:00 PM
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Originally Posted by ZZ06
Did you resuse the same thermostat?
Yes I did.
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Old Apr 10, 2011 | 05:40 PM
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From my files:


Last, did you burp the cooling system after you flushed the radiator? Here's the procedure to burp baby:

Start w/ a cold engine
Remove rad. cap
Idle for 1 minute
Install cap
Cycle RPM from idle to 3000 until coolant reaches 210F
Shut off engine
Remove cap
Start engine
Idle for 1 minute
Install cap
Cycle RPM from idle to 3000 until coolant reaches 210F
Shut off engine
Remove cap
Top off

I have repeated the process a couple of times on at least 1 car to get enough trapped air out of the system.

Air pockets in the cooling system will drive you crasy with strange heating symptoms. Don't ask how I know that.........
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Old Apr 10, 2011 | 05:46 PM
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Originally Posted by mph1972
Yes I did.
there isnt really a reason why your old one would fail but those parts are cheap and easy to replace. I just did a cam install as well (dynoed her yesterday) and i used SLP's 160* T. God i hope this thread doesnt go south from here.....
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Old Apr 10, 2011 | 07:20 PM
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Okay, here is an UPDATE and it is a positive one.

Buddy had a 160 thermostat he bought but did not install, so I installed it. Took the old one and put in boiling water and when the water hit 185 degrees it open, so went back and did the burp test. I did not follow the directions that Paul so graviously provided. My buddy has a NICE incline going into his garage, so after we hit cycled it once, I back it onto the incline and the car burped up nice with the change in the stance and heat cycled it again. After that I moved the car so that the passenger nose was higher than the driver (about 1.5-2 foot difference) and oh boy it was like burping my baby boy after feeding him milk. It burped up nicely and the tempt dropped!

Now I need to tweak my tune to get the car to drive smoothly with the new CAM.

Thanks guys for all the help and tips!
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Old Apr 10, 2011 | 07:26 PM
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Glad it was simple. It can be a real pain to bleed all the air out of some cars. Enjoy the new power.
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Old Apr 10, 2011 | 08:48 PM
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You can remove the cap with the engine fully warmed up?
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Old Apr 10, 2011 | 08:50 PM
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To be sure I understand you set the car up so that the front end was inclined higher then the rear of the car?
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Old Apr 10, 2011 | 08:53 PM
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I thought it was just a bunch of bull. But I had already decided to do the burp method after the cam install. It really burps, I couldn't believe it. That's why I keep the steps on hand. Glad it worked for you. How's the cam sound?
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To OVERHEATING after CAM Swap

Old Apr 10, 2011 | 10:23 PM
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Originally Posted by PEERPSI
To be sure I understand you set the car up so that the front end was inclined higher then the rear of the car?
Yes, my buddy's drive is pretty steep, so the final stage of my burping today, we decided to drive the car up his drive at a pretty good angle and the passenger nose was toward the front of his drive pointing up, this allowed the cap of the coolant resovior to be at the highest point and when I started the car and got circulation the air got to moving. I allowed the car to cool first to about 195 to slowly remove the cap first. When the car is very warm, you will be greeted with coolant if you remove the cap.

The CAM sounds amazing! Nice little lope. I plan on posting videos and pictures once I get the tune worked out.
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Old Apr 11, 2011 | 04:47 AM
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Originally Posted by mph1972
Yes, my buddy's drive is pretty steep, so the final stage of my burping today, we decided to drive the car up his drive at a pretty good angle and the passenger nose was toward the front of his drive pointing up, this allowed the cap of the coolant resovior to be at the highest point and when I started the car and got circulation the air got to moving. I allowed the car to cool first to about 195 to slowly remove the cap first. When the car is very warm, you will be greeted with coolant if you remove the cap.

The CAM sounds amazing! Nice little lope. I plan on posting videos and pictures once I get the tune worked out.
Glad to hear you got it worked out. What cam did you go with? I did a 233/239.
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Old Apr 11, 2011 | 12:15 PM
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Originally Posted by ZZ06
Glad to hear you got it worked out. What cam did you go with? I did a 233/239.

Mine is a 228/232 .588/.595 112+4 LSA. Nice little CAM for my DD.
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