hey guys i have a 95 camaro 3.4 and when i drive it it smells like its burning coolant and it seems to get really hot. what should my car temp run at and would gettin a low stat help it any thanks

 

Well it should run under the 1/4 mark. If it gets higher than that then it could turn into something worse than that. But they say the temp guage is an idiot guage. You should know if your car is getting really hot by the way its driving.

 

temp gauge idiot light? I think not

Burning coolant is bad...a sign of a blown or failing head gasket (look for white exhaust). A new lower temp thermostat would help. I have a 180 in mne and it RARELY gets that far above that 180 degree mark

 

When's the last time you flushed your coolant? Make sure your fan works too, and you can try replacing your thermostat if it's stuck -- they're inexpensive...

 

i have only had this car for about a month now and everything is going bad. the car runs at about 3/4 temp gauge on a short drive it will get that hot. it smells like it burns something i dont know if its coolant or what but on a drive to school which is about 5 minutes from lettin the car sit all night starting it and running it for that 5 minutes very easily running it it gets to the 3/4 mark and smokes like there is a liquid hitting the engine. i hope its nothing big but how much do new head gaskets cost

 

Stop driving it and do some investigation, or take it to a shop and get them to tell you what is wrong + estimate.

 

thats the problem though i really cant stop driving it. i have to take it to school and work but that is all i drive it in a day now because i dont want the problem to proceeed and get worse. i already know its going to cost around 1000 dollars if its a blown head gasket. but how much are the parts to do it myself. what should i look for under the hood to see if the head gasket is cracked are there any noises. and is the only way to check a hose to take it off and look for a crack?

 

Ok if you have blown head gasket...(just replaced mine) There will be oil around the head on the sde that is blown. Also check your coolant to see if it is like a sludge... When my head gasket blew my oil got into my coolant and made it a sludge.Also check your oil to see if there are beadsof wateron it.Also DO NOT DRIVE YOUR CAR. Even if it is 5 minutes to school get a ride from a friend. Replacing your head gaskets is a big project. They run about 25$ each. But there are other gaskets that will need to be replaced. Valve cover gasket, throttle body gaskets, there is a bunch. Also when you get your head off you have to take it into a machine shop so they can check if it is warped. Which they charge about 20-30$ a head to check and if they have to mill them then it is gonna run about a hundred bucks. This is the price for my area at least. Good luck its a hard job and time consuming. it aint just gonna happen in a couple days unless you know what your doing. I just changed mine and sumthing is messed up the car doesnt seam to have any power...

Well good luck. Make sure you get yourself a chiltons guide if you do this. I cant stress enough TAKE YOUR TIME!!! MAKE SURE YOU MARK ALL THE PARTS EVEN IF YOU KNOW WHAT THEY ARE!!!!

 

hey guys i found out the over heating problem a line was cracked but i got a new one and now its fixed but i still have not figured out the knocking sound it only does it once a week but i dont like anything to be wrong with my car. i have taken some pictures of where i think the problem is but i was wanting your guys advice.

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k3...035_edited.jpg <<<< what the pictures were taken from

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k3...g/IMG_0034.jpg <<<<<< should there be fluid on this

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k3...031_edited.jpg <<<<< should allthe gunkbe around that

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k3...033_edited.jpg <<<<<to the right of the green spot, should all that be there.

are these signs of a blown head gasket? or could any of these be making my car clang at low rpms every once in awhile. it only clangs after i give it over 30%-35% throttle. please someone help me.

 

i dont have a 3.4 but i do have a 3.8 and they are pretty similiar, when my head gaskets started to go there were several things that started happening,some of themare nocking, slapping, and clanking sounds. before all my comprehension in all my cylinders went to hell and the car died on me i thought it was possible a connecting rod or at least a valve train problem, but lasted too long to be anything like that and all i found on the tear down was 2 blown head gaskets. there were only a couple small leaks that opened the block up to the outside but they were big enough to spill out small ammounts of coolant and eventually was making very loud clanking noises in the end before it gave up. so im not saying this is your problem, but it sounds like the same drama i was going through with my new camaro...lol..
P.S. if your are comfortable enough with working on cars u will be looking at saving ALOT of money doing it yourself. its not that hard if u get a manual for the car (your best bet would be to get a dealership shop manual on your specific car and it will brake down everything on your car in VERY specific detail making the rebuild pie)........GET IT DIAGNOSED BEFORE YOUR CAR ENDS UP ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD LIKE MINE DID, i was soooo sad.....lol