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Issue With Coolant Temp Running High When Driving

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Old Nov 24, 2022 | 04:06 PM
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Default Issue With Coolant Temp Running High When Driving

Having issues with the coolant temps running around 230-235 with 240ish being the highest it has gotten. It was worse prior the replacements that were made to the car.

Already replaced the water pump, coolant tank, radiator and cleaned out the much of the debris in the fin area. Hoses are good, no cracks or leaks when the mechanic checked.

Fans are turning on with no issues. I have a 160 degree thermostat that was changed around a year ago.

Running dex cool on it as well.

My mechanic thinks it could be a head gasket issue.

I searched on here for solutions, but the only thing I didn't do was bleed the air which I will do this week.

Just stumped on what else could be the issue.
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Old Nov 24, 2022 | 05:12 PM
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230-235 is normal for these cars
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Old Nov 24, 2022 | 05:27 PM
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Originally Posted by Smoken1
230-235 is normal for these cars
Not under light loaded highway cruising condition.
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Old Nov 24, 2022 | 06:30 PM
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Originally Posted by ipuig
Not under light loaded highway cruising condition.
Good point, I skimmed past that part of the topic while I was on my phone
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Old Nov 24, 2022 | 06:36 PM
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Originally Posted by Vesania
Having issues with the coolant temps running around 230-235 with 240ish being the highest it has gotten. It was worse prior the replacements that were made to the car.

Already replaced the water pump, coolant tank, radiator and cleaned out the much of the debris in the fin area. Hoses are good, no cracks or leaks when the mechanic checked.

Fans are turning on with no issues. I have a 160 degree thermostat that was changed around a year ago.

Running dex cool on it as well.

My mechanic thinks it could be a head gasket issue.

I searched on here for solutions, but the only thing I didn't do was bleed the air which I will do this week.

Just stumped on what else could be the issue.
Also make sure you have the 18 PSI reservoir cap and your air dam is still in place
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Old Nov 24, 2022 | 06:42 PM
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My fans were turning but at 170,000 miles there were shorts within the windings so the fans were not pulling strong. Replaced both fans and temps dropped.
Good luck, George
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Old Nov 24, 2022 | 07:04 PM
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Originally Posted by Smoken1
Good point, I skimmed past that part of the topic while I was on my phone
Ya, that is the thing. My temps before I noticed was hovering around 220 driving freeway or cruising. It would rarely if ever get beyond that.

I only noticed that after the water pump was installed. I couldn't see any leaks nor was it a malfunctioning part that the shop got for it.

Originally Posted by Smoken1
Also make sure you have the 18 PSI reservoir cap and your air dam is still in place
Going to try that and see.

Originally Posted by Corvettes White
My fans were turning but at 170,000 miles there were shorts within the windings so the fans were not pulling strong. Replaced both fans and temps dropped.
Good luck, George
Interesting, I would have to have that checked by the shop and see.

But I doubt something like the cooling issue would be anything with head gaskets?
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Old Nov 24, 2022 | 07:42 PM
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Burp the system and see where your at.
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Old Nov 24, 2022 | 10:51 PM
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Have you looked for debris covering the grill. This is the logical place to start.
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Old Nov 24, 2022 | 11:07 PM
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Here is the FSM procedure to remove air from the heads:


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Old Nov 25, 2022 | 10:55 AM
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Originally Posted by Vesania
Having issues with the coolant temps running around 230-235 with 240ish being the highest it has gotten. It was worse prior the replacements that were made to the car.

Already replaced the water pump, coolant tank, radiator and cleaned out the much of the debris in the fin area. Hoses are good, no cracks or leaks when the mechanic checked.

Fans are turning on with no issues. I have a 160 degree thermostat that was changed around a year ago.

Running dex cool on it as well.

My mechanic thinks it could be a head gasket issue.

I searched on here for solutions, but the only thing I didn't do was bleed the air which I will do this week.

Just stumped on what else could be the issue.
160 Thermostat is too cold for a LS engine!, Aluminum engine needs heat 190 thermostat is what I run. Never run colder than what mfg suggests! Heat is Power!
220 - 230 is normal for cruising in city traffic on a warm day. Fans are factory set to turn on at 220-230 unless reprogrammed by a tuner.
Mine runs 190-200 on hiway even in 120 day jumping to 230-240 in heavy bumper to bumper traffic on a warm 120 degree day.

Air in system could very well be issue, But would expect over heating if it was indeed caused by Air in the heads.
A better possible issue is the Fan relay! mine was bad only staying on in single speed after replacing relay I had dual speed fans working stayed cooler on warm days in traffic.around 220 solid.
I Live in Death Valley
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Old Nov 25, 2022 | 11:23 AM
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Fans are turned off at 35mph by the PCM, you're car's highway temperatures are higher then normal. Does your car have the center air dam in place, if it does then I would recommend performing the the FSM procedure for burping the cooling system.
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Old Nov 25, 2022 | 03:28 PM
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Originally Posted by Vesania
Ya, that is the thing. My temps before I noticed was hovering around 220 driving freeway or cruising. It would rarely if ever get beyond that.

I only noticed that after the water pump was installed. I couldn't see any leaks nor was it a malfunctioning part that the shop got for it.


Going to try that and see.



Interesting, I would have to have that checked by the shop and see.

But I doubt something like the cooling issue would be anything with head gaskets?
Uh, a leaking head gasket can, and will, increase coolant temps dramatically. If they're large enough, they will overwhelm any cooling system. Think about it like this; with a bad gasket, it's exposing the coolant to the combustion chamber temperatures, which are over 1,000°F!!! Similar to heating the coolant with a blowtorch every time the cylinder(s) fire!!!
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Old Nov 25, 2022 | 04:25 PM
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A leaking head gasket will cause air bubbles in the coolant, you can remove the coolant tank pressure cap and check for bubbles, you can also rent or buy a coolant system pressure tester.
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Old Nov 25, 2022 | 05:06 PM
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Originally Posted by mmartinez
A leaking head gasket will cause air bubbles in the coolant, you can remove the coolant tank pressure cap and check for bubbles, you can also rent or buy a coolant system pressure tester.
. If you pull over and idle and it cools down that could be the problem. The thermostat opening temperature controls how cold the coolant gets, not how hot.
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Old Nov 25, 2022 | 09:08 PM
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Originally Posted by Dudly Doright
160 Thermostat is too cold for a LS engine!, Aluminum engine needs heat 190 thermostat is what I run. Never run colder than what mfg suggests! Heat is Power!
220 - 230 is normal for cruising in city traffic on a warm day. Fans are factory set to turn on at 220-230 unless reprogrammed by a tuner.
Mine runs 190-200 on hiway even in 120 day jumping to 230-240 in heavy bumper to bumper traffic on a warm 120 degree day.

Air in system could very well be issue, But would expect over heating if it was indeed caused by Air in the heads.
A better possible issue is the Fan relay! mine was bad only staying on in single speed after replacing relay I had dual speed fans working stayed cooler on warm days in traffic.around 220 solid.
I Live in Death Valley
Originally Posted by mmartinez
A leaking head gasket will cause air bubbles in the coolant, you can remove the coolant tank pressure cap and check for bubbles, you can also rent or buy a coolant system pressure tester.
Will check that as I burp the system but no change. Fans run strong and everything.

Originally Posted by frodo84
. If you pull over and idle and it cools down that could be the problem. The thermostat opening temperature controls how cold the coolant gets, not how hot.
It does cool down when at a stop in traffic down to 220ish. Then once it gets going, it slowly starts creeping up to 235. On the freeway, it stays right on 240 with no drop.

More and more it is starting to look like it would be a gasket issue.
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Old Nov 25, 2022 | 11:46 PM
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Could also be a dirty radiator. I had that.
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To Issue With Coolant Temp Running High When Driving

Old Nov 26, 2022 | 10:44 PM
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Originally Posted by grinder11
Uh, a leaking head gasket can, and will, increase coolant temps dramatically. If they're large enough, they will overwhelm any cooling system. Think about it like this; with a bad gasket, it's exposing the coolant to the combustion chamber temperatures, which are over 1,000°F!!! Similar to heating the coolant with a blowtorch every time the cylinder(s) fire!!!
A blowtorch is over 1000°, but it’s dry heat! 😆😆😆
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Old Nov 26, 2022 | 11:09 PM
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There’s only two components in play, circulation and air flow.

You have changed all of the circulation components and cleaned the radiator fins.

I am curious about the thermostat. Did you change that before or after it was running hot. Also, the history. For example, was it running 200° normally and then all the sudden one day it started running hot?
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Old Nov 27, 2022 | 07:58 AM
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My 2K used to run real hot when I got it, up to 240 in traffic very quickly. The air dam was missing and the radiator/condenser were covered with debris of all sorts. Replacing the dam and cleaning the rad/cond now has it running 195/200 cruising and while it does go up to 230 or so when stuck in traffic as soon as I am moving again it drops right back down.
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