Car gets warm )=
Car gets warm )= When driving the car in the city, it runs around 180*, but when I start driving fast at a steady speed (like on the highway) the temperature creeps up to around 195-210. My car is the only one out of my friends that runs this hot. All my friend's LT1's run around 180 city and ever cooler on the highway (like 165-170). For some reason my car just runs hot, and gets hotter on the highway.
I've replaced the radiator, t-stat, fans (actually have them manually hooked up), have an electric water pump.. I just don't know why it wants to run hot. Any suggestions?
I've replaced the radiator, t-stat, fans (actually have them manually hooked up), have an electric water pump.. I just don't know why it wants to run hot. Any suggestions?
Makes sense what you're saying, but this is all of a sudden happening. It never did that before, and my friend has a Meziere and drives 4 hours to orlando and back under 180*
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well your fans dont even kick on till like 229 in a lt1 car unless you had your fan temp lowered....but yea man put that air dam back ok..i had a 89 trans am that didnt have one when i bought it and i put a new one on and all my probls were fixed right there..
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 2,861
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From: Ringoes/Flemington, New Jersey
that air dam is your highway airflow. you NEED that.
off topic, but I love your wheels 1badzee. best Fbody mag wheels
I have a set of them that i had on my old formula, they SPARKLE!
off topic, but I love your wheels 1badzee. best Fbody mag wheels
I have a set of them that i had on my old formula, they SPARKLE! 
Just an Idea, See how many amps your pump is pulling, Maybe it is getting tired, Mine pulled 4.8 last time I checked. ( my teacher never saw a ewp before and asked me to do it) As well there was a guy on z28.com that had cooling problems for ever and had a bag get in between the condenser and radiator
The air dam being off shouldn't matter. I have the problem with my car getting hot, but it's the exact opposite problem. It gets cooler on the highway, even without the air dam.
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From: Decatur, TN (N-W of Athens)
I posted this in the Firebird section in a thread about the air dam, my idea was to take 2-4 pieces of steel and bend them at an angle and then bolt/weld them to the bottom of the core support behind the air dam to change it's angle. Essentially factory is | and after the mod it'd be \ which would provide a much better ramp for the air. I'm not sure why they didn't do that anyways. It'd also make it not as 'tall' and less likely to bottom out. However IF you did catch it, due to the angle it wouldn't bend back like if straight down. Being plastic through you could easily just make a new one out of any thick plastic.
To the OP, make sure that your TStat isn't dead and stick partially open/closed. Or that your water pump is running properly. Get the specs and measure it's current (amp) draw, like cgroh suggested. I can't remember which it is, but if it's not getting enough voltage or amperage it'll get hot due to the resistance from the coolant making the motor work harder and can lead to failure.
Launching!
Joined: Nov 2007
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From: Eastern, CT
im a newb, how do you check your amp draw on a cam drivin water pump? my car was sitting for 4 months i come home start driving it and now its hot. same problem i put a 160 stat in her, runs cooler at first but then after about 10 mins of running my temp goes up to about 220, usually it only goes to 180 thats when im beating on it. the only time my temp goes up is when my low coolant light comes on. When i put the new 160 stat in, i flushed my radiator with water, FILLED the system and its still throwing the low coolant light up. Could a bad level sensor cause my car to run hot. I checked my fans both are kicked on, my relays are good, when i was puting coolant in i could see it cuirculating, so im pretty sure my pumps working, also tested my coolant temp and my gauge is right, and replaced my radiator cap, so im pretty lost in the duck sauce. im leaving in 3 days and would like to fix it before i leave for another 9 months.
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From: Decatur, TN (N-W of Athens)
Yea I'd say bad coolant level sensor. 220 isn't hot, 220 is normal. 225 is Fan 1, 235 is Fan 2. With a 160tstat and no tuning for fans, you'll basically run the same as stock temps, except now your Tstat is always open 
I had the identical problem, check your t-stat. Mine would run 210 constantly, never worried about it since that was normal operating temp but most f-bodies run around 185 on the highway with a stock setup. This was after I changed to an EWP. I put another thermostat in there (160) and had it tuned accordingly. Fixed all my worries.