Hey yall. A few days ago, my temp gauge got where it was reading 210+ in no time. Like, during the time it takes for the light to turn red. When Im rolling, its fine. But idling, it is heating up quick. Whats causing this?!?!
Its a 02 LS1, 4L60E, on a 69 Camaro.

 

Check your thermostat. Its probably failed.

 

If it's mechanical fan then the fan clutch is the problem . If it's electric fans then the fans probably are'nt working . It could be the thermostat but I would check the fan situation first .

 

Agreed. If the thermostat was stuck open it would take forever to warm up. If it was stuck closed, you would have overheated and it would not cool down when you started driving. Fans would be the first thing I looked at.

 

Is your coolant low? It may be leaking from somewhere. I just had this problem and it turned out that I had a leaking water pump.

 

sounds like a coolant leak causing air pockets in the system which will show false readings on a temp gauge.

 

Turn on the a/c to see if your fans come on. a/c should automatically trigger the fans.

 

Another thing to check is if the ac condenser is full of leaves and dirt. It gets hit with chit before the radiator.

 

Is you radiator covered in dirt? I have seen this many times. The radiator is so full of dirt and junk that the fan can't pull air through it. As you drive if forces enough air to cool the motor. If it is dirty a quick power wash will fix the problem. If this is fairly clean I would think your water pump needs looked at. The fins often get corroded away and at idle they don't flow enough coolant, but as rpms pick up it pushes enough coolant to get the motor where it needs to be.