bore.me

iTrader: (15)

The temperature gauge in my firebird got up to 260* today and my coolant boiled over! I was waiting on my road for construction for 15 mins while idling in 80 degree weather. I thought about shutting the engine off but i wanted my coolant to keep flowing. I had the heater on full blast and as soon as i got home i shut off the car and opened the hood as coolant boiled over onto my battery.

Anyone else have this experience? Is it normal for an engine to get that hot in that kind of situation? Occasionally my engine will spike up to about 240 on a hot day while putting around town, but never to 260*! I will be ordering a 160* thermo and maybe a manual fan switch today. I've seen what kind of internal damage overheating can cause and i don't want that to happen to my engine.

bore.me

iTrader: (15)

Anyone have a similar experience?

I8ASaleen

iTrader: (9)

Wellllll a little more info would be good. How many miles? How old is the waterpump? Have you taken off any of the plastic under car pieces lately? Did the fans turn on when it got that hot? Do the fans turn on when the A/C is on?

bore.me

iTrader: (15)

I have 107,xxx miles with the original water pump as far as i know. The A/C was off and i have not removed any plastic below the car. The electric fans seem to work OK. The car has been sitting for 6 weeks but the coolant level was OK. Not sure if the fans turn on with the A/C. Everything about my cooling system is stock as far as i know. Hope this helps.

speed_demon24

iTrader: (6)

What radiator cap are you running? The last thing something like that happened to me I ended up hydro-locking my motor trying to start it a month later due to a blown head gasket.

whytryz28

iTrader: (28)

My friends car would over heat nasty.

We drained the coolant and put water and water wetter mixture and its never gone past 210.

Mine never goes past 180 with a 160 stat.

bore.me

iTrader: (15)

My radiator cap is stock as far as i know. What would a different cap do?

marc97taws6

iTrader: (6)

Surprised it got that hot... But just get a 160* and have your pcm tuned for it with your fans and you'll be fine. I still have the fan control switch but its pointless now that I have a 160* and my car will automatically turn it on whenever I'm sitting at a stoplight for a long period of time when its burning hot out

Chevyguy358

iTrader: (4)

if the spring on the radiator cap is weak then it may be bleeding off fluid into the reservoir. A leak down tester at most auto part store can test this as well as the rest of the system.

fleetmgr

Doubt the rad cap spring is weak, but the cap gasket may be bad. A new one is less then 10 bux in any event.

I wouldn't put a 160 stat in it, as that's just a band aid patch and doesn't fix whatever your current problem is. Contrary to some opinions, if the cooling system is right the car shouldn't overheat regardless of what it's doing outside, and regardless of what you're doing in traffic.

Some things to check -

1. Is your A/C condenser plugged up with bugs, rocks etc?
2. If you take your rad cap off, what do you see in the radiator?
3. Do your cooling fans come on/go off as intended?
4. Is the air dam still on the car?

will1380

I had the same problem with my camaro. I baught a manual fan switch and added a second fan to keep my engine cool. On hot days around 90+ with the fan on im sitting at probably 170 degrees and i haven't had a problem with over heating since i got my second fan installed!

BLK,97,T/A,M-6

Start your car, and let it idle. wait for the fans to kick on, and then grab one of your hoses to see if its hot. If its not then your t. stat may be stuck closed. that would be the first thing I would do. Take the time to figure out the problem before just replacing parts. But the t stat is the first thing I would check, as you said the car sat for a few weeks.

monster81

last time my engine overheated i found a plastic bag all over blocking my a/c condenser

koolaid_kid

iTrader: (21)

You should have two fans already. The only way it should overheat is if there is an issue. The first thing I would check is the fans. Are they both coming on? Also check the air input path. Is there something blocking the condensor/radiator?
A faulty water pump is very unlikely, IMO. It either works or it does not. Ours tend to have bearing failures, which cause a loss of fluid.
I would not expect a cap to be an issue either, unless you see a lot of overflow into the reservoir.
Lastly, a sticking thermostat could be an issue. To verify, you have to pull the thermostat, place it in a pan with a cooking thermometer, put it on the stove and turn on the burner. Watch the temps at which it starts to open (the listed temp of the thermostat) and when it is fully open (less than boiling). Old school, but it works.
The stock thermostat temperature is fine, although I do run a 160 myself. But as stated above, it will not resolve the underlying issue.

To summarize:
Check air flow, both fans coming on, thermostat opening at correct temperatures.