so...... i have been waiting to get a camaro z28 for a really long time now. after searching for many months i finally came across one in my price range. it had everything i wanted. v-8 lt1, t-tops, bose stereo, and it even had a flowmaster exhaust system, hypertech power programmer, and a k&n air filter. i was quite impressed. the only thing i was"iffy" about is the fact that it was originally a v-6.it seems like the guy did a pretty good job with the swap, he even switched the gauge faces to the 150 mph. speedometer. well anywaysafteri bought the car i realized it has an overheating problem. the coolant is full and everything, but we realized that it only has a single fan cooling system where im pretty sure all the Zs had dual fans. also we realized that the air dam spoileri believe its called(underneath the front end) was missing.well i stillthought for sure it would beat my friends stock 97 trans am.well..... we lined'em up and suprisingly.... he beat me. so here i sit in this chair extremly depressed. do you think upgrading to the dual fan system and adding the air dam spoiler will keep it from everheating? if so, should this make the car run stronger? because i also noticed when the engines running hot i cant even break the tires loose. sorry that im a noob here, but i would greatly appreciate your help. thank you. by the way the car is a 94 with 98,000 miles on it. the guy said the swapped motor had around the same miles.

 

Can you be more specific? Does it overheat while moving, and cool down some if you stop? Or will it overheat in any situation?

Thelower air dam is there to redirect air up through the radiator while moving, it certainly doesn't help that it's missing. I don't know about not having enough fans. Does anybody know if the V8's get a straight up *bigger* radiator? (e.g. 4 core vs. 3 core?) I've got a v6, and the radiator seems pretty big.

Also check for coolant flow, make sure there aren't any pinched off lines/collapsed hoses, make sure that the Thermostat is opening up properly and all that.

 

I'm pretty sure they are the same. I had a 93 v6 camaro and then I got a 94 camaro with a v8 and I've changed out both radiators and there didn't seem to be any difference other that the v8 had duel fans as to where the v6 only had a single. As far your car not being able to break the tires loose! I would get back with the guy you pruchased the car from and see if he's telling you the truth because when I launch from dead stop I have a very hard time trying to get traction. The lt1 has great low end so breaking your tires loose should be the last problem you have. I have some mods on the car now but even when it was bone stock with 79,000 miles on it the car would still smoke tires from a dead stop. Let me know how it goes and I hope this info helped.

 

I don't have much experience with F-Bodies (yet) but as a general motorhead I hope I can provide some insight

Not enough umph to make tire smoke? I guess I didn't see that part, (Pre-editedit: Yes, it is likely that your car does not make as much power when hot, and heat soaked. I bet if you get your cooling problem worked out it will run better)I was more worried about replying towards the overheat problem. I have to work at it, but it's not *that* hard to make at least some tire noise with my V6! (98 3800 5spd)

So, more details! 1 vs. 2 fans should not make a difference above 20 mph (probably lower, but I just picked a number for an example), but the lack of the lower air dam will cause airflow issues while moving. Without it, air will just travel right along the bottom of the car and skip the radiator. At that point your depending on your fan to cool the engine while it is working hard. Definitely not the best idea when you're not even sure if the cooling fan that is there is up to the task.

If you start out with the car cold, and start the car and let it sit and idle, will it eventually overheat just sitting there? I know the temp can climb pretty high, I think most car's default to kicking in the fan at like 220-235 degrees, and a 195 degree thermostat, but it should stay out of the red. If it doesn't overheat while sitting still, it's probably an airflow problem while moving, again get that lower air dam back on there and that will alleviate any airflow problems.

 

The V8s came with two fans. But more important, is the fan running when the egine is hot? The Hypertech programmer can screw up the computer if not used properly, and then it can only be fixed by reflashing it with a tech2 tool.

 

Ditto V8's had duals... lack of an airdam will even cause a overheat at idle.. the fan drawls air through theradiator the airdam at idle helps pull it up to the radiator

 

my 6 has duel. by the way. i just put on the kit by slp that you can put the fans on low,high or just put it in the middle and they turn on at 215 degrese. it really helps on hot days to just leave em on all the time lol.

 

wow! thank u all for the replys. umm. im pretty sure it only heats up when im driving it. some of my buddies work at valvoline, so i took it in there today. they checked everything out. they said it still has the v6 radiator in it and they realized the guy mixed orange coolant with green coolant. they said that could cause it to crystlaize and get all gunked up. so tomorrow im taking a trip to the junkyard and hopefully ill find a v8 radiator and an air dam spoiler. they said that should fix the problem. also i realized i have really low oil pressure at random times but they think itsonly a bad scensor. also it seems like it doesnt shift the way its supposed to. and when i step on it, it feels like its not pulling as hard as it should. it almost seems faster when the pedals 3/4 of the way down. they said i just might need a transmission flush. they think the valves might be sticking. all i know is....... im confussed. lol. i guess ill just get the things eveyones pretty sure that i need and see how it runs. do u think the transmission flush would help it grab?one last thing. it was very imbarassing when they told me they wanted to see me sideways leaving the parking lot and i couldnt even get it done. lol.

 

Well, if your transmission is gunked up, it will make it not drive right. A fluid flush there certainly won't hurt anything.

Mixed orange andgreen coolant? Get that ish flushed out right away! Replace it with green or the universal stuff if you want, but DO NOT mix Orange (Dex-Cool) with green (Non Dex-Cool). The universal (Sometimes yellow?) seems alright, and shouldn't react with Dex-Cool.

I wouldn't worry about changing the radiator (as long as it's not gunked up inside)since it doesn't overheat while just sitting, just get the air dam in place so you can drive it without overheating. Just flush out the mixed coolant and replace it with one kind only. I would even go so far as to recommend the universal style in case you can't get all the orange flushed out properly. Do that SOON, Dex and non-Dex will "gel" and that's bad.

 

tomorrow im going to the junkyard to get an air dam spoiler. on monday im getting hooked up with a discount on a tranny and coolant flush. but still one more question.... i went to do a powerslide the other day and i usually drive with my hand on the shifter even tho its an automatic, but im pretty sure i wasnt even touching it and the gear poped out of place i think. it went into neutral. it also happened today. and im almost positive my hand didnt hit it. also my friend with the stock T.A. raced my friend in his lemans and he smoked it by almost 4 or 5 car lengths. i raced the lemans today and we were dead even >:0 !!!!!!!!!! please help me its really bugging me that my cars that slow with the same engine as the stock t.a. only mine has some aftermarket parts on it. could thetranny be the reason?