I have a 2001 Camaro SS. I have been the only owner of the vehicle, and I have seen it at it's worst. The car has overheated several times through it's life. I have changed parts in the past which did correct the problem for the particular moment. The SS has overheated about 5 times randomly throughout the past four months. At first, It would start to get hot while driving on I-35. The heater on full blast would always cool it down. I have changed out my THERMOSTAT, RADIATOR, HOSES, and FLUID. The car is not leaking anywhere. My FANS do work and turn on and off with no problems. I believe that the problem is getting worse, because it will now heat up while the heater is on full blast. I hooked up my car to a scanner and it would read at about 225 while my gauge was reading at 210. The gauge DOES WORK and will increase, but there is a delay. That means that my car has probably got hotter than I would of thought as well as faster. I am told over and over that it is probably a head gasket. I am also told that on LS1's they usually throw head gaskets when there is a warped block or head which has been caused by overheating. Apparently, a block test was done by a friend of a friend and he is sure that it is my head gasket. There is no smoke or smells coming from the car. All fluid levels have been holding up just fine. WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK? Thank you.

 

maybe the radiator cap is stuck open and the coolant never gets the chance to cool off before going back into the hot engine. Maybe its the water pump failing... Good luck

maybe you have a pressure leak. What I mean is only under high pressure you see the leak. I've seen that situation before. You said you don't have a leak, but do you ever open the radiator cap and check it? Just because you don't see anything on the ground when idling it does not mean that you don't have a leak when you're driving around. Buddy of mine had a leak on his lt1 that would only show up when he revved.

After you warm the car up, turn the throttle body blade a little and hold it while you look around all your hoses and around your water pump. Maybe you'll see the leak.

 

and if it's a headgasket it will be an internal leak so you won't see it but you will run low on coolant... it will either burn out the exhaust or mix with your oil... and on the gauge not reading right only the 98's have accurate gauges... 99+ have dummy gauges... just because you have replaced all those parts doesn't mean they aren't bad especially if you replaced them all at different times, so don't overlook anything

 

what do you mean about dummy guages?

 

That is wierd... The temp gauge on any 99-02 Fbody doesn't show or even close to the actual temp and is just a dummy gauge. It will only really let you know that you are overheating basicly. Only the 98's would show actual temp if that makes you feel any better if you didn't know that. I assume you might though Does it seem like the engine is running way hotter or boiling over from the radiator? If it isn't boiling over I would say swap your ECT sensor. If you are getting false readings. Also if you are boiling over, put a new radiator cap on it which could be a possibility. But I would say...
1)ECT sensor
2)radiator cap if boiling over

if it doesn't happen to be a head gasket, but if it was then I would think you would more than likey be able to see contamination in your coolant most likely if you aren't losing fluid. What mods do you have? Basic bolt ons, H/C, ??? 160 thermo without being tuned?

 

what he said... i have a 98 and when sitting in traffic it will sit right around 210 sometimes a tad over or under and when cruising it will drop down to about 170-180

 

What tells you it is overheating?
What kind of driving conditions, speed, stop-n-go, idling?
What was the outside temp?
What mix of coolant are you using?
What thermostat temp are you running?
Have you check the air conditioning condensor heat exchanger for paper, dirt, dead birds or bugs any kind of dibris?
How old are your O2 sensors? (lean runs hotter)

 

Pressure test your cooling system or better yet do the chemical test for exhaust gas in the coolant. That is what makes it run hot is EG leaking in the coolant and heating it up. NAPA sells the kit but just try to find a shop with it and it will prolly be cheaper than buying it....

 

I wonder if your car has an air bubble that needs to be purged out. This can occur from the rad cap or bad intake/head gaskets. Typically, when the car is cooling down, the fluid contracts and sucks air in from somewhere. The theory and properties of coolant apply to all motors, however, alloy motors are more prone to warping from overheating. Do a pressure test, replace the rad cap, check the O ring gasket around the thermostat housing - small things first. Small leaks can evaporate with little evidence!