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Overheating - Help

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Old 06-27-2005, 02:28 PM
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Default Overheating - Help

My friend has a 98 Camaro LS1, he recently started having problems with overheating. So what we did was replace the t-stat, belts, and waterpump. Well we took it out yesterday and the car is still overheating about 20 mins of drive time. Does anyone know what were missing. Thanks for all your help.
Old 06-27-2005, 02:40 PM
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radiator flush?
Old 06-27-2005, 02:45 PM
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Are the cooling fans running properly? there are two and each is turned on separately. If your electrical system is screwed up these may not turn on...

How much is it overheating? When?

Also, I assume you blead the system so you do not have any air bubbles. I do this by opening the cap when the car is cold and running the engine without the cap until the motor reaches temperature - at least 5 minuites of run time without the cap should do it.

There used to be a bleed screw on the LT-1 engines but there is none on the LS1 engines.
Old 06-27-2005, 02:57 PM
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Originally Posted by robertbartsch
Are the cooling fans running properly? there are two and each is turned on separately. If your electrical system is screwed up these may not turn on...

How much is it overheating? When?

Also, I assume you blead the system so you do not have any air bubbles. I do this by opening the cap when the car is cold and running the engine without the cap until the motor reaches temperature - at least 5 minuites of run time without the cap should do it.

There used to be a bleed screw on the LT-1 engines but there is none on the LS1 engines.
When it overheats, it goes to the red. It seems to start overheating when we are going over 50 MPH or when you put any strain on the engine. The fans are running properly, checked that. We haven't blead the system, would that cause the motor to run that hot? Is it possible it could be the radiator cap?
Old 06-27-2005, 03:13 PM
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did u check the oil it is possible u got a busted head gasket or something like that., if it's not the pump or the stat, the fans, and u got no air in the system then check to make sure the head gaskets arent cracked or water is not leaking in else where.

edit: o aslo do u have like insane amount of detonation and i mean insane.
Old 06-27-2005, 03:15 PM
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Air in the system will cause the H2O pump to not curculate water. Take the cap off when cold and start the engine. See if the water is curculating around after it heats up. Are there any obstructions between the radiator fins - pastic pags and leaves and junk that you picked up on the road?

Use the reservoir to fill the system and not the open cap. What does the reservoir show; is this the same color as the fluid in the radiator? You are using the correct pink (not green) antifreeze mixture as indicated on the label; right? What color is the fluid?

Check both sides of the radiator for obstructions.

I doubt a bad thermostat would cause this problem.

DO NOT DRIVE THIS CAR WHILE HOT OR YOU WILL BE SORRY.
Old 06-27-2005, 03:19 PM
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Is your engine oil the color of chocholate milk? How about your automatic trans fluid?

Dont drive the car when it overheats; this will kill the motor.
Old 06-27-2005, 03:24 PM
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I believe the fluid is green. Is that a bad thing?
Old 06-27-2005, 03:26 PM
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The oil is fine, no milkshake.
Old 06-27-2005, 03:30 PM
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The fluid was pink not green.
Old 06-27-2005, 04:02 PM
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Ok - Green antifreeze is very bad since it is not designed to work with alumuim engine blocks and the water seals and gaskets used in your 98 LS1. Green and red mixed together is especially bad....

Drain this IMMEDIATELY. fill with 100% water and run for a few minutes with the cap off. Drain again. Repeat this at least twice more until all the bad green antifreeze is gone.

Now go to the parts store and get the pink stuff that matches your car. Drain the system again and fill it with the proper mix of antifreeze. I can't remember but some of the pink stuff may be already mixed in the plastic bottle so you don't add more water to the bottle. READ THE LABEL.

Run the car with the cap off for 10 minutes and make sure it is curculating antifreeze. Fill using the radiator reservoir and not the radiator cap. When you stop seeing air bubbles in the cap area, the system has been blead properly. Replace the cap and run the car around the block a few times. Dont go far since you need to shut off the car if this does not work.

Obviously, runing a hot engine will kill the head gaskets and other important stuff.... like cylinder heads, engine block, etc...

When you said the trans fluid is pink you meant red like it comes out of a new Dextron bottle; right? If it is pink you have water in the transmission that is coming from the radiator. This is a huge problem since the cluthes are glued with water soluable glue..... This ususally requires a rebuilt transmission and a new radiator...
Old 06-27-2005, 04:46 PM
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If the radiator cap was bad you would likely see steam comming from it when the engine is hot. These caps don;t go bad very often so I doubt you have a bad cap.

This problem is most likely air in the system....or a blockage in the air passage in front of or in back of the radiator or BETWEEN the AC condensor and the radiator. You said the fans turn on and the motor only gets hot at highway speeds so a fan problem is not the issue; right?

How about the air conditioner; does this work and blow ice cold air before the car 's engine gets too hot? If no, re-check the air flow through the radiator and AC condensor fins....

Are any of the antifreeze hoses kinked? Go back and check all the stuff you took off and see if you missed anything when you put it back together...

Did you re-use the old antifreeze? This is OK but if you added a bunch of water only after the pump change the mixture may be too weak. The cooling system in the LS1 engine is very good and the engines usually do not overheat even with straight H20, however.




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