Well my Girlfriend's 01 SS has been acting up lately. The car runs at normal temp. until you run it hard or until you turn the A/C on. I am leaning towards a head gasket. The only thing is, there is no oil in the coolant and no water in the oil. Also, the car does not smoke or have any other tell, tell signs of a blown head gasket.

I already have the new gaskets and bolts and I am planning on changing them tonight after it cools down. If anyone has had this problem before and it turned out NOT to be the gaskets then please let me know. I'm not really looking forward to doing this.

BTW, it is a Bolt on car with a 100 shot, I was not running it hard when it started, I was driving normal with the A/C on.

Thanks

 

Check the simple stuff first before pulling the heads.

Fluid level
Stuck open thermostat
Fans coming on
Blocked radiator (leaves etc.).

 

low coolant happened to me when i had a v6

 

Fluid level is fine
Fans are working fine
T-stat doesn't make sense, it only does it when AC is on or it's run hard.
Radiator is clear.

 

water pump?

 

have it presure tested i had a very small coolant leak none was even dripping on the ground

 

Water pump is fine, like I said, it is fine till the AC is on or it gets ran hard.

I'm not a master mechanic but I am a little more experienced than most therefore I have checked the obvious.

I am 90% sure it blew a gasket, I just wanted to see if anyone else has had these exact same things happen and it turned out to be something else.

Thanks

 

I just had to clean my AC condenser. Car only overheated when AC was on. To clean it I had to remove the fans and radiator, then blow air from the engine side out to get the gunk off. I put a simple green solution (3:1) on the fins and let it soak. Last step was to bang the condenser on the frame of the car to dislodge crap. When you do this, make sure you are hitting the top of the condenser not the fins. Again worth the couple hours to do vs. pulling a head.

 

If it overheats with A/C on or running hard I don't know why you suspect head gasket. No coolant in oil, no oil in coolant, no excessive pressure in the cooling system?

Generally when they over heat like this it is because the cooling system is marginal to begin with. Radiator flow, fan temp settings, thermostat, airflow over radiator, water pump flow, is where I would start.

 

I'm going with not enough cooling being done. Air in the system, a leak, water pump flow insufficient, plugged up radiator(air passages or cooling passages), thermostat not opening all the way, both fans not doing their job...

If there is a leak or a head gasket leak you will see coolant going away over time.

Make darn sure you can verify what the problem is before you go to all the trouble to thow gaskets at it. Look at it this way: if you do all that work and the problem is still there yer going to be very pissed...and out more money than you needed to spend.

 

Always try the easiest and least expensive stuff first. As stated it could be on the edge and the a/c pushes it over the edge. If air cant get over the fins then it cant cool. I'd try cleaning first.

 

Right before I was gonna pull the heads last night I decided to swap out the t-stat for ***** and giggles....Well, it runs cooler than ever. I never would have believed it but the stat wasn't opening up all the way. Boy I'm glad I tried it before I pulled the heads LOL

I had already bought the gaskets and bolts, anyone need a stock set of head bolts? PM me if so.

 

Excellent news, we love it when they turn out this way!!

 

Glad you tested it first instead of pulling the heads.