hi, i have a 00 camaro z28 with 80,000 miles that was handed to me by my dad. he really took care of it because only has 80,000 miles, he gave it to me after buying an 07 corvette. now my question is my dad has been changing the oil with 5 quarts synthetic, but when i went to my nearest gm dealership they said my vehicle requires 5 1/2 quarts oil. so i let them do that. now before the extra half of oil my car ran between 210-215 temperatures wise. after the oil change i am hitting between 220-235 temperature,so i took it to the gm dealership and they want $80 just to look at it but said $20 of it will go towards any service i need.... i told my dad but he said just don't let it hit the red mark(260). but i'm paranoid now. i've done a search on these and my symptoms seem to be total opposite from what i'm reading. when i'm at idle it will stay around 210-215, but when i go over 70 mph it will jump to 220-235......but when i slow down to a stop goes back down 210-215. am i being paranoid for nothing? and does the fact i have 51/2 quarts now have anythig to do with it? -thanks

 

when you are driving at high speeds, i am pretty sure its normal to be at 225. that is when your fan comes on and cools the car downs

 

What you are saying seems to defy logic. While you are driving at high speeds your cars temperature is hot or is the oil pressure high? The movements of the gauge you described sounds just like an oil pressure gauge. It it is the temp gauge, that seems backwards, as at high speeds the car should run cooler because there will be more air flowing over the radiator than at a stop, regardless of the fans. However, 215 is normal for GM engines, they like to run em hot.

 

I've got a 2000 Camaro V6... I've had some issues lately with overheating as well. first I change out the thermostat and that helped fer a bit... then it overheated again. I changed out the radiator cap and filled it back up (the radiator was pretty well empty). now the temp never goes above the halfway mark. when its driving down the road it only goes up to 1/4, at idle it goes up to the 1/2 mark. hey it was only a $4 part... just make sure you fill the radiator back up.

 

first of all thx for the replies

@camaro_burns_all: you said it's normal for temp to be at 225 at high speeds but i'm actually reach 235 of course just my guess because no number there just a little past 3 slash mark

@lv49der: i'm sure it's the temp gauge that's fluctuating.
temp guage all the way to the left ///////210///////230(guess)///////260(red zone). in the middle is the oil guage ///////40///////60 and son on
you say it defies logic but my temp guage does fluctuate 210-215 at idle then when i go over 70mph jumps between 220-235 i dunno why

@niteman: at this point i'll try a cheap fix and change the raidator cap, but do i really need to change all the coolant first before replacing the cap? i'm really mechanically bad and don't know how to drain the radiator. lol i have to go somewhere to change the oil

 

nah... don't change it unless ya need to. you can change the cap out and just add antifreeze when ya do it. make sure when you are adding it, have the engine running... and put the cap on while its still running. also you might need to bleed it to get the air out (pretty simple to do)

 

how do you bleed it? -thanks

 

http://shbox.com/1/how_tos.html

go to this link... has some good information. I think thats where I saw it.

 

do u have a low coolant light on? The one with the arrow in the center? The ls1 is easier to get the air pockets out of the engine than is the reverse flow cooling of the lt1 so if you want the car to run cooler change the thermostat in the water pump housing. I would keep an eye on it. sometimes if the coolant is low fluctuation will occur prior to overheating. check the overflow reservior. THe ls1 makes more power cool.. the lt1 more power hot. strange indeed.:-D. if you decide to drain coolant there is a plug at the bottom of the radiator right hand side i believe. It is a closed system so if air can enter (radiator cap not sealing) you could have problems similar to what you described. Hope this helps. let me know if you need help geting out the air pockets ill tell you how to do it. You are not from newport nc are you...cause i have a shop in cape carteret. Be happy to assist.

 

@niteman: thanks for the link i'll check it out
@383stro:there's no light on, but i did decide to add some coolant that was recommended but still seems to run hotter than i want it too around 220-230 range but nowhere near the redline so hoping it's ok.