Coolant issue...
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 36
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From: Houston, TX
Coolant issue... I drive a '99 z28. This morning I was driving in to work and when I left my apartment, everything was normal... Temp was a tick below 210, oil pressure normal, etc. About half way to work I get a Check Gauges light and my thermostat is pegged past 260, so I pull over and I can tell my motor isn't happy (and neither am I). I pop the hood and nothing immediate sticks out. I can feel the coolant boiling under my radiator cap, but that's about it. I stick my key in my ignition to check the temp and it's sitting at about 2/3 of the gauge. So I check under the hood again to make sure everything is connected, any leaks, etc. I stick my key back in and my thermostat reads a tick above 210. All that happened in about 10 minutes. I start driving again and start watching it climb within 2 minutes of getting back on the road. so I start looking for a place to pull over, but my thermostat starts dropping. It sat at exactly 210 all the way to work... Any thoughts?
First thing you need to do is after its cold, open ur radiator cap and check the level. That will tell you a lot. Most likely its low. Top it off if it is. After that drive around and see what it does. Report your findings.
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Joined: May 2004
Posts: 318
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From: Chicago, IL
Same sorta thing happened to me once. I was driving home and was just stopping at a red light. My thermostat was good, and while sitting at idle it just climbed like crazy. Light turned green just after it started climbing, and I was going to head for the nearest place to stop, but just after I started moving, it shot back down to 210. Then it just kept doing that...climb climb climb climb...DROP! Sometimes it would stay up a little longer, and I'd blip the throttle or something to try to shake the car, and it'd drop. I don't know if that actually helped it or not, but I was doing whatever I could to make that last mile.
The next morning, popped the radiator cap and turned on the engine and watched the level. Topped it off every time it started emptying (in other words, refilled my radiator). After that, never had the problem again.....except when my power steering cooler cracked..but that's a whole nuther story.
The next morning, popped the radiator cap and turned on the engine and watched the level. Topped it off every time it started emptying (in other words, refilled my radiator). After that, never had the problem again.....except when my power steering cooler cracked..but that's a whole nuther story.
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From: rosemount,mn/windsor locks,ct
It sounds like you air in the system,I would check you coolant level and run your engine with the cap off for a few cycles to let any air pockets out,continue to top off as level goes down. I had this problem like 3 years ago where I would go for a drive,steady @210 degrees the whole time. When I came back and parked my car and opened the hood to let the engine cool off I could hear gurgling coming from my overflow. Well come to find out I had a bad radiator cap,I think there might even be a tsb for it also.
