Car trouble..

[woswill]

So my 98 firebird has been running hot lately (235+, nearly to 260).. so 2 days ago i put in some coolant..i noticed the car still running hot, (past the 235 mark) then the guage randomly went back to the middle and came back up near the ''H''. is the thermo broken or what? i noticed the oil pressure gauge twitches every now and then also..

[Firebird45331]

Re: Car trouble..

don't know where it's located but I'd take out the sending unit and get an analog temp gauge to see exactly what's going on.

[alexhoughton]

Re: Car trouble..

probably your thermostat(6 bucks) thats honestly what it sounds like to me. and as far as your oil gauge goes mine did that too-i replaced the oil pressure sending unit and it fixed it!

[woswill]

Re: Car trouble..

bleh.. i guess ill stop by autozone or something and get a new thermo.. hopefully my dad knows how to put it in since i dont

[97rs4life]

Re: Car trouble..

how did the coolant look when you added it? Muddy? Any colored smoke from exhaust?

[Vanquish]

Re: Car trouble..

Change your thermo and get the 180 degree. After you change that, go ahead and do a flush and fill. There is obviously some gunk in there clogging it up for a few seconds or your thermo is bad and it is staying stuck for a moment or two longer then it should.

[woswill]

Re: Car trouble..

how did the coolant look when you added it? Muddy? Any colored smoke from exhaust?

the coolant was low (not low enough for light to come on) so i couldnt really get a good read on if it was murky or not.. i didnt flush it out before i refilled should i have done that first?

[brock01]

Re: Car trouble..

i have some brown gunky stuff in mine, and it smells too
what should i do? if i should flush how do i do it?
Thanks
camaro 2000 v6

[Ace]

Re: Car trouble..

Change your thermo and get the 180 degree. After you change that, go ahead and do a flush and fill. There is obviously some gunk in there clogging it up for a few seconds or your thermo is bad and it is staying stuck for a moment or two longer then it should.

I usually have good luck with Auto Zone having 180* stats in stock.

[96greenmachine]

Re: Car trouble..

how did the coolant look when you added it? Muddy? Any colored smoke from exhaust?

when i open my rad. cap it looks rusty/muddy whats it mean? ive been running hot as well it could be running 190 then jump up to 240+ real quick...is it the thermo? autozone looked at it but he seem to think it was the fans...fans work after i got 2 new relays...no apperent leaks either

[96greenmachine]

Re: Car trouble..

i really need some input...my cars in need of fixin and quick...

[CDNFB]

Re: Car trouble..

I'm going to assume that the 2 new fan relays didn't fix your problem. But you still have to rule out the fans as the cause. So, the question is, have you confirmed if your fans are indeed comming on at the right time, or at all? Could be the temp sensor, wiring or one (or both) of the fan(s).

When you have confirmed that the fans are operating properly, you will have to move on to something else.

You have to wonder what causes the temperature fluctuations or spikes, and in my experience that comes from either an interuption of airflow through the radiator, or an interuption of flow in the coolant. Since, at this point you should have ruled out the fans (airflow), you have to look at what can cause the restrictions in cooling flow. Could be an erratic thermostat, or could be vapor locks from low coolant level or a failing head gasket.

Eliminate thermostat by replacing it (cheap).
Flush the cooling system and replace the coolant with new.

If you still have the temperature problem, your going to have to start to consider head gasket changes.

[jola]

Re: Car trouble..

How long are you driving until it gets that hot? When the temp guage reads hot is the engine actually hot? How about the hose leading from the thermo to the radiator?

If the guage jumps around, I would be tempted to say you may have air in your system. 3.8s have bleeder valves, don't they? You could see if it needs to be bled.

[96greenmachine]

Re: Car trouble..

so far ive topped it off with coolant and added some stop leak...so far it hasnt got hot, fans work for sure cuz i can feel air coming from them...but there were time i thought it was gonna blow the engine cuz it was toppin the gauge at 260 at 1 point...reason my car was gettin hot is it was low on coolant...but i added coolant 3 days b4 i found out it was low again, so its been almost a week and no problem so far...ill keep u posted.