jcrob

hey guys i need help, i drove probably 20 miles and when i got home my car had overheated a little but the weird part was their was a really loud rattling sound coming from the engine coolant bottle. any ideas what this could be thanks guys.

TreeFiddy

Boiling.

jcrob

seriously? dam what could be causing it? any suggestions?

TreeFiddy

Overheating.

jcrob

yea of course but what causes overheating sorry for the noob question

torque_is_good

first, you are assumning the "rattling" is the sound of coolant bubbling into the bottle. Did you verify that?

if so, overheating is covered quite well with the search function rewarding you

air dam

fans

clog

bad thermostat
bad waterpump

head gasket

etc

TreeFiddy

Also could be loss of pressure, start with the cheapest and change the rad cap.

Is it leaking coolant anywhere? When you say overheat - how bad - what does the temp gauge say? Does it lose power and get grumpy?

jcrob

t's not leaking anywhere that i can see also the engien coolant has been at the same level since i got it. and the gauge is wierd when i stop it goes up and when i'm driving it's low...and it has bogged down on me but only once

TreeFiddy

So it cools ok driving. May indicate a problem with the fan(s) - stopped, thats all that cools the rad, moving - the air dam comes into play. Are the fans actually coming on?

jcrob

someone told me something was missing in the dam but no idea what it could be..here's a pic..

TreeFiddy

Looks like the dam is missing completely - should be under the car, below the rad. Can only concrete driveway and a bit of gravel.

I'm not sure about Camaro anatomy, but my TA doesn't have that big hole under the bonnet latch - that's where the 'built in parts tray' should be, bolted to those empty holes. This would be effecting the operation of the air dam anyway I should imagine, by letting air past the rad instead of forcing thru it. Any comment Camaro guys?

torque_is_good

you are missing the air dam as well as the shroud underneath and top whatchamacallit. HEad on off to a boneyard and look for 3rd gen maros and birds and try and locate all the pieces