I just bought a 1996 Z28 convertible 5 days ago with 129,xxx miles on it, It ran fine, didn't overheat, nothing. The previous owner said the radiator and distributor were already changed. Well I brought the car to Tuffys for an oil change and to get checked out for problems, while doing the change, they said my waterpump was leaking and would need to be replaced. They wanted too much for a 17 year olds budget(especially after just buying a Z28) so i decided to bring the car to a guy I found on Craigslist. From the get-go I could tell this guy was a dumbass but stupid me I decided to stay with him. He started to take the car apart and when doing so, he saw that there was no Thermostat, and the fan was not mounted in the correct place. I went and bought a thermostat for him, and he did his work. Later on that day, he said the car was done and I went to go get the car from his house, we started it up and the car was hissing, and when i looked under the car I saw that the new waterpump was leaking. He blamed the problem on the cars frame and the brand waterpump I bought, but said he would reseal the pump and reinstall it. The next day, he called, said that the pump was installed correctly now but now the coolant overflow reservoir had a crack in it and was leaking. He poured water in it to show me and it leaked all over the ground. After arguing about how he had nothing to do with the reservoir and he did the job correctly, I took the car home. While driving home, the temperature gauge went up to over 260 Degrees, after pulling over a few times and finally getting home, the coolant fill cap was smoking and the coolant had leaked all over the street and garage floor.

So all in all, what could be the problem here? Was the thermostat not on the car for a reason in the first place? or did this guy mess something up and make things worse than it should be.

I am only 17, don't know much about cars, and I will admit, got myself into something very stupid, and now I have no money for any other repairs.

 

well first of all when you get a impression like that walk away. the guy probly did not blead the air form the cooling system. you should never drive a car thats over 220 degrees. pull over and stop. a 100 dollar tow job is way cheaper than a cracked block or head which may be a new issue now. have you refilled the cooling system? anyways from what you have said i would guess this guy was not a real business so i dont see how you have a case to recover anything.

 

If the guy was that much of a dumass, he could have forgotten to (or not known to) transfer the driveshaft from the back of the old water pump to the new pump.
If he missed that kinda important part, the pump won't be turning and the engine will be overheating.

 

Maybe this could be an option idk, but sometimes simple solutions are overlooked. A few times while working on mine I have loosened the radiator cap to relieve pressure and after spending a good amount of time on it I forget to tighten it back. This would mean the coolant system has no pressure and your coolant wouldn't be flowing and temps would be high. The coolant would overflow out of the radiator cap. Could this have been a possibility, just a simple mistake of not having the cap on correctly or maybe just a faulty rad cap?

 

But why would the coolant reservoir have a hole or crack in it now after this guy was working on it? He pleaded and defended himself that it was not his fault but when I brought the car to him the car was running fine, never over heating, no leaks(except for the little leak out of the waterpump). The only actual problem the car had was the downstream O2 Sensors were out and the check engine light was on. I was told by Advance Auto Parts that since there was no thermostat that it would cause the O2 Sensors to go out. But my question is now, Why would the car have no thermostat? Would having no thermostat in the car avoid the problem of overheating?

 

Couple of questions here did you get the right thermostat? I had yards at auto zone try and give me a short style From a early 350 needless to say the kids blank stare was reason enough that he had no clue

You got to bleed these cars not burp them
And is your water pump the right one?

 

You can't put a "wrong" water pump on this engine, the LT1 and accessories are unique to itself. Is it possible your reservoir already had a crack in it, but your coolant level was down? And when the guy filled your system, it brought the coolant up above the crack? I don't know how you could ruin the reservoir like that, unless you were trying to.

 

I believe the only thing not having a t-stat would do is allow the free flow of coolant through the system at all times instead of only when the stat opens and reaches it's temp setting such as 160 or 180 whichever model you would have in. So yes, it would tend to keep the temp down better.

Like Grabbem has mentioned, make sure you have the right parts or models for your vehicle, I would assume the parts store would notice if they had given you the wrong part but some aren't as knowledgeable as Grabbem experienced.

Also be sure to go about the coolant procedures correctly to bleed out all the air from the system and eliminate air pockets.

As for choosing a 'random' for engine work, now that seems like a mistake. Those reservoirs are pretty sturdy and I assume he busted the tank and just doesn't want to be held accountable and replace/pay for a new tank. :/ bad luck

 

Well the reservoir wasn't leaking before, when i bought the car I poured some antifreeze in before driving it home, and when I brought it to Tuffys they poured more in and there was never a leak. The other thing about that is that while driving home from this "mechanic"(he says he went to UTI, and that he is planning to open a shop in a few months, I will make sure that never happens) all(or most) of the antifreeze leaked out. Do you think he could have burnt a hole through the reservoir while I wasn't there and he started the car and got it very hot?

From what a lot of you are saying I think this guy did not bleed the system the correct way(i know of the reverse cooling system) and I also don't think my fans are working. I am going to have it checked out on Wednesday and inform you all about progress.

and thank you all for the ideas and help!

 

previous owner could have put a temparary patch on it that got knocked off. no thermostat sounds like the po was also covering up an overheat problem. or at least was trying to, removing the t stat can cause the motor to overheat more sometimes.