OK, the temp on the car shot straight to the top...the fans wont come on...checked all the relays and they are good...but if you make a jumper, they come on and stay on.....could it also have something to do with the thermostat?

 

as simple and cheap as it is, it is deffinately worth a shot. pull the old one out and boil it in a pan of water before you buy a new one.

 

if yoou can jump them then your relays and fuses are all good. So it is possible that the sensor in the front of your water pump is bad I think that is what the PCM reads to turn the fans on, but I'm not sure

 

ok, i bought a new switch/sensor today...replaced it and it is still doing the same thing.
it could be that i did not replace the right one...
now, heres a little more info...the temp goes up and down with a very wide range of temps..so i am going to assume that the water pump is doing its job..but without the inflow of cooler air then its still going to over heat without the fans, am i correct or am i missing something here...
this is my first v8 and im kinda getting a little pissy with it already.

thanks for all the info already guys, right now, youre my hero's!
~V

 

sounds like you have air in the system

 

After my header install, my temp shot through the roof the first time I cranked the car up. Air was in block due to the removal of the temp sensor in the side of the motor.

 

Bleed system before you try this. If that does not help:

1) Can you get hot air from the heater vents? That indicates coolant is flowing in the block/heads circuit.

2) Does the radiator get hot*? That indicates the thermostat is opening.
*If you have a/c it can be hard to feel the radiator. With a/c, feeling the fins from the front of the car is no good, that's the condenser, not the radiator. Don't reach through the fans, either, they might decide to turn on. You can just feel the plastic radiator end tank, the lower the better.

 

the heat does not want to work or be as warm as it should be like when i first bought it.
It seems to want to over heat at anytime as well.
we are going to go ahead and flush the system and replace the thermostat and see where that takes us...

thanks for all the help guys!
~V

 

Ok, poor heat can be either real low coolant, or poor flow from the water pump. Or a plugged heater core, but that is not likely in this case. NO heat, if you have a reasonable amount of coolant in the system, usually means the water pump is not pumping. If the pump is not pumping, the car will overheat VERY quickly, like about 5 minutes or less after startup, at idle. When my pump driveshaft failed, I had minimal heat and about 4 minutes idle before the car would start puking coolant. Hopefully your pump is OK, and you just have air in the system.

Easiest way for you to verify that the pump is working: After flushing the system, go ahead and put it together without installing the thermostat. Bleed it with a tall funnel in the radiator, to get the coolant level above the top bleeder (there are 2 bleeders). Close the top bleeder only after a solid stream of coolant comes out, no bubbles. Start it up cold, with the cap off the radiator. Some coolant might come out the rad., but not much. At idle, you should be able to see coolant flowing in the radiator. If no flow there, it is likely a bad pump drive. After running a couple of minutes, if the pump is not working, coolant will start intermittently overflowing out the radiator as the engine causes local boiling, then stops as coolant flows back in, etc, etc. In my experience nothing hot came out, but please be careful!

 

water pump drive stripped out? It happened to me. Water did not circulate so PCM never saw the water temp climb, however my gauge did, being it was in the head.

 

I had the same probem w/ hte fan never coming on for a while I just used a manual fan switch, I tried replacing everything , tstat, fluid flush, both temp sensors all did nothing. Up intil last couple weeks when Ion tuned my pcm, after uploading the new program now hte fans come right on on their own. When I was having this problem I talked to a couple other guys wit hthe same symptoms and a new pcm or a tune fixed their fans as well. My fans would never come on at all, only when I turned the a/c on.

 

Well, i pulled the inspection cover off the front of the water pump and turned the wheel by hand. So i know the shaft is stripped.

 

The coupler that connects the water pump shaft to the timing shaft is stripped....guess what, dealer item...has to wait until monday!

 

that reminds me when I had to get my replacement sleeve for my LT1. I remembered a Z28 at the local salvage yard that had been hit really hard in the front, block busted in the front, pushed water pump into block. So i took a trip out there, lifted the hood off of the car, and looked down behind the water pump, and there the sleeve was laying in there. I used magnetic tool and plucked it right out of the car. Don't get that lucky too often.

 

Just an update...
I have finally located the part I needed.
But, just to be on the safe side, I am going to go ahead and replace the therm., the waterpump, coolant, and that piece.
The car should be up and running again by tonight at the latest!
Thanks for all the help guys!
~V