My camaro hes been doing this off and on lately. Basically I start it up in the morning(but it can be anytime), and it heats up really fast, even on a cold morning. It will go all the way to the top of the temp gauge, then I'm guess the thermostat opens and it drops. Then it will slowly climb and then I'm guessing the fans come on and it will hover at 3/4(im in class right now so I dont know the exact temp). Could i just need to change the thermostat and coolant? Because normally it wont get very much hotter than 1/2 the gauge and the thermostat opens way before it gets to the top...

 

bleed to see if u have some air in the system. if not try the thermostat change.

 

Almost bet thats the guage..i had a 97 firebird that did the same thing..the guage was just broken..do you actually hear the fans kick on?

 

I haven't listened for the fans i will next time it happens,(it didnt this morning), although I have seen them come on before. just seems odd that its not a constant thing.

 

Hi, I am having the same problem with my '99 Camaro. The thermostat is brand new, the water pump is not leaking and I'm told there's nothing wrong with the head gaskets, but the car will not stay cool. I took it in and all they could find was all 3 relays running both fans were shot, so they replaced them, and it was fine for a bit (a bit = 3 weeks). I don't hear the fans coming on at all, either. I thought maybe I have a short in the electrical system somewhere, because I am also having a problem with my dash not lighting up--at night. During the day, the digital radio readout is on just fine, at night, nothing...and no dash lights either, except for the odometer. Other than this, the car is in awesome shape for 134,000 miles. Any ideas? I'm not the least bit mechanically inclined!

 

check your fuses in both fuse boxes. one in the cab (on my 93 its on the driver side of the dash by the door) and one under the hood (black box on driver side). clean the connections at the batter and the junction box on the passenger side wheel well. red plastic box. clean the wire ends on these. also pull your relays and clean the connections.

 

Thanks Craby...will do that this weekend.

 

For your lights on your dash, sounds like your instrument panel dimmer control or light switch.

 

I wish it were that simple. When it gets dark, say at night or when I go through a tunnel, my headlights will normally go on and my dash will light up. Well, now when it is night or I go through a tunnel, the headlights come on like normal, but the dash does not...not only does the dash not light up as it should, the LED of the radio goes off. I'm thinking there's a sensor issue, I just don't know where to look for it.

 

im new to this but im having a similar problem only i replaced basically my whole cooling system, radiator, t-stat, all the hoses etc...my fans are coming on but when the temperature gets pretty much pegged they turn on half way between the red and the line before it. my heater wasnt working and the car was over heating so i replaced the waterpump, it fixed the problem for about a day the heater worked great car didnt heat up, and all of a sudden BOOM started heating up again and the heater stopped working, what could cause this problem?? i have a 3.4 liter and i do a paper route so i have to get this problem taken care of so if anyone has an idea please let me know.