My 91 z28 with the 305 tpi runs hot. I know that there are tons of posts and threads on here about this problem and that you guys are tired of hearing about them, but I have just a simple question. I have both of my electric fans hard wired to run all the time while the engine is on, and the temp will still get up to 230-240. I would much rather it ran around 210-220. The water pump is new, and the antifreeze to water ratio is 50/50. Could the cause be that I put a 160 degree thermo in it? That it is opening too much and letting the coolant go through the radiator too fast? should I put the stock one back in?

 

Did it overheat before the pump change?
I would try at least a 180 stat. And you are correct, the coolant may not be staying in the radiator long enough to be cooled off. At those temps, the stat would be staying open and coolant would be constantly flowing. It needs to spend a little quality time inside the radiator to chill out.

 

I don't know if it overheated before the new pump. I got the car not running and low and behold, after spending forever rebuilding the motor and getting everything ready, I started putting coolant in and the water pump was no good lol.

 

pluged radiator?

 

New Radiator also. I have the fans hard wired, and when stopped they can keep the temp steady, and very slowly get it to go down. what I'm wondering is if I'm missing something in the front of the car. The person that owned the car before me was not the brightest crayon in the box, ended up in a ditch, and sucked water into the intake, blowing the motor. Thats why I rebuilt the motor. Long story short, the front of the car was never put back together completely, and I only have a half-*** bumper, then empty space till the front fascia. I was looking over the owners manual and it showed a lower radiator baffle that kind of looked like an air scoop underneath the car that blows air into the radiator while moving. Am I correct? I have not had a chance to find a completely intact camaro around me that I can look at.

 

That would be the air dam, but it only workas if the car is moving. It is also possible that the temp gage or the sending unit are off. Other reasons for running hot could be a retarded spark and/or a lean fuel mixture, air bubble in coolant, or even a miswired fan causing it to spin backwards. Also you may want to check compression to verify that the head gaskets, although new, are not leaking.

 

a missing air damn on some of the 3rd gens will make them overheat. find or make one and get it on the car. check this thread i dont think the 91 has one like it, i think it has one more like the 4th gens.
https://camaroforums.com/forum/showt...ht=overheating

 

Ok I have the problem taken care of. I just swapped the aftermarket 160 degree t-stat for the stock one, and the temp never even gets up to 220 now. Running between 190-210 which is right where I want it. Thanks for the help

 

I don't really believe in those 160 stats, for that very reason. After the engine and coolant gets well above 160, the coolant won't stay still in the radiator like it's supposed to.

 

Got to give time for the coolant to work. The factory engineers spent a lot of time designing a proper cooling system, and it is usally better to leave it as they built it. The other misconception is that a cool running engine makes more power, it is not the coolant temp that makes the difference, but the temp of the air going into the engine.