Hey guys I got a problem with my newly acquired 84 Z. After driving it like 10 miles the temp guage reads around 240. I opened the hood and the water in the resivore was full and boiling. When the car is cool or has not been driven there is no water at all in the resivore. What can be causing the temp to go that high and the water to boil? Also why is there no water in the resivore? I put a new thermostat in before this happened. My airdam is not currently on but I dont think that would cause such a high increase in temp. Any help or suggestions are appreciated.

Mike

 

is there new coolent in there?

 

That airdam helps quite a bit, when the car is cold, you say there is absolutely nothing in the reservoir?? There should be at least some, right up to the cold sidemarker on the res.

 

I dont think there is new coolant in there. The previous owner had it sitting for like 5 months.

There is absolutely nothing in the reservoir when the car is cold.

Mike

 

Let it cool off, top up the radiator, fill the reservoir to the "full cold" mark, and put the airdam back on. That airdam is EXTREMELY important in these cars, as the radiator fan can't pull enough air to keep the engine cool when it's under a load and the grill openings are small.

If it keeps acting up then you probably need to flush the coolant system.

 

I had the same problem with an 85 rs. it is a frozen thermostat. all you have to do is follow the top radiator hose to the block and take off the housing for the thermostate and pop that thing out. all the thermostat does it regulate how much water leaves the radiator, if it is frozen it can't flow and just gets hotter in the block, did you notice the radiator was still cold?

 

do the fans work?

 

Yes the fans work. I am getting it smogged tommorow so first thing in the morning I will put the airdam on. I dont think its the thermostat because we just put a new one in two weeks ago. But I will remember that in the future Today me and my dad took a look at the radiator. We took the shroud off and found an eagles nest I think that could be a big part of the problem. We vacummed most of it and sprayed the rest out. We also flushed the radiator and put new fluid in there. Hopefully it will be good to go.

 

Radiator cap holds pressure to 15 psi?

 

Yea I 2nd the motion on a new thermostat. The same thing was happening to my car and a new thermo fixed it.