I have recently purchased a 96 RS with the 3.8 liter V6 for my son.

I bought this Camaro last week and was aware that it needed a water pump.

That repair was made this morning and it has been hell ever since.

Upon refilling the coolant system and confirming that I was up to temp and had good circulation, I went around the block for a test run.
The car did not make it home.

Temp gauge only read 185 or so and was dropping. I thought that was strange.
But the car overheated and the radiator was boiling. After a cool down and replenishing the coolant, I was able to get it home.
I proceeded to use the air bleed at the thermostat housing and ensure that all air was out of the system. Seemed fine because I had a stream of coolant there.

But once the car heated up idling, it died. Would not start and if it did start it was very rough. I had to pet the peddle to keep it running.

It acted like the thermostat was not opening. So a new thermo was installed. It does open now.
But the fans were not running. I was able to jumper the relays and confirm that the fans do work. They also run with the A/C.

A new coolant temperature sensor was the latest installment and as soon as I started the car the fans were running in high speed. They shut off after a minute and came back on when the temp gauge was reading in the middle - 215 degrees.

I continued to let the car run, circulating the coolant and as the temp would rise the fans would come on and as it dropped the fans would shut off. All seemed fine.....


Then it died again.

Here is my first question.
Is there a "failsafe" built into the car that shuts it down if it overheats?

Second question.
When refilling with coolant, is there something I am missing? Maybe there is a stepI should be performing?

Third question.
And could it still be airlocked even though I get flow through the air bleed port?

I have been reading the forum here hoping for a solution but there is so much info to sift through, I figured to just post my own questions.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Peace out!








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Where are you adding the coolant, radiator or overflow tank? Did you get the right pump, they look about the same from the outside, but the ones for serpentine belts are made to spin in the opposite direction of the ones made for V belts. If you have the right pump, let the engine warm up, and then run your hand up & down across the front of the radiator (stay away from the spinning fans).The radiatorshould feel uniformly warm, if some parts feel cooler than the other, you have a partially clogged radiator. If the radiator feels cool all over, then it is totally clogged.

 

All day long while dealing with these issues, I was adding water to the radiator cap. Not the overflow.
I just started the car again and closed all caps. I then bled the air from the system using the port on the thermostat housing.

This time around, it kept running and the fans kicked on at around 220 degrees. I was pleased.

But something else worries me now.
In the light from the floodlights on the house, I can see smoke from the tailpipes. That was not doing that before. It is something I checked when I purchased the car.
Could I have done some more serious damage when it overheated? The smoke is light but enough for concern.

 

Is it white smoke? Can you smell coolant burning thru the exhaust?

Hopefully you didn't blow a head gasket...

 

No. It is oil. Not coolant. I can smell it clearly.

 

when it overheated, could it have burnt a piston ring? allowing oil to be burnt?

 

Today I went out and started the car and let it warm up to temp. Everything worked as it should and the car did not overheat.

I went to the rear of the car to check for smoke and really had to look hard to see it. My thoughts is that it may have been smoking all along and it was not noticable until the flood lights hit it in the darkness.

No one has really answered my original questions but everyone has been a great help. If you have anything add having to do with my original post, please do. I would really like to know the answer to the second question about the "failsafe".

Thanks for everything!
Bobby

 

Yes, I know this is an old thread, but..

If you replace parts in the cooling system or you overheat to the point where you get air into the system, REMOVE THE HOSE THAT ATTACHES TO THE THERMOSTAT AND POUR COOLANT directly into the block. In my experience, you cannot adequately refill a dry system from the radiator because the pump cannot suck without having fluid. Then of course bolt the thermometer and hose back on and fill from your radiator while bleeding air.

Hope this helps someone else.