oneclean97z

i did a search for a little while and couldn't get any straight answers so here is my problem, my car will slowly overheat when it sits at idle. now if i turn on the a/c and/or heater it wont overheat too bad and sometimes temp goes down as well as when im cruising from 40ish and above it will slowly drop back to normal operating temp. there is no coolant leaks, waterpump thermo and rad cap are all within a month new, radiator appears to not be clogged or damaged, and summer is coming and that means this problem is no bueno in my book, plus i dont even like my motor to run near 200 anyways. if anyone has any input it would be appreciated.
-brandon

BlackDog

When the temps rise do the fans come on? Might want to look at the fan relay.

oneclean97z

yea they do, i keep trying to bleed it more but coolant comes out within the second the screws are unscrewed

Jazsun

Head gasket leak?

oneclean97z

no theres no coolant/oil mix at all. thanks for the input but im still stumped and would like to get to the bottom of this

JamaroZ

So it only gets around 200? Sitting in traffic on hot days etc can cause the car temp to rise a little. Is it getting near the red?

ChevalierSS

200 degrees sounds pretty normal for sitting at idle

BigRedCornhead

Man do i wish i could help honestly i have this exact same problem and am still nowhere with mine. I rely on those fan every summer at idle for the love of god i hope they dont go. Curious thing we have the same mods. The only thing i havent tried is flushing the block, but that seems extreme to me. The radiator has to be the problem getting a new but that is expensive. Ill bewatching this thread close...

oneclean97z

well no it goes up to 200-220 then will slowly get higher till its pretty much in red area. THIS IS NO BUENO and is actually embarrasing, sucks cause i cant leave it running even in my driveway to run inside for a sec, chill in traffic, red lights after red lights, and yes its hot down here in houston so thats the icing on the cake people lol. no but seriously i need this problem resolved, funny thing is i had a pretty similar problem to this one in my old 96 v6 camaro. im running out of ideas and maybe i will try the prestone radiator cleaner stuff that you run with water for a few hours then drain and refill coolant/water and see what happens.

BigRedCornhead

At what stock temp do the fans kick on, somewhere around 260 degrees or close to it right? Well anyway sitting at a stop light, picking someone up, or waiting at a drive thru, my car i can watch the temp needle run all the way up to 260 fairly quickly, Fans kick on, then draw back down to like reg op temp like 200. Then just as fast rise again once the fans turn off. Is this normal operating procedure?

Dave1980

Have you checked to see if the system is holding pressure? I recently had a leaking heater core that kept my system from pressurizing. You could also look a the radiator cap.

Based on what you have said if your bleeder screws are bleeding coolant out, then you don't have any air in the system.

Personally I would take the thermostat out, and check it to make sure it is functioning properly. (heat a pot of water with a thermometer in it to verify functioning temp)


Verify you have the right temp thermostat for what your cars computer is programmed for.
(reading your sig, says you have 160, but no programming to go with it...not good)

I would flush the system while the thermostat is out as well.


Is the car getting rid of its coolant when you get near overheating?

BTW I am just chunking out ideas.

I can literally watch my temp gauge drop slightly when my thermostat opens up.