Just convinced my gf to buy a 95 TA. 3 days later it busts a heater hose. Long story short, I'm riding my motorcycle in the rain so she can take my truck to work! Help!

Replaced heater hoses with ones outta my z28 that I'm rebuilding. Buttoned it all back up, put some coolant in, started it up, temp gauge slowly climbs back to overheating.

I have tried running without the thermostat to isolate that. Same result. Stat is good. No leaks on the line. Not losing any coolant (i.e.- blown head gasket). Pretty sure I hear the fans kicking on.

I've opened the bleed screws while its running, but i'm not getting any coolant flowing out of them. I've seen steam/smoke coming out of the heater hose bleed screw, but nothing out of the radiator hose screw. Is there just THAT much air in the line?

I also did not have to put near as much coolant in as I thought I would after blowing a hose. Need to fix this TODAY or the woman will bite my head off. Thanks guys.

 

You just have not got it filled and bled enough. Keep trying. Filling instructions can be found in the link below.

http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech2.html#radflush

 

The fans should be kicking into highspeed mode after it comes up to around 210 or so.

If there's still air in the line and you've already filled and bled it numerous times, you could just have a bad radiator. Maybe one of the passages are blocked.

 

Yes, yes there can be. Depending on how much coolant you drained when
you replaced the hose, there can be a whole lot of air trapped in the
upper areas of the system. You have to bleed, cycle, fill until there is no
air left ... that means reaching operating temp, letting it cool, removing
the cap and topping it off.

Probably not a good idea to run with the bleed screws open, they'll spew
coolant under high pressure. The fact that they havn't makes me wonder
if that water pump is working properly. Do you see a stream of coolant
pumping into the radiator just below the fill cap when the car is running?
(NOTE: NEVER open the radiator cap when it's hot)

If it's dead, consider it an opportunity to upgrade to an electric water
pump and pick up a few HP for your pain

Also, make sure you are somewhere close to a 50/50 mix of water and coolant.
I see people overheat all the time because they can't seem to get that right

And make sure that
A) You are using an LT1 thermostat (tall), not a SBC (short)
B) It's not in backwards

 

Thanks for all the input guys. I really want to keep my head! I'm a work for the next 10 hours, but i think I will fully drain and refill instead of just topping it off today. With as poorly as this car was maintained, it definitely couldnt hurt! I'll let y'all know.

 

Hi,
I am also runnin w/o a T_stat. Running evans waterless (because of 383ci FI blown 97ss M6), but, the Gen2 350 motor has a WP with an internal bypass. Gm did this to heat the car quickly. You must plug that bypass port to get all the media flow thru the rad. If not, then alot of the hot water-media will return to the engine. Not a good thing. I machined a spring loaded plug for the Gen2 WP to seal the internal bypass. I could not find anyone that sells them. Possibly flowers for the Girl_friend and V_day is here. B.

 

lol should have bought her a geo metro...

 

If I were you, I would convince her to pick her own car and just provide as much factual info about the car so that she can make an informed decision.
Otherwise, you may be in for a long, long, long, neverending, bitch session concerning the car.

These cars are not for people with little patience, little money, little knowedge, little mechanical aptitude, etc.

I'm serious.

 

 

You should try taking the thermostat housing off and fill the block up till that hole overfills. (Where the theremostat is placed) Then put thermostat back in and fill up radiator till its full with car off. Turn car on and continue to fill... Thats what i do. You prob have a air bubble in the block still reason the temp keeps raising.

 

I agree here. This is not a set and forget car. I dont think I would let my girlfriend buy one.

 

Alright guys, let me rephrase. She has wanted one for years and wants to learn to work on it herself, and since she got a good tax return, I convinced her that this would be a good one to get. The price was right, the engine and trans are solid, miles are decent. So i did not convince her to get a ta, just to get this one.

I've had my Z28 for 9 years now, and know full well that there is some work involved. Plenty of all nighters working on the car so i can drive it to work the next morning. Many of them in an apartment parking lot. LOL. So yah, I'm aware and she has been warned. LOL.

 

Sweet if she wants to learn, that is great.

 

Yeah, I think so too, but her first lesson is the PATIENCE required on these cars. She has yet to master that.

 

Well, this is turning out to be more of a project than I thought. Apparently, when the heater hose blew, the subsequent overheat blew a head gasket (I assume). I took out the #1 spark plug today on a whim and almost got a face full of coolant! So again I'm hearing "just sell it" from her, and need info from you all. No need to sell if it's a $30 head gasket and a few days of my time.

1. If it is just a head gasket, how difficult is the project. I know my way around these cars pretty well, but have never taken the intake or heads off. Mostly just bolt ons, maintenance, suspension, etc.

2. What are the chances I have damaged something else (I.E.- cracked a head or broken something internal?) Tha car still cranks strong, just won't start. The heater hose blew around a week and a half ago, and I just refilled the block about 3 days ago, so I assume the coolant has not been in the cylinder more than a couple of days

3. What is my line of attack from here? How do I test to see if the engine is internally damaged?

It looks like I'll be much more prepared to rebuild my own car down the road after this ordeal!