Help: 97 lt1 overheating randomly
i guess b4 it overheated on him and he thought it was the radiator so he put a new one on it idk thats my guess. im taking it to a shop tommorow and dropping it off for him to look at hopefully it isnt anything major im done fooling with it.
On The Tree
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 177
Likes: 0
From: San Antonio, TX
Did you check and see if the front air dam (or whatever its called--the black flat plastic thing under your front clip that scoops air up and through the radiator) is still there? He may have taken it off and if that is the case it could very well be the problem.
yeah i checked it, its still there, im somewhat knowledgable with cars mustangs mostly but i havent been stomped like this in a while with a car. there isnt a drip of anything under the car where its been sitting all night but yet its overheating my next suspect is the fans
On The Tree
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 177
Likes: 0
From: San Antonio, TX
Thanks!
I had a small coolant leak from one of the hoses that connect to the radiator directly over where the coolant level sensor is located due to the clamp biting into an old hose. It was a small leak but would never drip on the ground because it was dripping on to the battery tray and would run off onto something hot and burn off...sometimes could smell it or evaporate. Never once did it drip under the car. Kept causing that stupid low coolant light to come on.
I had a small coolant leak from one of the hoses that connect to the radiator directly over where the coolant level sensor is located due to the clamp biting into an old hose. It was a small leak but would never drip on the ground because it was dripping on to the battery tray and would run off onto something hot and burn off...sometimes could smell it or evaporate. Never once did it drip under the car. Kept causing that stupid low coolant light to come on.
yeah my low coolant light is on as well but hopefully i will have it out of the shop tommorow i got tired of fooling with it lol and dropped it off. mine doesnt smell but i havent noticed no leaks no where on the car........
Hate to bring up a dead thread but i got car out of the shop today and he bled the lines real good and it ran good while i was on the highway but as soon as i got in town it slowly krept past 210 alot slower than what it has been doing but it is still noticeable. It used to do it fast just driving down the street now it takes it a few blocks to do it. He also said his mechanic noticed a small leak in the waterpump could that be the problem the pump not circulating water?
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Verdad Gallardo i already replaced the thermostat with a new 180*, bleed all the lines, checked to make sure the coolant was full, made sure radiator didnt have any blockage and the shroud was still there i been working with it for a week almost lol and still nothing haha. the thermo is opening and closing i can hear it, and i can hear the fans coming on, my next move is the water pump i guess
is it possible for the water pump to make an car overheat like this? also today i drove it 60 miles round trip to work and back and it stayed right at 180 the whole way as soon as i got into my neighborhood there it went going on up?? im seriously lost maybe it could be a fan not cutting on idk
Teching In
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
Same Problem 4 me 2 My trans-am started overheating all of a sudden, granted i just bought the car but the guy said it never overheated so i took his word for it. it has new radiator on it. But i was driving down the road in town and notice the temp guage go up almost to the 3rd white line 3/4 mark. and the check guage light came on. i immediatly pull over and nothing is leaking but i can hear how hot it is. The fans are popping on and everything so anywayz i get on the highway and it stays at 210 just a **** hair under but as soon as i get back to town it steadily starts to rise anyone had this problem b4? i would like to try and fix it myself b4 i take it to some mechanic that will charge me an arm and leg just to diagnose it. im hoping its just a thermostat or something little like that any info/help would be greatly appreciated thanks alot............
Last edited by ramair1997; Jun 11, 2008 at 05:59 PM. Reason: mispelled word
is it possible for the water pump to make an car overheat like this? also today i drove it 60 miles round trip to work and back and it stayed right at 180 the whole way as soon as i got into my neighborhood there it went going on up?? im seriously lost maybe it could be a fan not cutting on idk
i havent had time to mess with my trans-am lately since my last post it has been sitting in my garage
i am going to take it to a shop and tell them to do whatever they have to to get it fixed lol i meant to do it today but had other things to do (kids) but hopfully b4 friday i will have it dropped off. what did it cost to put head gaskets on for you? and thanks for the info man appreciate it.......
i am going to take it to a shop and tell them to do whatever they have to to get it fixed lol i meant to do it today but had other things to do (kids) but hopfully b4 friday i will have it dropped off. what did it cost to put head gaskets on for you? and thanks for the info man appreciate it....... 
Mine is somewhat having the same issue, with my EWP conversion it's running 200-210 solid even driving 80mph an hour home each day. In traffic sometimes it will trigger the secondary fan @ 215 and cool down to 180 but as soon as its off it climbs back to 200-210. I ordered the 160 from Summit, your local auto parts store won't stock it but you can have one shipped to you in about two days usually. Very simple install but it gets tricky if you don't have someone around with an LT1 tuning program and a cable. Then you have to rely on a mail order tune and hope it's right.
mine seems to go bannanas in traffic, on the highway its fine, even when the secondary fan kicks on in traffic its already too heated to go back down. i leave the ac on in traffic and it still gets crazy hot. i am almost 100% sure its my head gaskets on top of it all i have a misfire on cylinder#7 im sure that plays a role in it as well. i hope my mechanic can get everything right for me and soon im sooo ready to start driving my lt1 again.
mine used to overheat.. the cats were all bustted up. dropped the ypipe and it ran great..
then about a year later it started overheating again.. tore the waterpump out and the impeller had come loose.. it would overheat randomly..
i also had it overheating because my rad cap was screwd the little plate was just flopping and not letting pressure build.
then about a year later it started overheating again.. tore the waterpump out and the impeller had come loose.. it would overheat randomly..
i also had it overheating because my rad cap was screwd the little plate was just flopping and not letting pressure build.
never heard of cats being the reason a car would overheat. did you do a full exhaust or just the y-pipe? what made you come to the conclusion that the catalytic converters were clogged?
Teching In
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
Well, of all the things on the LT1 the cooling system is prob. one of the few I feel confident enough to post any advice on (I hate to give/get inaccurate advice). First to the 160* thermostat, I believe it to be overrated. The manufacturer made the running temp. what it is for a reason, that's where the engine performed best. Most prob. saw results because they replaced the thermostat not because it was 160*. Since you have replaced that, the water pump may not be flowing correctly. This happened to me (about 3 weeks after I replaced my cracked radiator and opted not to go ahead and replace the water pump as a preemptive measure..). The symptoms were very similar to what you describe because at high speed, the air was cooling the fluid enough to make up for a lack of flow, however at low speeds the fluid would stay hot and not have enough flow to cool it. This would be my next suspicion for you if you are confident your fans are both working. I hope your heads didn't get warped from all the overheating, a new gasket won't fix that... Good luck and keep us updated. There is not that much in the cooling system of an LT1, so don't get frustrated and just think through it logically one piece at a time until you find the weak link. It all works on the premise of flow, air flow across the fins of the radiator, and coolant flow through the water pump, heads, block, and radiator.
yeah robyrd its hard trynna figure this whole cooling issue out its killing me, i talked to the mechanic today and he said 1700 to do new fel-pro headgaskets i was like damn i can buy a new motor or one with some **** already done for that. i think i am getting somewhat aggravated with the whole thing since i bought it. the poor car is just sitting in my garage i had the intentions to drop it off and tell him to put gaskets on it blindly suspecting that was the problem but my wife would shoot me if i spent that much on that car being that i got one i drive everyday. i guess the next thing i am going to do is to change the water pump and get a tune on it and see whats next.
i had the intentions to drop it off and tell him to put gaskets on it blindly suspecting that was the problem but my wife would shoot me if i spent that much on that car being that i got one i drive everyday. i guess the next thing i am going to do is to change the water pump and get a tune on it and see whats next.