My 98 Z28 is having a low coolant problem. I recently had the coolant flushed and the thermostat replaced. The car runs fine then the low coolant light will come on. From there the car will proceed to heat up to about 210 degress which i think is too hot. If i turn off the car and restart it within a short period of time the light will stay on. But if i leave it off when i restart it the next day it will be fine. If anyone has any ideas please respond. Thanxs

 

hmmmn....i believe my SS runs at 210 constantly ...... right where it should be.....

 

The temp gauges on our cars are essentially idiot lights. Do not trust what they say, they are highly inacurate. Just make sure it stays out of the red. And if you really want to know what the water temp is, buy an Auto-Meter temp gauge.

 

I agree with the above, the stock gauges arent exactly accurate. However, they are a nice baseline. 210 degrees is kinda high since your 98 came with a 180 degree thermistat. what kind of thermostat did you put in? Id check the fans, see if theyre coming on. If not, it could be a relay, wiring, temp sender, or a number of other things. I have a friend who's car overheated like that after he put in a 160 degree thermistat. You could get an slp hardwire kit and turn leave your fans on on command. Maybe a hypertech if the problem isnt something mechanical...

 

My car runs at about 208+(on the dummy guage) I'll see it go to about 211 and the fans kick on and back down to 208+.Have you checked the coolant resevior cold/hot level located to the left of the battery?

What makes you guys think its fan related? He mentions that the low coolant light is illuminated. Low coolant will raise the temps a bit even if the fans are working.
I havent changed my coolant in the Z28 yet(no bleeder?),but have in the v6,on the v6 there is a bleed screw to help get the air outa the system I used when putting in the 160 thermo.

Is there someone who can tell Volcum(and me/board) how to bleed/make sure there is no trapped air in his system in case the mechanic did not? It possible he has a migrating air pocket associated when the temps get to normal?

As far as the thermo causing overheating...does not compute.Opening earlier then later should have no effect on operating temp in a normaly funtioning system.Already determined he has close to normal temps. and w/o the fans set to come on earlier the car even though new thermo will prob. run the temp it was before.

 

The low coolant light has nothing to do with the 210 temps. 210 temps are normal on a 98 (which by the way has a guage that actaully works) The idiot light gauges started in 99
Coolant level sensor failure is very common that's why they did away with them. 00 and up don't have them for sure maybe even 99 and up??
Just underneath the upper radiator hose on the passenger side of the car you'll see a sensor with wires going to it. Unplug the wires and pop the wire clip. Pull the sensor out and clean it good with water and some say alcohol is OK too. Re-install it and top off the coolant. If it still won't work or fails again you'll either have to live with the light or replace the sensor at the tune of about $40. I have a new one on the bench waiting for my lazy butt to install it
If you want the car to run cooler then you need to change to thermo and get something to turn the fans on sooner i.e. HPP, Predator, SLP fan switch, or custom programming. If you don't turn the fans on sooner then any time that your not moving right down the road the temps will just rise 'till the fans kick on and cool it back down.

 

Im just speaking from experience of what may be a couple causes. I've had my 2001 for 2 years now, and my friends all drive f-bodies. Theres a 96 firehawk, 96 t/a, a 97 Z, and my 01 Z. Theyve all had temp probthat ive helped them with. Sorry you all disagree.

 

98's did not come from the factory with a 180 thermo. The stock one is 195, but does not come on at that temp. It comes on at a higher temp.

210 is kinda high for a LS1 (unless you're in traffic all afternoon). Mine runs at a nice cool 175 degrees 99% of the time.