Car overheats at idle

[Ted]

I had my suspicions about my theromstat being bad because my car was always overheating. I bought a 180 degree thermostat (i know i should of gone with 160 but I picked this one up for cheap and I didn't have to order it) so i threw that in really quick to see what if it would help. I drove it about 5 or 6 miles and it didn't move one hair from 180 degrees. I got home and let it idle a bit and the temp started rising. It always seems to do this, when im in a traffic jam the car over heats so bad just at idle but on the road im fine. What can be causing this? Any help would greatly be appreciated.

Ted

[4thgenowner]

Is your fan coming on? Check your radiator cap, see if it's holding 18 psi. I had to get a new engine because of the little b!tch.

[Ted]

I should already know this but there should be one fan on all the time correct. And the second one kicks on when the car starts heating up... I'll check my fans tomorrow again. I'm not sure if the second one kicks on while driving, it will turn on with the A/C. I bought all the stuff to do a manual fan switch to just turn them on manually but for some reason I only have 2 switches and all other camaros have 3. I dunno.

Ted

[SunsetOrange98Camaro]

There should not be one fan on at all times. The first fan kicks in when you turn your AC on. Then when your car reaches 210 degrees *I think* both fans turn on. It definately sounds like you have a fan problem but Im not positive about that one.

Also, what do you mean you only have two switches and other Camaros have three.

[Dominic]

Its more like 225degF when the fans kick on :eek:

Our cars, no matter the thermostat, run amazingly hot. This is not because something is wrong, it is simply because the radiator we have is sized for a Geo Metro 3cyl - its terribly undersized.

If you'd like to SOLVE the cooling issues at idle and driving down the highway, making the thermostat actually control the engine temp, you need a larger radiator. I recommend the griffin over everything else, but the SLP one isnt a bad deal for $260-300.

[strobhen]

If you have wired up a setup to turn them on maually, double check that, may be done wrong.

If not, let it idle, turn on the a/c, see if the fans come on (you can hear them, be real careful about putting your hand down there to check for airflow).

If I had to guess, I would say a fan problem. Probably not a sensor problem because you would have an SES light.

A broken thermostat generally will not make temps rise. If a thermostat breaks, most of the time they get stuck open. That will actually make you run a little cool. It is a cheap part to throw at the problem though, so no big deal.

If your fans are working, turn off the car & get under the radiator (or take off the radiator shroud) and make sure nothing is blocking airflow.

If it all looks fine, another cheap solution to try would be a radiator cap.

Last thing, and worse case, would be something blocking water flow through the engine or radiator.

[Dojo2000]

Where did you mount your tranny cooler? Could it be that your blocking too much airflow across the radiator with it mounted in front of it?

[Ted]

SunsetOrange - theres some instructions online for the manual fanswitch i think it's here.

http://web.nmsu.edu/~shanemar/camaro...fanswitch.html

they show 3 switch boxes off to the side on the passenger's side. I only have 2. I don't know why. I posted a topic on it and everyone said I should definatley have 3 and to look a little harder. I haven't bothered with it, i think i'll check it out tomorrow.

Strobhen - thanks for the tips, i inspected it a month ago everything looks to be good. I put some dexcool in not too long ago and i was looking at it later today it seems to be brownish like it's burnt again. Probably because the engine was heating up a lot because of the weather. I think i'll try replacing the radiator cap next if the fans are working correctly and i can't narrow it down to anything else.

Dojo - I mounted my tranny cooler on the bottom center of the radiator. I noticed it didn't seem to affect the temperature after I installed it. But it wasn't terribly hot out when I put it in so it could be affecting it now.

Anyway I'll see what I can come up with tomorrow. If nothing i'll probably be seeking more help but thanks for your time guys in helping me trouble shoot this, i appreciate it.

Ted

[ July 14, 2002: Message edited by: Ted ]</p>

[4thgenowner]

Theres two fans? I only have 1 big one.. gotta love the first fourth gens, so different.