As soon as the car started one day the temp guage went up and climbed all the way to red (260 degrees) in my 93 Z28. The coolant is full. Is the thermostat broken? It has an aftermarket thermostat @ 160 degrees but im unsure when that was installed. We are going to replace the thermostat this weekend unless you guys think it is a radiator problem? Also, the thermostat is in the same location on 93's as the 95-96 right? Shoebox has a guide for installing i was going to use unless its in a different location. Thanks

Ryan

 

Your coolant system may be clogged somwhere, but I'm not sure how to tell you that.

More than likely you may have air trapped in your coolant system if you recently did a flush & refill though.

I would try simpler things first before you start replacing things, assuming you havent already.

 

first of all id like to say i really like your exhaust setup. second of all, my dad and i know very little about LT1. I mean i know mods, but i dont know where to begin to unbolt things and start going at it. The thermostat is cheap enough we'll just replace it and see if that works, also will try letting pressure out of the hoses.

 

Thanks, and you'll learn about the LT1 pretty quickly. 6 months ago I had no clue about my car, now I plan on doing nearly all labor myself, even a cam install .

 

i just need a book. i hate garages around here, they charge you a ton of money without truly diagnosing the problem. the explorer i formally had many problems and half the time they charged us thousands to do something, then it still didnt work. it ended up blowing a head gasket and frying a ton of stuff, gave it away and took a tax cut.

 

Yeah I know what you mean, almost a year ago a shop tried diagnosing this car with a blown headgasket when it was only a dirty coolant system in need of a thorough flushing.

 

even if they know the real problem they want to charge you for something way more expensive. like in that situation they prob charge you for new gaskets, change those, then flush your system for way less, or just dont do it at all and wait for you to come back with the same problem

 

Question... You started the car and the temp gauge immediately went to red or did it take a few minutes?

If it immediately went to red, I'd say look at the sender (should be on the driver head between number 1 and 3 spark plugs). The wire may be hitting the exhaust or the sender may be dying.

If it took a few minutes, then it's probably the thermostat. I've seen a few hypertech 160 degree T.stats go bad in friends cars. The temp would usually spike and force it open, then it would drop and start all over again.

 

immediately rises. the coolant is totally full too, and it doesnt show signs of overheating like smoke or anything bad, so i dont know. ill def check for that. its a93 btw is it that sensor in the same location?

 

im not sure if n e one already said this, but when we were changing coolant on my bros car , we had to use the little bleed valve on a radiator hose, then the temp went down. just my $.02

 

we didnt install any new fluid, but shoebox's guide says if the temp doesnt go down after changing the thermo to release that pressure

 

you might have air in the lines, thats why i said to bleed it, if you bleed it (car should be running) and there is no bubbles you are fine , when you pull the thermostat coolant WILL come out, i would reccomned to turn the petcock on the radiator and drain a lil first, or u will get coolant alll over your engine bay. and when u pull the thermostat AIR will get in the lines. so try it , it was the key to our prob

 

check the fans.......unplug a sensor and let the check engine light appear....fans not on mean fans bye bye time for lighter fans

 

mmm yea i think im going to replace the thermostat, bleed the hoses, and thats about it. i really dont think the fan is broken. anyways, ill let you guys know how it goes

 

JJJ93z is absolutely correct. The smallest amount of air in the reverse flow system (unique to our LT1s and othe modern engines) will cause a lock in the flow.

There are two bleeder valves; one on the thermostat housing and the other on one of the heater core hoses (? somewhere?).

The bleeder on the thermo housing should be bled first. The unfortunate part about the process is that the coolant will leak directly onto your opti-crap. Explore alternatives to using the factory valve; plenty of info available on the www.

Good luck, and bleed the system in steps. It sounds funny, but even little bubbles in the system can hinder the flow. Trust me; I've been there recently.