Banshee Ben

iTrader: (4)

For some reason my car overheats in just a few minutes at idle. Just reassembled the engine. Ls6. New water pump. Spun good. Removed thermostat-looks good. If it matters the heater plugs are capped. radiator was topped with water. Aftermarket radiator, I plumbed the lower water pump hole, the one that has the thermostat in it into the lower radiator hole and the upper to the upper., correct.... And the coolant cross over line is plumbed into a bung on the radiator. Cometic head gaskets, there is no front labeled on them. I pulled one of the heads and looks right. There is a larger water passage on the drivers side rear and I matched that to the gasket that had a larger water jacket on one side. I'm stumped, I haven't pulled the drivers head yet, if that gasket were flipped would both sides get hot. O ya, water temp gauge on both heads showed HOT. Ideas please, trying to make a trip this weekend and want to take the car.

Banshee Ben

iTrader: (4)

To clarify one side was at 225 and one at 240.

Is there any reason to run a tstat if not using a heater?

Paint_It_Black

iTrader: (1)

pull your t-stat out, uncap the radiator, look for fluid movement, see if it still gets hot. There's still a chance the cometics went on wrong.

Banshee Ben

iTrader: (4)

accorging to this I'm correct.
http://www.gmhightechperformance.com.../photo_58.html

The Alchemist

iTrader: (19)

You need to run a t-stat because it slows the flow of coolant in the block so that it can remove heat out of the motor, and then have time to cool in the radiator. If it flows too quickly, the motor will actually run hotter.

jlrz28

iTrader: (7)

Check the fans?

Banshee Ben

iTrader: (4)

Pulled the other head gasket and it was reversed. But when re-assembled it still ran to hot. The radiater was not getting collant. Removed the thermostat and it seems to hold at 200 at a high idle. what are the temps I should be looking for? At what temp should I shut it down, idle at? And why is my new thermostat not opening.

Banshee Ben

iTrader: (4)

For future users that may search this, problem was that I capped the heater hose outputs because I'm not running a heater. The LS thermostats get their hot water from these lines and then will open. So If you cap them don't, run a hose and connect them together.

The Alchemist

iTrader: (19)

Good follow up Banshee.

Viper

iTrader: (6)

Thanks for the follow up, too often no one does. Glad you got it resolved.