car seems to over heat at idle...upwards of 220+ area. yet seems fine when driving....any ideas?

thermostats new, coolants new and full,..?

 

i think that is normal....when your just sitting at idle, you have hardly no air flow through the radiator, so obviously, its gonna get hotter than normal...if it cools down while your driving, it sounds like everything is pretty normal...

 

jeese, my car has the problem of not heating up fast enough at idle... try changing your coolant if its been in there for a while or try a different coolant/water mixture, other than that get a fan switch i guess. alot of people at f-bodyhideout are doing that i guess so they can turn em on when they just sit there at idle.

 

these cars just run hot, i rember one day last year even with my 200 degree fan switch i couldnt get my car below 235 it was 98 degrees out that day.

 

if you want to keep the temp down at idle, get an aftermarket fan and run it to a switch. i would also get a new thermo and flush the old coolent and use some water wetter or purple ice additive with new coolent. just dont forget to turn the switch on

 

I wouldn't be able to remember to turn the switch on everytime i started up my car...can you wire it into the ignition or something..

 

you could, then it would always be on though. you dont want it blasting all the time, just at long stops or idle in the driveway. i got a moroso switch panel and ran my fan, pump, ignition and misc other things to it. works great. i can controll everything

for a reminder, you can rig up an LED to stay on untill you turn the switch on, inturn switching the LED off

 

It might also be caused by your ignition advance. Make sure the vacuum advance is plugged into a "ported" vacuum source, which can be found on the carb. If it's TPI, your on your own.

Best cures for overheating:
-Use antifreeze at no more than 1:3 (antifreeze:water). Water is what cools the engine. Antifreeze just protects the pump and keeps it from freezing

-Get a 180 degree thermostat and drill 2 small holes around the edge (helps eliminate hot spots and air pockets)

-Make sure the air dam (lower radiator air deflector) is in good shape

-Switch to an aluminum radiator (preferably with welded on side-tanks) and switch to dexcool after full backflush (thorough). Standard antifreeze causes scale on aluminum

 

Is the pump new? Base timing could be the problem also.

 

You sure your gague is reading correctly?

 

I've got a 160stat and my primary fan wired to a switch and have it running when the car is on and my temp will stay at 160-170 indefinately.

 

everything is new.....?? except for guages except i'm going off what the ecm says and not the physical dash pieces.