I have a 96 camaro 3800 that starting running hot. I replaced the thermostat, belt, and water pump this weekend still running hot. All the hoses look okay, but Im going to replace them anyway. The car is not losing that much coolant and I cannot find a leak. Fans are running properly & Thank god there was no coolant in the oil. Only other possibilities I think it could be:

-clogged radiator
-intake manifold gasket

Any suggestions??????

 

Intake gasket could be a culprit. Check and see if there's any oil in the coolant. If so then it's your intake gasket doing that. In town it's gonna run hotter anyway. It did with my 96. It ran a noticeable amount hotter in stop and go traffic then it did up at speed. The IROC I currently have is the same way as well.

 

did you bleed the system when you change the themostat.

 

yes i did bleed the system. after a careful inspection last night i found some puddled coolant on the intake manifold.

 

Was there oil mixed in with that coolant? That is a primary symptom of a bad intake gasket. Mine went out but it had a normal idle except it was loping as if it had a cam.

 

I did not find any oil in the coolant. I flushed the system again last night and drove the car about 20 miles temp stayed around 185 no overheating. It is possible their was still air in the system these cars are bad about trapping air.
However, that coolant on the intake is worrying me a little. It may have come from the radiator cap when it first started overheating so Im going to clean it up and keep a close eye on it. The car has 170,000 miles on it, but motor still runs strong. I also have a 96 Z28 with 123,000 miles that has not given me any problems other than the security light stays on all the time.

 

It probably did come from the radiator cap when it overheated. Even when my intake gasket went out I still didn't see coolant on the intake. It just had oil in the coolant and it loped like it had an aggressive cam. After you've driven it a little just take a look at it and if there's not any on the coolant you should be fine. I had a 96 3.8 for a long time and I know how those cars work.