f-crazy

iTrader: (-1)

I HAVE A LT1 MOTOR WITH MY ORIGINAL THIRDGEN RADIATOR . WHEN I FILLED THE MOTOR WITH WATER I FORGOT TO BLEED THE OUT THE AIR. WHEN I DROVE IT THE TEMP WAS 260 DEGREES. SO THEN I LET IT COOL OFF , THEN I TOOK OFF THE RADIATOR CAP. I THEN STARTED THE MOTOR, LET THE AIR PURGE ITSELF OUT. I THOUGHT THAT SOLVED IT BUT IT STILL WENT TO 260 DEGREES. SO I DID A PRESSURE CHECK ON THE RADIATOR AND FOUND IT STILL HELD PRESSURE THEN I TESTED THE CAP, IT WAS BAD. I REPLACED THE CAP , TOOK IT FOR A DRIVE. IT DID NOT MAKE ANY DIFF.THE TEMP WENT BACK TO 260 DEGREES AGAIN.I USED A MACHINE THAT PUTS A VACC.ON THE COOLING SYSTEM TO EVACUATE ANY REMAINING AIR.ONCE AGAIN THE TEMP IS STILL AT 260 DEGREES. (I USED A INFRARED THERMO SCANNER TO VERIFY THE COOLANT TEMP. RIGHT ABOVE THE THERMOSTAT IT WAS 225 DEGREES)

I CONNECTED MY ORIGINAL RADIATOR HOSE TO THE THERMOSTAT ON THE WATER PUMP, I CONNECTED MY ORIGINAL LOWER RADIATOR HOSE TO THE LARGE LOWER OUTLET ON THE WATER PUMP. I CONNECTED THE SMALL OUTLET NEXT TO THE THERMOSTAT TO THE HEATER DIVERTOR VALVE AND I PLUGED THE 2 SMALL LOWER OUTLETS.

MY QUESTION IS:WITH THE LT1 BEING REVERSE COOLED WILL THAT AFFECT THE PATH OF THE COOLANT IN , OUT OF THE RADIATOR?

* MEANING : ON THE GEN 1 WATER PUMPS DOES THE UPPER HOSE PUSH THE COOLANT IN OR OUT, THE SAME THING FOR THE LOWER HOSE.

" I MAY HAVE CROSSED THE RADIATOR HOSES"

f-crazy

iTrader: (-1)

Today i switched the hoses and it did not make any difference...

i can feel the thermostat open and coolant is definetly flowing through it....and both hoses are stiff when coolant is flowing..there was absolutly no change by switching the hoses...

all of the hoses have coolant in them aswell, so there isnt any air in the hoses...

how would i know if the heater core is filled with coolant?....cuz when i turn my heat on theres nothing there...i was thinking that its empty and theres a lot of air trapped in there..


ive purged the air out for 3 days, i vacummed all the air out (so i thought), i switched the hoses and nothing is working....

ive run out of ideas on this one guys...

Thanks
Rob

Zepher

iTrader: (1)

Is the fan working?

You say that you can feel the coolant flowing, are you sure?, I ask this because if you've taken off the waterpump sometimes you may forget to put the small coupler back on that goes from the engine to the waterpump driveshaft.

Where is the coolant line from the back of the heads hooked up to?

f-crazy

iTrader: (-1)

I wired in a switch into both relays for the fans...even with both of them on it still goes to 260...i havent taken off the waterpump since i put it on, and i look everytime the motor is running to make sure its spinning lol...i guess im still not used to the belt not turning it...the t-stat is a stock 195

As far as the vent tube, i drilled a hole in one of my oil cooler lines and ran it into them...

Thanks manny..i guess you got my pm

Rob

Zepher

iTrader: (1)

Ya, I got your PM.
Stock T-stat is 180, btw, and is different than a normal SBC t-stat.
It's taller.

f-crazy

iTrader: (-1)

ok so its a 180 then...i didnt compare it to a SBC stat, but i specifically asked for a LT1 stat

6speedIROC

iTrader: (3)

Hey man,

Do you have the right thermostat from an LT1? It should have a rubber gasket/o-ring on it around the outside of the ~2" steel rounf flange that gets clamped. It is a 2 way, and looks pretty different form the regulat SBC one.

Are you 120% sure the pump is pumping anything? Start the motor cold with the rad cap off and see if there is coolant flow when things start to warm up.

Check out my photos to see how my system is hooked up. My heater is hooked up to the water pump as seen (f-body pump). I had to block off one of the heater hoses 9on the drivers side) as seen in the photo.

Also, the cylider head air bleed from the passenger side of the engine near the throttle body- VERY IMPORTANT, is hooked up to the top of my thermostat housing with a small brass fitting and some rubber hose. If this is not done properly, or at all, your heads will have air trapped in them. ie bad!

I also remember it being tricky to bleed the system (been 2 years now) . Try removing the upper rad hose at the rad and adding coolant there with the engine running, this is what I did.

Hope it helps a bit.

6speedIROC

iTrader: (3)

#2

f-crazy

iTrader: (-1)

The thermostat i got has a rubber ring around it but i dont recall it being in differnt them what ive seen SBC wise....Im 120% sure the pump is working, i can feel it through the hose and see flowing in the radiator....mine was hooked up the same way, ill change it back ASAP...im sure the heater divetor valve is junk anyway so ill get rid of that..i ran that air bleed into a hole i made in my oil cooler lines..i know it has fluid going through it...ive bleed the air out for 5 days now and nothing has worked...i mean seriously how much friggin air can be trapped...i could see 220 idling but pegged past 260??..

f-crazy

iTrader: (-1)

today i tried a few couple things...and sure as ****, nothing worked, although i have something to "smile" about....

A few days ago i reversed the radiator hoses, meaning i put the upper hose to the lower outlet, and the lower hose to the thermostat...that make a difference but i didnt change it back...

Yesterday i took out the thermostat and put the housing back on...Now, if the thermostat is the problem then the problem is fixed....i let it get warm enough so it would idle under its own power at about 450 with the choke off...after about 15 minutes (it took a little longer then before) it started getting hot (220)...by the time i drove the 3 blocks back to my house it was 260...so that didnt make a difference at all....by the time the motor and cooling system cooled down enough for all the coolant expanded in the orverflow tank to go back in the radiator it was dark

So today i changed the radiator hoses, topped of the radiator and fired her up...with it being 1 degree here today, she was coooold blodded this morning lol....it took about the same amount of time to get smokin, but im gonna leave my hoses like this because yours are obviously work well...when i shut it off i can hear and see the overflow Violently overfilling...with my hands and face protected i open the radiator up, and there is an enormous amount of steam...after about 10 seconds i take the cap off and when i do that the upper radiator hose opens and collapses,..you can actually hear the surges of air/coolant coming out of it.....

After the radiator calmed down a bit, i filled it with a gallon i had and it was still low!...so the gallon +/- in the overflow will top of the radiator....ill go check in a hour or so...

Fevre

Have you checked you timing? If it is not adv enough or it is actually retarded so you are firing after tdc it will make the car run hot. A very lean cond will also cause this. Sounds like you have the cooling system pretty squared away.

Dave Y

how is he going to check timing?, it is computer contolled and base timing is not adjustable

f-crazy

iTrader: (-1)

actually dave..lol...its carbed.....

Fevre...the timing may not be optimum but its pretty close, and actually the headers dont get really that hot...right around 600 degress +/-50 is what there normally at..so i know the timing if very close...

f-crazy's gal

wish i would of taken automotive so i can help him and his big problem because this is keeping me from seeing him sigh

Fevre

So the LT1 was made by RonCo, set it and forget it? Just because it is computer controlled doesn't mean the timing can't be off. With the exhaust temps I would agree it has to be very close.

f-crazy

iTrader: (-1)

ok i discoverd after some research what the LT1 thermo looks like, and the one i was sold was a regular SBC thermo..****IN AUTOZONE *******S....so i took the thermo out and tried it like that....i also discoverd through some more reading that with the thermostat out of a LT1 motor it wont go through the rad and such, instead it will go through the bypass in the water pump and back into the motor..so that explains why it was still smoking hot after i took the thermo out of it...

i went to a GM dealer today and i should have one in a couple hours, since the warehouse has them stocked...

after i get that in there ill let you guys know WTF goes wrong next

Thanks guys
Rob

Zepher

iTrader: (1)

Cool.
Hopefully that solves the cooling issue.

Getting parts at the parts store can be a pain.
Advance Auto Parts has the wrong listing for rear LT1 rotors in thier computers. Thier listing is for the front rotors for a 3rd gen style rotor with the studs in it. We bought rotors, tore the car apart, then I looked at the box and noticed it was a little too tall.
opened it up and find the wrong rotor.

f-crazy

iTrader: (-1)

got the correct thermo installed today and right away i noticed the difference in time it took to get to operating temp, meaning before after 10 minutes of idleing it would be 220+ today after about 20 minutes it was still under 190...so i was starting to think happy thoughts..untill i took her for a drive..after about 10 mins she started slowly getting hotter..it got to 220 and stayed there for a couple minutes then it went right between 220 and 260 and stayed there for a few mins and by the time i got back to my house the over flow tank was completly full and steam was hissing out...the overflow was empty when i left..

there are 2 things im gonna try now...well actually 3...tomorrow im gonna try to purge some more air out tomorrow, and switch the hoses again and see if that doesnt work....and if that doesnt work then i dunno what im gonna do, but ill probly regret it...

in the posts by 6speediroc he said something about drilling a hole and tapping a vent in the thermostat housing for the coolant crossover tubs on the heads,

with my hole in the oil coller lines could the pressure in those lines be to much for the dribbles of air/coolant to overcome and, consequently keeping that in the heads and causing a permenant hotspot...so to speak...

Thanks guys
Rob

Zepher

iTrader: (1)

Just a thought, but maybe you should change your radiator cap to one that is the same pressure rating as the LT1, if yours isn't already the correct pressure. 14psi comes to mind, but it might be 18psi. I get the Vette and the F-body ones confused.

Also make sure you have the right amont of coolant to water ratio.

6speedIROC

iTrader: (3)

I use my original rad cap from 1986.

Have you repaced the waterpump? Are you sure its pumping properly. I'd also do this. "in the posts by 6speediroc he said something about drilling a hole and tapping a vent in the thermostat housing for the coolant crossover tubes on the heads"


Drill and tap a hole for a 1/8" NPT fitting in the top of the neck as seen in the pictures. Use an NPT to 3/8" barbed 90 degree fitting (brass works)

f-crazy

iTrader: (-1)

the water pump is brand new..never ran untill i got this motor running.....i cant drill the hole out today or this weekend because my auto tech tech is being kind enough to let me use the shop to work on my ride, but there only open untill 2...

how do i find out for sure if it pumping...without taking it off....
i mean i can feel the thermo open and coolent rush through the upper hose

Thanks guys!!!
Rob

Barry85Iroc

I think your radiator ain't cuttin' it. I had to get an all-aluminum rad. just to make the thing driveable.

bingo

iTrader: (2)

Do you have the steam vent from the back of the engine hooked up? I am using my stock radiator and I am running 180. If your radiator is not in good shape it might be something to look at. I am using an upper hose for a 94 Z28. It runs from mythermostat housing to the top of my radiator. I am using a lower radiator hose for a 92 vette. I have been driving my car for 6 months with no problems.

f-crazy

iTrader: (-1)

ok i have an update kinda..i reversed the hoses so the outlet on the thermostat housing went to the bottom radiator opening..and the upper large opeing goes to the top..

it would get smoking hot and and expand the coolant into the over flow and id pour a gallon of antifreeze into the radiator and in an hour the overflow would be empty....every time it "steams" over it will suck in more coolant, and its not burinig it or its not in the oil so that tells me that there was/still is a lot of air in the motor...its weird becasue ill be watching the temp guage and itll go from 220 to 260 and come back down within about 10 seconds...and the radiator makes this "sucking" noise right after a click from the thermostat..(after the motor is off) i drilled and tapped a hole for the steam vent intot he t-stat housing...

i have a question about the waterpump itself...there are 5 outlets on an f-body WP...the t-stat opening, the large "lower" radiator opening...the small outlet on the top next to the t-stat opening, and the 2 lower small outlets...

I have the small outlet next to the t-stat hooked up to the hose that originally went to the heater divertor valve from the passenger side of the TB...and the 2 lower small outlets i have plugged off....WTF are those 2 lower outlets for? and should i "Tie" them into the cooling system....



ohh BTW..when the coolant was overflowed into to overflow tank it was probly around 100 degress, were as the motor coolant was 240-260

bingo

iTrader: (2)

The outlets on the water pump shouldn't affect the engine temp, but here goes. The two small outlets( top and passenger side ) are for the heater core, the one on the drivers side supplys coolant for the optional oil cooler. I have the oil cooler side capped off. The steam vent I mentioned is to allow cooland and pressure in the back of the heads to purge into the radiator. Do you have this line? If you do not I am assuming that you or someone else plugged the holes in the back of the heads. I need to correct my previous post. My lower hose goes to the thermostat housing and my upper goes to the water pump. I think the way you have it hooked up sounds fine. TexasLT1 had a weird overheating problem at one point, it turned out to be his radiator. You might want to look up that post.

f-crazy

iTrader: (-1)

the top one on the passenger side right next to the t-stat housing i have hooked up tot he old heart divertor line, and the lower apssenger and lower driver side capped off...im using my original oil cooler..

i have the steam vent hooked into the t-stat housing...

f-crazy

iTrader: (-1)

i read that post last night with TEX'es cooling problem....damn that sounds EXACLTY what my car is doing...i called a radiator place and they want 50 bucks to rod mine out...so within a couple days ill take it to them and go from there....

FRIGGIN 50 hours a week work schdule dont leave to much time for pullin a F'in radiator out lol

bingo

iTrader: (2)

I figured that maybe you could try the radiator first and if that doesn't work you might have a bad water pump. I was lucky that the prvious owner of my car installed a new radiator before I bought it. Good luck!

f-crazy

iTrader: (-1)

I got the radiator back today and he said that it was 90% clean, only the bottom 3-4 rods were kinda clogged...That is not what i wanted to hear guys....im gonna put it back in when i got a spare hour or so....If this doenst do it (not expecting it to) then i guess shes parked till i save up 500 bones....

f-crazy

iTrader: (-1)

This morning i put it back in...hooked up all the hoses and took her for a ride..and guess what..no it didnt work...so ofcourse i was shouting obscenities for about a mile back to my house...

After I cooled off i popped the hood only to find that the overflow level didnt change nor was the radiator cap itself hot....i opend the cap (with eyes and hands protected) come to find that the coolant was under great pressure and almost blew the cap out of the hand, but there was one other thing i noticed..the coolant was COLD...i mean like 40 degress cold, not a hint of warmth to it..

I just got off the phone with the guy who cleaned it for me and asked exactly what he did....he said that he took the tank off and rodded it out..flow tested it and pressure tested it..and the results were 100% across the board, so the RAD is in perfect working order...those are his exact words...


WTF else could be going on...im thinking now (looking up a few posts) that the WP MAY be to blame, i know that the coupler is on there but ill check again...But i just cant see the WP being bad i mean crap its brand friggin new...
i just dont know what else to try...

i know i have the right head gaskets...i matched them up before i layed the heads on.. and i can hear coolant swooshing in the head when i squeeze the hoses


Thanks for the help guys...
Rob

Thirim

you mentioned you didn't bleed the air at first.. wonder how long an empty "new" water pump (if it happened to be empty due to air) would last?

but hey.. things could be worse.. car could be in a million pieces like mine and not know what goes where

f-crazy

iTrader: (-1)

Today i took it for a ride to get it nice and hot to check a few things...

1. the motor coolant was 260 degress (verified with thermoscanner)
2. The coolant overflow didnt fill up (it usually does, but hasnt since i had the radiator rodded)
3. The coolant in the radiator was CCOOOLLLDDD (42 degress verified by the thermoscanner)
4. the lower hose was also COLD
5. the thermo housing and end of upper hose was hot, rest of upper was not...
6. The radiator is full

What is going on here guys, could my water pump be dead?


When i first dropped in the motor i didnt have the cooling system hooked up...i ran it for about 2-3 mins at a time...then i filled that rad. and kept adding as it sucked it in....MAYBE if i get a warmER day ill pull it off and take off that front cover and see if i can see if theres anything wrong with it....

6speedIROC

iTrader: (3)

Your pump is not pumping or something is blocking the flow.
Check the pump.

You're going to trash your engine soon.

Dave Y

is the little coupler between the engine and W/P in place?

if yes, is it spinning?

f-crazy

iTrader: (-1)

ok guys...last week i bought an IMPY SS WP and puit it on last night....i drove it the distance that it would normally overheat, and it didnt get to 160...So today i took it for a little longer ride and it almost got to 195...within a couple days im gonna go for a 20 mile ride of something and take my thermoscanner with me so i can verify the temp...but the guage was accurate before, so maybe its good to go...im sure something else will go wrong...

f-crazy

iTrader: (-1)

Today when i got off work i took it for a 30 mile drive and NOT ONCE did it get over 195...i even went to this "road course" were there buolding a subdivision and only the roads are layed down..its all under 65 MPH so i left it in 2nd gear and made 5 or 6 hard laps...the temp guage never moved, so i verifyed it with the thermoscanner and right at the temp sensor it was 202 and the thermostat outlet was 187...So it looks like we got it tracked down...

Thank you to all the guys that helped me out on this...you have no idea how much it sucks to have your car sit for over a year and then only get to drive for 10 mins at a time....time to go huntin


Ohhhh BTW, in my last post i said "something else will probly go wrong",....well, sure as **** i have another problem...

check the Electrical board if your intrested

Thanks again guys!!

Rob