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overheating and stumped!

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Old Mar 16, 2009 | 03:34 PM
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Default overheating and stumped!

I bought a 4th gen lt1 camaro about 6 weeks ago with a blown head gasket.the owner before said the fans quit and thats why it overheated.I took to a local shop and they replaced the gaskets and fixed the fans.The cars still overheats during driving.It can sit and idle all day at operating temps.But, once I get on the road and getting on it it starts to rise and then over heats.
list of things I've done
radiator cap
purged it 4 or 5 times
waterpump is working
replaced thermostat
Is there a diagram that shows the water line layout to see if all the waterhoses are in the correct spot?
and I have flushed the heater lines and core.
I don't know the history of the car but it runs reallly strong and no water in the oil and no white smoke out the tail pipes.
What should I try next?
thanks Lee
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Old Mar 16, 2009 | 04:06 PM
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How sure are you that the fans are working, while you are driving and the coolant gets hot?

The ONLY thing that keeps your coolant cool while in stop and go city driving is the fans, nothing else. The front lower air dam, yea it helps, but the air dam is mainly for the highway.
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Old Mar 17, 2009 | 07:34 AM
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they fans are hardwired to stay on.the relay went bad so we wired them to run when the car is on.The bad relay is what caused the car to overheat in the first place.
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Old Mar 17, 2009 | 08:16 AM
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Replace the radiator. It is probably original and they all get pin hole leaks. If you dont think it is, take it and have it hot tanked and pressure tested. You can tell on the driverside black peice is stamped in white paint the production date, if aftermarket, or even OEM replacement, there is no stamp.

I had replaced every peice but that and that solved the problems.

Also when bleeding the system, put the front up on jack stands, so the bleeders are at the highest point and not getting air locked.
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Old Mar 17, 2009 | 11:31 AM
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Originally Posted by lee33lyn
they fans are hardwired to stay on.the relay went bad so we wired them to run when the car is on.The bad relay is what caused the car to overheat in the first place.
When you overheat does the coolant boil over, or is it totally silent when it gets really hot?

Also, the fans on the LS1's 1997+ have two settings high/low. I'm not sure about the LT1's. So make sure they are working on both high and low if they do that too.
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Old Mar 17, 2009 | 01:20 PM
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I would buy a new radiator, there is probally lots of **** in there that is clogging it. Make sure there is nothing in front of the radiator that is block flow thur it. i.e newspapers, bags and what not.

You can pull the radiator and try to flush it youself and see if you get any crap out of it.
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Old Mar 19, 2009 | 01:31 AM
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I agree with everyone it's probably the radiator. when that head gasket blew it probably got a buttload of oil in the coolant system
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Old Mar 19, 2009 | 08:06 AM
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Also check bewteen the radiator and a/c condensor. These cars are known for collecting crap up in there. Mine did it and Ive seen several others do it also.
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