just installed a cam in a guys car, and it keeps over heating. we have done all the normal stuff, the system is bled properly, fans come on.

the car ends up puking coolant out of the overflow and getting hot. All the hoses are hooked up correctly, and we have no leaks.

my thoughts are
stuck thermostat
bad rad cap(dont think so tho..)
bad water pump
head gaskets(unlikely, since we didn't put heads on it.. tho it does had ported heads installed 6000 miles ago)

any ideas?

 

maybe coolant line clogged by a little strange objet or cold piece of grease

just my thoughts


hope it helps

 

i highly doubt that. it would take a pretty serious chuck of something to clog the system I would think. besides, we really didn't do anything that would allow foreign partles into the coolant(like when doing a head swap)

 

Does the radiator actually feel like its 250+degrees?.....If not then it could be the sensor. I know I currently have this same problem. The temp wa like at 240-250 degrees but never got in to the red but it stayed there. I put my hand on the radiator fins and it do not feel like it was 240+ degrees. I put data master on it and the computer was only seeing 198 degrees. granted the computer sees the temp through the front of the engine at the water pump but still. Also, Wouldnt the water start to boil at those temp?. I mean my car wasnt giveing me the tell tell signes that it was truely over heating.

 

I had the exact same problem on my last cam swap. If you find out what happened let me know. I thought I had a bad grind on the cam but it turned out fine. :T

 

its for sure getting hot, the overflow is puking coolant.

James-
the car isn't really drivable..

 

your slipping jerdin, just pull the thermostat out and see if it still does it.

 

You know what...I must be slipping too, Im going to try that when I get off from work.

 

did you forget to install that waterpump drive sleeve so it links with the shaft off the waterpump drive in the timing cover?

id hook up a scanner and see if the temps mearsured at the waterpump match that of the temp guage in the car since its taken off the head. that will atleast tell you if the coolant is circulating.

 

the coolant is circulating, at least some what because when I start it I can see the coolant being pumped from the line that runs from the back of the cylinder heads to the radiator.

I test drove it, and it ran fine.. drove around the block for about 3-4 mins, and everything was cool. took about 10min of driving away before he had a problem.


brady- I am gonna hve him boil it

 

i'm suprised no one brought up the infamous heater core clogging.

happened to me-
when i refilled everything - it clogged up somewhere (guessing heater core) upon refill-

stuck a hose in the radiator overnight and opened up the return lines.

came back to a perfectly running car, swampy lawn and aggrivated father

 

got it figured out. turns out it just wantd to be a bitch with bleeding. had to rebleed it a bunch of times...

These cars are all the same.. but boy are the different!

 

Just curious, the first time you bled it, was it on jack stands?
The bleed valve is about the same height as the heater core. If you raise the car from the front bleeding may work better. I recall having to bleed a couple cars like this, but never an LT-1... not that I have alot of expierence on LT-1s.....

 

it was bled with the car level. *shrug*. just appears that some are tougher than others. mine has always bled easy

 

Glad you got it figured out. Mine wasn't drivable either & now that I think about it the rear end was slightly higher than the front. (Ended up popping a head gasket.) Have to try to level it out somehow when I get back to Texas. Thanks for the info Jordan.