My father is car happy (he over does it on the motor oil, air pressure, tranny fluid,in ever car thinking the more the better, ) He decided to over do the coolant while my car was parked over the weekend (I was away).I don't know if he messed around with anything else on the car or if his doings may be the reason my car took the biggest **** of its life last night. The coolant spewed everywhere last night after I parked my car, it gurgled for 20 minutes, and peed everywhere. My next concern after seeing that was either it was too packed with coolant or there's a radiator problem. Well, I live five minutes from my office, and the water temp went from cold to 260 degrees (the hottest it can go) in a matter of five minutes on my drive to work. It didn't over heat luckily, but I'm sure it would have. Sounds like maybe just a thermostat hopefully? If not possibly a radiator?$$$ I'm taking my car down to the shop today after work because I don't think I can handle this one on my own. Any other ideas as to what it may be, and what price damage I'm looking at? Thanks

 

if it went to 260 degrees then it did most certainatly overheat, sounds like a thermostat to me though

 

did your dad say anything about bleeding the system? after the coolant is replaced it should be run for a minute, and then the bleeder screw opened to let the air out of the cooling system, after a steady stream of coolant comes out with no bubbles, you should be fine.

another thing, your fans should have kicked in around 220, if they didnt then there may be a problem with the fan relay.

 

There was most likely an abundance of air in the system. Ask the technician about bleeding the system properly. Fans could be a problem, but if there's too little water in the system, a fan won't supply much help. The low fan circuit is supposed to engage when the engine coolant temperature sensor senses a temperature of 221F. The PCM grounds the low fan circuit. Once it reaches 235F, the high fan circuit is engaged. Also, when A/C is demanded, the low fan circuit is engaged.

And no, I would not suspect a radiator problem.

 

If you did get to 260 degrees, the thermostat is probably toast. Replace it as a matter of fact.

A little trick I learned a LONG time ago to avoid having an air pocket below the T-stat, drill a small hole (1/32 - 1/16 is fine) in the flat, non-moving part of the thermostat. Also when you fill the radiator, try parking on a hill, snoot up. Works every time just fine.

 

Yea my car runs pretty hot , Do ya really mean to tell me ya drilled a hole in the T-housing???? can you post a pic of that by any chance??? i got fed up and put a 160 degree stat in my ride. Runs a lot better , and got a little more power.

 

Not in the housing, in the thermostat. I'll look around to see if I've got a 'stat I can photograph and post it.

FYI: Your emission system stays in open loop (not working)until the water temp reaches 180 degrees. That's why you have more power, the computer thinks the car is 'cold' and is enriching the fuel mix.

 

Can someone tell me where this bleeder screw is? Im kinda a noob with Camaros

 

That mostly depends on the engine you have. On 3.8 V6 models, the bleeder screw is located on the thermostat housing. It's a brass straight bladed screwdriver fitting. Backing it out 3 whole turns is what I usually do.