I have a good friend who has a 2003 50th anniversary corvette
he asks if he can borrow my minivan for trip with his family
and-----in trade I can use the Vette
Sounds great, right !
well, the Vette overheats on the two mile trip from his house to mine

I love to wrench on things so I decide to replace the thermostat which would seem like the obvious problem.

I do that using a genuine AC Delco T-stat and refill the fluids and take the car for a lap around the neighborhood expecting all to be well and it promptly overheats again....uggh

and, now it is making a squeeking noise at idle---sounds like a belt squeeking kind of noise but I'm concerned now that I've done more harm than good !

any ideas?
water pump?? how to tell if it is bad ?
fans seems to turn on and off as expected.

if it wasn't the T-stat what is it ?

sure would appreciated any advice you all might have

thank you

 

Sounds like the water pump might be crapping out on you. Can you stick your ear closer to where the pump is to see if the squeak is coming from there?

If the bearings inside the WP start to go bad they will make a noise, and if the pump is starting to seize up it'll definitely cause the belt to squeak.

 

After replacing the thermostat did you go through the burping procedure? C-5s tend to get air trapped in the system after maintenance. Also did you check the radiator air inlet for debri? Being bottom feeders sometimes the radiator will get clogged with grass and leaves and other road debri like plastic bags. I would check these 2 items first before I went to changing parts. Here is the procedure for burping the cooling system.

According to the service manual:

1. Fill the system through the surge tank opening.
2. Fill half the capacity of the system with 100 percent DEX-COOL® coolant.
3. Slowly add clean drinkable water to the system until the level reaches to the base of the neck.
4. Start the engine.
5. Idle engine for 1 minute.
6. Install surge tank cap.
7. Cycle the RPM, idle to 3000 in 30 second intervals until engine coolant reaches 99°C (210°F).
9.Shut off the engine.
10. Refer to step 3 above to remove the surge tank cap.
11. Start the engine.
12. Idle engine for 1 minute and fill surge tank to 1/2 inch above COLD FULL mark on the radiator surge tank.
13. Install the surge tank cap.
14. Cycle the RPM, idle to 3000 in 30 second intervals until engine coolant reaches 99°C (210°F).
15. Shut off the engine.
16. Top off coolant as necessary, 1/2 inch above FULL COLD mark on the radiator surge tank.
17. Rinse away any excess coolant from the engine and the compartment.
18. Inspect the concentration of the coolant.


http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...-radiator.html

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...erheating.html

 

Look up between the radiator and condenser to see if you've picked up a plastic bag, leaves, etc. You didn't say how high the temp got.
PS...If you started changing parts on my car without my knowledge/permission, you would no longer be considered a "good friend".

 

If, and that's a big IF, I were to let a friend borrow my car and was told he worked on it without talking to me first it would be five to ten, maybe three for good behavior, before I got to drive it again.

 

Yes you bring up a good point !
I phoned my friend and offered to replace the thermostat -- he fixes nothing himself - I fix all my stuff, rebuild motors, etc.-----jet boats, not Corvettes but I'm handy

replacing thermostat looked very easy and less risk than having someone come and stick it on on a flat bed - in my opinion


I googled this site and checked the air intake and found some stuff in there but nothing that looked like enough to impact the cooling capacity.

Temperature got up to 260 - I shut it down and sat for a bit and took the two mile drive home in two segments so I don't think any damage was done

I did burp it but did not do it right ----- will try again as the procedure I got from the internet was not exactly the same as that one on this thread

but that squeeking leads me to believe that the water pump is shot

does antifreeze on the belts cause squeeking?

 

Stupid question, but you did use Dexcool to replace the coolant, right? It should be orange-colored.

 

radiators fill up with debris on these cars. the squeak is probably from dripping coolant on the belt. once that happens you can try and clean the belt and pulleys with detergent but you often have to replace the belt

how hot was hot anyway? these cars run up to 232 if you don't have the ac on and sit in traffic

would highly suspect the problem was just a radiator full of junk. imo it's easier to just buy a new one at the 10 year mark than attempt to clean the old one. at 10 years you have scaling and are on borrowed time before it cracks

 

He mentioned it was getting up to 260, which is high even for an LS1.

 

yes, used the DexCool

 

260 isn't good. Sure sounds like the coolant isn't circulating. Collapsed hose, water pump, thermo not opening? You can eliminate the collapsed hose easy enough and, if necessary try it without a thermostat. It's starting to sound like the water pump is bad or the belt isn't turning it. Try the burping just to be sure air isn't trapped around the thermostat and not heating it up enough to open.