91 w/ Overheating Issues

[Falls SHO 1]

Okay, so I have been searching on this one for hours with tons of advice but nothing pinpoint accurate. This car has run beautiful since I bought it and just yesterday it overheated, without warning...I was driving and everything looked fine, looked down five min. later it was on the red dash. I got her home and let her cool down. Drove again, same thing.

Here is what I did. I took it to the spray off car wash and blasted under the hood, I am planning on doing some powersteering work shortly so I wanted everything as clean as possible. When I left the spray off I turned the A/C on (for the first time this year). It ran for maybe 5-10 min. and that is when I noticed the overheating.

The issue is this, now when driving, without the A/C, it is still overheating. This car used to run stone cold all the time. Like barely into the brackets of normal, so this is definitly not what the car should be doing. I don't hear the fan kicking on under normal driving conditions, however, when I turn the A/C on the fan also comes on (which is normal I know). Anyway, I really need to get this fixed.

t-stat? fan motor? I guess I need some good advice. You all have always come thru for me so here is another chance. thanks in advance.

 

[socialdeviat]

Yeah I would say the Thermostat. Also make sure that since you sprayed down the car. If you sprayed the engine compartment or maybe even into the cores for the A/C and Radiator that you didn't clog up the fins. If that happened then yeah your not gonna cool off. The easy ones to check are to remove the t-stat and see if she opens in some water boiling. or at 195* if its a stocker and you have a thermostat.

Also check to see after its warmed up with the cap off (Fluid will fall out) to see if coolant is circulating. It could be a weak pump, stuck T-stat, or simply a blockage somewhere. So I suggest after you figure out what it is. to get the system flushed. and then put the new parts in. Less contamination that way. Just be sure they know its a aluminum under there.

Good Luck

 

[Falls SHO 1]

Thanks for the tips...I went ahead and pulled the t-stat, just gonna replace it, seems just as easy. The coolant looks great, not dirty at all...still I am going to flush it. I also pulled the fan out. The fan is newer as well, Siemens written right on the side not mention it looks brand new. Also, I am just going to go ahead and replace the radiator cap as well. We'll see how all of this goes, hopefully it solves the problem.

Could spraying the engine down really have hurt things...I have not checked the fins on the radiator but...anyway, thanks for the tips, keep em coming and I will let you know how the minor fixes I am trying go!!

 

[Falls SHO 1]

So, after several steps, things seem to be back to normal...as normal as a SHO can be. I replaced the t-stat and radiator cap, flushed the coolant and unplugged and replugged the ccrm. Temp is now steady on the "L". Thanks for the help!