Upper radiator hose collapsing, cause overheat? ---
 

My upper hose feels REALLY soft, but it shows no sign of aging (cracks or stiffness). Could it be collapsing when I drive... causing it to seem like my thermostat isnt opening up?

When my car idles, I have NO overheat issues ... I have had it idle for an HOUR before.

When I get on the highway going 50+ mph ... the heat SHOOTS to the red in 5 miles.

I have seen the thermostat open with the radiator cap off and the fluid runs through at idle. I am just not sure if the pressure gets higher while driving, becuase it wasnt much fluid moving around.

When I hit 3k rpms, my temp goes RIGHT back down to 180 literally in 30 seconds, then goes RIGHT back to red if I run it at 2k or less rpm. Could that be because my waterpump is pushing the fluid through the collapsed hose at higher rpm and not at lower ( pressure ) ?

I am just curious. I havent had the time to work on the car, so I am just throwing out questions :)

THANKS ---

mine did the same thing and i just put a new one on it.... after that the car ran great.. try that it is cheep as hell and dont take much time...

Overheating at highway speeds is often caused by a missing front air dam.

The upper/drivers side radiator hose is the coolant return. That hose is under pressure when the engine is running (at least 18psi if your cap is holding the correct pressure, plus any residual pressure from the pump). It isn't going to collapse, except possibly when you shut the engine down, and the cooling causes a vacuum in the system. The lower/passenger side hose is the pump suction hose, and that is the one that could collapse and reduce coolant flow. Shoebox has a coolant diagram, showing the flow direction in the hoses.

http://shbox.com/1/93-94_hoses.jpg

That pic you posted shows #2 to be clamped at the BOTTOM of the passenger side of the radiator to the thermostat.

I am talking about the hose that you bleed ... which looks like #3,4,5 connected at the top of the radiator on the passenger side. For some reason, I thought that was the hose connected to the thermostat?

I have a 96' z28 ... maybe I am reading that wrong? When the hose was opening it seemed like water was coming FROM the thermostat to the radiator. Does the water usually run from the radiator to the thermostat? It may have just seemed an optical illusion ---

What I mentioned is what is commonly called the upper radiator hose. If you meant something else, you needed to describe it correctly. The upper radiator hose is #14. #2 pieces are the clamps for the lower radiator hose, p/n 10256244.

At this point, I'm totally confused about what you are even asking about, so I'll drop out and let someone else figure it out. I will offer you the link to Shoebox's 95-97 diagram, since you appear to be refering to the hose that connects the steam line from the back of the heads to the liquid/vapor seperator in the radiator. The configuration is different on the 95-97's.

http://shbox.com/1/95-97_hoses.jpg

Why not get alll that other crap out of your signature, and make the Camaro more visible?