Car is a 1997 3800 5spd with 135k on it and no mods. Slightly loose and leaky exhaust on it.

Recently did a coolant flush after finding out that dexcool and prestone had been mixed in the car.

The car runs perfect temp on the hwy with not fluctuation whatsoever, but when I get into town and drive at low speeds the temp creeps up very very slowly. If im parked idling for any period of time this happens only slightly more rapidly. Car does not heat up quickly and there was no exhaust coming from coolant when run with cap off rad (so not headgasket). As far as i can tell I don't lose any coolant. This morning when I came out the rad was just a little bit low, but leaving the cap off and running the car at 2-3k for about a minute and the coolant level came back up. I am wondering there may still be some air in the system? I haven't check to be 100 percent sure that the fan is coming on on its own yet, I will check tonite after work.

I did not replace the thermostat after flush, but since the overheat happens only at low speeds im assuming coolant is flowing as it was during the flush.

Any ideas on where I should start?

 

How far does the temp creep up to? These cars run hot in stop and go traffic. Did you bleed the system after you flushed it?

 

I dont ever let it creep up passed 210 i always pull over and shut it down when it gets that hot. I did bleed the system but im not sure if i did it correctly can anyone give me the quick run over so i can bleed again

 

I have been told two different ways. The one I use is to run the car till is warmed up then shut the car off then open the bleeder screw and I let thy vent till I can't hear hissing anymore then I repeat the process several mire times until when I ope the screw only coolent comes out. I'm not exactly sure but I thought the fans are supposed to come on at about 210 at least the low speed. I'll see if I can find out if that's right

 

I bled the system, no steam came out when i loosened the bleeder, just coolant, so Im thinking that is alright. Where is the relay for the rad fan located? Is it with the others in the fuse panel under the hood or is mounted elsewhere? Also is the A/C fan on the same relay? I am going to keep a real close eye on my coolant levels as well, I saw a tiny bit of steam form when I opened the hood and the car was just over the 210 mark, barely even visible, but there. Not good. But I will keep an eye on it.

 

It could also be the coolant temp sensor. there's 2. One for the temp of the coolant and the other for your guage. The one for the guage has one wire.

 

The fan relays are located in the fuse box under the hood. There's 2 of them. One is for the first fan anx the other is the secondary for when temp gets past a certain point.

 

I feel dumb. Just moments ago I allowed the car to sit at idle and once the temp got just barely past the 210 mark both fans came on underhood and shot the temp back down...Is this jumping up and down entirely normal? Ive never heard of a car that had such a large gap between highway temp and fan temp, is this a 4th gen wonder?

 

Yea it's normal. I asked the same question when I first got my camaro. As far as I know it's just the way it's designed. There really is only one way for air to effectivly pass through the radiator and that's from under the car.

 

Lol that is crazy. I suppose it doesn't hurt anything to run a little warmer, but if i ever do a pcm tune i might have them set the fan lower, just cuz thats annoying to me lol. Thanks guys.