OK, so when I got my '82 the ad said it overheated and they replaced the cooling system... apparently that means everything BUT the radiator. The engine tried to over-heat on me, and I think it's the readiator but I want to make sure first. it's got a 160* thermostat in it but friday it jumped up to about 205 when it idled and 195-200 when I was running it. I checked the coolant etc. and it's all full... I tried spraying water through the air-foils on the thing but most of it came back out of the front of the car, and VERY little actually came out the other end of the radiator. So, is it the radiator or is it something else?

 

Just because you have a 160 thermostat doesnt mean your car runs at 160... It means that the coolant will flow through the motor once it reaches 160 degrees. If your car doesnt run above 200 degrees then you are lucky. A normal 305 runs around 210-220. If your car is only getting to 200 degrees then I would suggest putting a 180 thermostat in if you live in cold weather. Whats your heat like?

 

Yeah, 205 is great. My camaro runs 195-200 during the summer, but all of my components are new and I have a flex fan. My Jeep runs a constant 210.

 

Well, the thing that worried me was that it never went above 175 before. I live in the El Paso TX area, so it's around 90-100 in the summer and doesn't usually get below 15 at nights in a really bad winter. It kinda freaked me out because I drove it about 70 miles round trip when I got it registered and it never hit even the 190 mark. That and the fact that it had a junk motor put in it after the original motor (that, btw, only had 150,000 on it...) over-heated and blew. So, if it's nothing then I wont worry.

 

What kind of condition is the coolant in? Either way, I would do a flush. Open up the petcock on the radiator and drain it into an appropriate container. Fill it back up with water (and a flush additive if you desire), drive it until it is at operating temp, then drain it and refill with the correct coolant and water mixture.

 

The coolant is less than 2 months old, I have receipts to prove at least THAT much. My dad knows ppl tho, so I may end up getting a new heavy duty radiator for like $60.